If your loved one is experiencing chronic pain, they’re far from alone. According to Healthline, approximately 50 million adults deal with chronic pain, and it’s the number one reason patients will visit a doctor. It may seem like your hands are tied when it comes to helping your loved one, but take heart.
Here, The VIOS Clinic shares some things you can do to support your loved ones and help them cope with their condition.
Research Potential Treatments
While your loved one might rely on conventional medicine to manage their condition, there might be other treatment options that can offer additional support. For example, studies show that acupuncture can serve as an effective treatment for a number of conditions beyond chronic pain, including addiction, osteoarthritis, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Help your loved one find a local acupuncturist who can treat their condition.
Prepare Healthy Meals
The right diet may be able to help improve your loved one’s condition significantly. Try to think of food as medicine. Consuming a diet rich in vitamins and minerals can help to reduce rates of depression, dementia, diabetes, and heart disease. Consider meal-prepping some healthy options for your loved ones so that they can enjoy a clean diet without doing a lot of shopping or cooking. You can find many great freezer-friendly meal ideas online.
For example, Love and Lemons recommend healthy recipes like vegetarian lasagne, black bean chili, lentil soup, and homemade taquitos. You can also make sure to stock up on standards that make for easy daytime meals. Think whole-grain cereals or eggs for breakfast, while pita, salad fixings, lean proteins, and beans are great for lunches.
Educate Yourself
The more you know about your loved one’s condition, the better you’ll be able to help them. Spend some time researching their specific pain issues so you can offer insight and advice. This can also be helpful if you accompany your loved one on doctor visits. Just be sure to avoid being overbearing. Your loved one ultimately makes the decisions about their health; so unless it’s dire, remember that you’re simply offering advice.
Mention to your loved one the possibility of meeting with a specialist at The VIOS Clinic. It is an online clinic comprising a network of renowned specialists in chronic diseases. Its mission is to provide patients with accurate information that helps them to make the right choices for their specific desires and circumstances.
Help Them Move to an Accessible Home
Living in an accessible home can make a big difference for people who are struggling with chronic pain. Help your loved one look for a home that will better accommodate their needs. For example, you might want to look for one-story homes so they don’t have to navigate staircases. While you’re house-hunting, keep an eye out for other accessibility features like lever-style door handles, zero-step entrances, wide doorways, step-in showers, and slip-resistant flooring.
If you find that your loved one requires more than accessibility, you may want to talk to your loved one about assisted care options. There are different choices to help individuals with different needs. For example, a person with Alzheimer’s needs a care facility that specializes in memory care, whereas an advanced cancer patient might simply need in-home care to help with bathing and cooking. It’s important to look into various options with your loved ones to determine the best option for their well-being.
Create a Healthy Home Environment
Clutter and disorganization can contribute to your loved one’s discomfort, so make a point to help them add order to their home. This doesn’t have to be a task completed in one day, and if you create a plan of attack, you can break it down into a more manageable series of sessions if they live in an abundance of clutter.
For additional health features, bring them some potted plants, which are known to be mood-lifters, and invest in filtered water. Your loved one could also benefit from the right lighting in each room. Soft light in the bedroom can encourage sleep, while more natural light in living areas can be energizing and uplifting.
Your support can make a big difference in the life of a loved one who’s dealing with chronic pain. Help them explore complementary medicine treatments like acupuncture and prep nutrient-dense meals to keep them well-fed. If they’re struggling with daily life, help them move to a more accessible home. Your support will not go unnoticed!
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Author Bio
Camille Johnson
Camille created Bereaver.com after she went through the ups and downs of the bereavement process herself following the loss of her parents and husband. With the help of her friend who was also experiencing a loss of her own, she learned how to grieve the healthy way, and she wants to share that with others. There is no one way to grieve, but it is important to do it in a way that supports your physical and mental health throughout.