Three Tips To Help Seniors In Pain

By Evan H. Farr, Certified Elder Law Attorney

The Law Firm of Evan H. Farr, PC

. http://www.farrlawfirm.com/

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Three Tips To Help Seniors In Pain

Did you know up to a staggering 88% of seniors suffer from chronic pain? Perhaps the best way to prevent pain tomorrow is to take action today.

Why do so many seniors have chronic pain? For starters, as we age, muscles and joints become stiffer and less efficient. Additionally, recovering from injuries tends to turn into a slower process, and falling becomes a risk.

From the obvious to the lesser-known, the following three tips all have been touted by experts as very effective ways to prevent future pain.

Tip 1 Pay Attention To Pain Symptoms. There are more conditions associated with chronic pain the older we get, so it is imperative to pay attention to pain symptoms.

Visit your doctor regularly and always be honest about how you are feeling, whether you have been diligently taking any prescribed medications, and how you feel about any medicine you're taking. Preventing pain is important, but when pain does exist, early detection of the cause is a key to mitigating any medical consequences.

Tip 2 Consider Alternative Treatments. Pharmaceutical pain relievers can have side effects that may be harmful to some people. When trying to minimize your pain, it is wise to consider alternative treatments. For example, chiropractic can be helpful for many kinds of pain. Acupuncture is also well-known as a possible treatment to relieve pain.

Less known are “biofield” treatments such as Reiki, which involves the channeling of restorative energy from practitioner to patient, allowing a jump-start of the patient's own healing ability. The International Journal of Behavioral Medicine recently reviewed 66 clinical trials on biofield therapies.

The authors concluded that there was “strong evidence that [Reiki helps to] reduce the intensity of pain in general [including those with] cancer.”

Tip 3 Plan To Be Comfortable It's no secret that one's comfort level contributes to relative pain. Elder law attorneys can help with more than just estate planning and asset protection. Today, we can “plan” our comfort level into old age. This is achieved through the use of a “lifestyle care plan,” a written document that enables a future caregiver to understand and follow specific wishes.

Originally created by nurses, this type of plan is a self-directed document that can help ensure one's quality of life is preserved and comfort levels are maximized.