By Emma Winn
Pain is more than just a physical sensation — it’s a complex experience involving your body, brain, and emotions. Acute pain is your body’s warning signal and a way of protecting you, but chronic pain can persist even after tissues have healed. This happens when the nervous system becomes more sensitive, sometimes creating discomfort or flare-ups without ongoing tissue damage. Pain is personal and influenced by many factors, including stress, movement habits, and lifestyle.
Osteopaths take a holistic approach to assessing you as a whole to understand and assist in managing pain. By reviewing your health history and lifestyle, we can identify factors contributing to your pain and create a tailored plan to help. This may include hands-on treatment, guidance on movement, and collaboration with other health professionals to support recovery.
Practical Steps to Support Your Pain Recovery:
Diet: Anti-inflammatory foods like extra virgin olive oil, garlic, oily fish, nuts, seeds, and a variety of vegetables can help reduce inflammation. Limiting sugar, alcohol, processed foods, and dairy is beneficial.
Supplements: Certain supplements can support to reduce inflammation and pain.
Sunshine & Vitamin D: Morning sunlight supports bone and musculoskeletal health, as well as sleep regulation. Aim for 10–20 minutes several times a week, with supplementation if necessary.
Sleep: Quality sleep is essential for healing, pain tolerance, and reducing inflammation. Aim for around eight hours per night.
Exercise: Regular movement — even a 20-minute walk — helps reduce inflammation, improve mood, regulate stress, and retrain the body to function efficiently.
Pain rarely has a single cause. Small, consistent changes across multiple areas — diet, movement, sleep, and stress management — combined with professional guidance, can make a meaningful difference. Working collaboratively with osteopaths and other health professionals helps you regain function, reduce flare-ups, and improve your quality of life.
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