pain management in sobriety

Pain sure is a fun topic! Pain always finds us somehow some way. There’s no way to avoid it in its entirety. Sometimes it’s physical pain from waking up in a hurry and having stubbed your toe because you were trying to overcompensate for hitting the snooze button on your alarm 4 times. Other times its emotional pain from the love of your life leaving you after 4 years of marriage because you wouldn’t stop turning the alarm clock off. One way or another pain shows up unwarranted, waiting for a reaction.

You know what else is always waiting for a reaction? Addiction- and it’s always a negative reaction to that. This is one of the reasons why pain and alcoholic thinking have always gone together so well. One causes the other and the combo then sucks individuals into a cycle of misery that only gets worse before better. Everybody is always searching for their little slice of happiness but we never take into account that its contingent upon the pain that we’ve found while in pursuit. To find the beauty sometimes we have to endure the ugly.

Then there are times the pain can is so immense that we would do anything not to feel it. Some of us turn to painkillers while others turn to booze, but with no relief. Addiction only feigns to hear the cry for help and provide a temporary solution. “Getting high will fix my broken marriage or repair my broken toe”, or so we tell ourselves. At the very least getting loaded will help where we don’t have to feel our pain. Most addicts can attest to the obsession awoken thru this manner of thinking; influencing all impulses and actions. However, addiction doesn’t have to reign with an iron thumb. If we can find ourselves on the recovery end of the spectrum, safe pain management options and healthy ways to deal with our problems become the norm.

Sober Pain Killers

Entering recovery, most of us are suffocated by the avalanche of emotion that rockslides our way. For years we kept all emotions we didn’t want to deal with at bay thru numbing agents. Some of us kept our feelings muted through forms of self-mutilation, some thru gambling, and others by engorging themselves in chemical buffets. Nonetheless, all of these are forms of alcoholic thinking preying upon the insurmountable pain we’ve deemed ourselves to be in. As you can imagine, these are nowhere near the basis of safe pain management. These are forms of alcoholic thinking winning.

Safe pain management options always work in a proactive way that benefits recovery. These methods are just various forms of band-aids that will help the healing in a more productive manner. Some safe pain management options recommended to those in recovery can be as simple as:

  • Acupuncture
  • Seeing a Chiropractor
  • Seeing a Therapist
  • Exercise
  • Yoga/Meditation
  • Vitamin Therapy
  • Fellowshipping

Of course, everything depends on the type of pain being endured. For physical pain, sometimes surgery is necessary as a safe pain management option. It all just depends. A lot of our pain comes down to the nitty gritty acceptance of it and how we allow ourselves to deal with it. Everything we do in accordance with that pain is a reaction that we are in control of.

External Pain

Whether it’s the toe stub or the alarm clock was thrown at you in a fit of anger, there are many options for physical pain aside from the drug lobbyist pushed painkillers spewing out the pharmaceutical labs. For less serious injuries there are plenty of non-narcotic options such as Ibuprofen, Motrin, Advil, Tylenol, etc.

In other scenarios where the hurt is a little greater, some consider Tramadol and other non-narcotic painkillers as such to be safe pain management alternatives.

Depending on the form of pain, even changing diet and various things can improve some injuries beyond belief. Of course with some problems, it’s best to consult a doctor for the safest advice if there is a level of uncertainty ever. As addicts, we are great at undermining and “overmining”  everything we do.

Internal Pain

A large percentage of pain management options are associated with a level of understanding. If we can understand the problem, we can understand a solution. Sometimes it’s about looking just a little deeper into the pain perceived. This is where the serenity delivering art form of meditation walks in.  

Meditation is a state of mind and body that can bring about relaxation while we search for answers to our pain. Meditation is a mental form of stretching that evokes introspection to help understand things we were previously unaware of. An inspection of the pain thru spiritual understanding allows an overall greater understanding of everything encompassed in that pain. Practicing meditation is an excellent safe pain management form in sobriety. It creates a mental bridge between the gap of knowledge and learning thus helping to heal our emotional pain if we allow it.  

Unfortunately, pain is a vital ingredient to the relationship with self. Fear, self-esteem, and happiness are all different emotional aspects that weather thru pain endured. It’s all such an enormous growing process.  Much of our pain is self-chosen an safe pain management helps us to realize this. Pain is necessary for balance, but it doesn’t have to dictate the quality of life.

When the Pain Clouds are Gathering

Being trapped in active addiction is a way of life with a steady dosage of pain. Most of that pain is self-chosen though. While the disease of addiction causes extremely bad decisions to be the norm, recovery will advocate for the opposite. Sometimes becoming willing to address that pain is all it takes to find a better way of living. If you or a loved one is struggling with chemical dependency and are ready for help, please call 888-481-1993 or visit www.coastaldetox.com. We are ready to give you any suggestions possible and set you or your loved one on a path that we can all be proud of.