5 Home Remedies for Pain Relief
From chronic back pain to arthritis, a recent injury or a stiff neck, managing pain requires patience and a bit of TLC. While medications and professional treatment can certainly help, there are many evidence-based home remedies to manage your pain or complement your treatment plan. And best of all, many include items you might already have lying around in the house.
Movement as Medicine
While it may be tempting to take it easy on the couch, mindful movement can actually help relieve pain and prevent new pain, according to pain management expert Robert Bolash, MD. Whether it’s a walk around your neighborhood, a yoga practice, or a light workout, you can strengthen your muscles, release stiffness, and improve sleep quality, balance, and bone strength– all important factors when it comes to pain reduction and prevention.
Tips & Ideas
- Yoga or tai chi
- Swimming, walking, or biking
- Strengthening exercises, like push-ups, squats, and core work
Mindfulness Meditation
For some, meditation comes easily. For others, not so much. Whether you fall into one of these two camps (or likely somewhere in-between!), it’s important to understand the effects meditation has on the brain and your body. A study done on mind-body connection showed that over time, meditation can change your brain structure to better tolerate and deal with pain, thus making you less sensitive to painful sensation.
Tips & Ideas
- Gently close your eyes or lower your gaze
- Sit up straight (optional: sit on the edge of a cushion to help lift the spine)
- Slow, deep inhales and exhales
- Take a body scan to notice how you feel in your body and any sensations you’re experiencing
Homedics Mindfulness Hack
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Heat Therapy
If you’ve ever relaxed into a warm bath or soothed your aches and pains with a heating pad, you know there’s nothing quite like it. The good news is it doesn’t just feel good — there are plenty of reasons to use heat as an effective pain management tool as well. By relaxing the muscles and reducing stiffness of sore joints, heat can promote enhanced circulation and blood flow to the area of pain. Plus, by delivering fresh, oxygenated blood to the muscles, heat can aid in diluting the buildup of lactic acid waste which is a causing factor of chronic pain, according to an article written by PainScale.
Tips & Ideas
- Warm bath
- Dry sauna
- Heated gel pack, hot water bottle or heated blanket
Homedics Heat Hack
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Embrace Ergonomics
In today’s world, nearly everything is digital. And while there are many amazing breakthroughs that have emerged with tech innovation, it’s wreaked havoc on our bodies, according to Harvard Medical School. Issues like neck pain or “tech neck,” carpal tunnel, joint pain from sitting all day or poor posture have been reported as common side effects. Whether you sit in front of a computer all day, drive a car to and from work, or spend a good amount of time on your smartphone, here are a few ways to reduce the pain caused by living in our digital world:
Tips & Ideas
- Standing desk or kneeling chair
- Sitting on an exercise ball
- Lumbar support while sitting at the desk or in the car
- Repeated breaks throughout the day to stretch and move
Homedics Ergonomic Hack
Self Massage
While nothing quite beats a professional massage, there are home alternatives that can help relieve pain just as well that are more cost effective and convenient. Muscle manipulation through pressure or massage can be achieved with a variety of DIY tools and even just your own hands. It can provide immediate pain relief for sore, tense muscles which can then improve range of motion and sleep quality.
Tips & Ideas
- Self-massage tools, such as massage guns or wands, gua sha, foam rollers or massage balls
- Massage cushion
- Using massage oils to knead, press, and rub sore muscles
- Home foot massage
Even though experiencing pain can often feel cumbersome, we are lucky to have helpful tools right at our fingertips — literally. Whether you end up combining a few techniques or experimenting before landing on something that works for you, these home remedies can be an affordable, convenient, and effective way to help manage your discomfort.
*Medical Disclaimer: This content is provided for informational purposes only and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
SOURCES
No Spa, No Problem: Try Self-Massage at Home, Shelby Deering; Spine Universe: https://www.spineuniverse.com/wellness/no-spa-no-problem-try-self-massage
6 Techniques for Heat Therapy, PainScale: https://www.painscale.com/article/6-techniques-for-heat-therapy
Meditating for Chronic Pain Management, Marjorie Hecht; healthline: https://www.healthline.com/health/meditation-for-chronic-pain
Mindfulness meditation to control pain, Harvard Medical Publishing: https://www.health.harvard.edu/pain/mindfulness-meditation-to-control-pain
Exercise helps ease arthritis pain and stiffness, Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/arthritis/in-depth/arthritis/art-20047971
Home Remedies and Lifestyle Changes to Help Your Back Pain, Cleveland Clinic: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/home-remedies-and-lifestyle-changes-to-help-your-back-pain/
The surprising side effects from using technology, Harvard Medical Publishing: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-surprising-side-effects-from-using-technology
Are There Health Benefits to Gua Sha?, Alexandra Benisek; WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/balance/what-is-gua-sha#:~:text=Gua%20sha%20is%20a%20traditional,pain%20all%20over%20their%20body.