2019-06-21, 11:43 PM
How technology might be aggravating your brain pain
Quote:Dr Sullivan's initial tips for optimising your lifestyle:"These relatively simple things make the biggest difference in terms of the impact of pain in people's lives," said Dr Sullivan.
- ensure your workstation is set up ergonomically
- take regular breaks from your work - change tasks, stretch, go for a walk
- ensure adequate sleep, nutrition and exercise (ideally between 100-200 mins per week)
"There are psychological comorbidities that occur in people with chronic pain conditions, principally depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance. Individuals can get into a vicious cycle where each of these conditions can feed into each other - so access to a clinical psychologist is part of a quality treatment plan for those with chronic pain.
"One of the mistakes that people with chronic neck pain in particular make is thinking this can all be solved with the so-called "passive treatments" like soft tissue massage or ultrasound - these approaches can be good for short-term pain relief, but they don't lead to long term improvement in either pain or function. Beneficial exercises could include hydrotherapy, gym work or exercises done at home," he said.