According to statistics compiled by the CDC, 1 in 3 Americans live with chronic pain. The percentage works out to about 50 million people who experienced various kinds and degrees of debilitating neuralgia lasting for more than three months; moreover, it includes people who must adhere to a constant pain management plan because their conditions can only be alleviated, not cured.
Effective pain management is vital for people who live with chronic pain. The treatment plans can be as varied as the hundreds of conditions that feature the symptomatology; some of the most common diseases associated with chronic pain include arthritis, back pain, migraines, fibromyalgia, Gulf War syndrome, neuropathic damage, endometriosis, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and many others. In addition to medication, nutrition, and physical therapy, many patients living with chronic pain pay close attention to environmental factors that can impact pain management. One such factor is the construction materials used for home improvement projects; for example, materials that provide better shock absorption or insulation than others.
Understanding Environmental Factors in Chronic Pain Management
Creating a comfortable and supportive environment can be a powerful tool for managing pain daily, particularly at home. In the case of patients who suffer debilitating migraines usually triggered by harsh or flickering lights, diffused lighting, and softer illumination create more calming and pain-sensitive environments. In the case of patients who live with autoimmune disease episodes triggered by stress, soundproofing techniques such as plush carpeting and drapes can reduce noise.
A more specific example of improving environmental factors to manage chronic pain deals with horizontal surfaces. Many patients with arthritis and other inflammatory diseases that affect connective tissue have a difficult time while standing up and walking around; this is because their joints and nerves react to the weight, force, resistance, and friction of the surfaces they stand and walk on. For these patients, hard surfaces like tile or hardwood flooring can be unforgiving on joints. Standing or walking on these surfaces can transmit a significant amount of impact force with each step, placing additional stress on already inflamed joints and potentially worsening pain.
Designing Pain-Free Outdoor Spaces
Many treatment plans for patients with chronic pain include recommendations about spending time outdoors. As we all know, enjoying the outdoors offers both physical and mental health; in the case of patients with musculoskeletal pain, low-impact walking on soft surfaces can strengthen core muscles that support the back and the larger leg muscles that ease the strain on joints and connective tissue, thus leading to improved pain management.
Let’s say a woman living with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis must work from home, but her treatment plan calls for spending time outdoors and completing yoga-like physical therapy exercises to improve her mood and reduce the stress that invariably results in painful flare-ups. If the living situation of this patient does not enable her to take her yoga mat to a nearby park, and if the only outdoor living space at her does not feature a grassy surface, rubber surfacing is highly recommended.
Exposure to sunlight helps to regulate sleep patterns. For people with fibromyalgia, interrupted sleep cycles can result in painful flare-ups and crisis episodes. These patients can promote their conditions by getting closer to Mother Nature, which is one of the best methods to reduce stress and improve overall mood, both of which can contribute to pain perception in fibromyalgia. Similar to the example above, outdoor living spaces that do not have grassy surfaces can be turned into comfort rooms for chronic pain patients.
Examples of pain-free outdoor spaces may include Florida rooms, swimming pool areas, or covered lanais where patients can be active while they enjoy sunlight. The shock-absorbing properties of rubber surfacing help minimize the impact on joints during movement, thus making it a safer and more comfortable surface for exercise.
Author: Brittany Cotton
Published by: International Pain Foundation, iPain blog, Team iPain
