Getting active

Perhaps you used to lead an active life before the pain. Or maybe you were never into exercise or physical activities. Either way, the fact remains that getting more active – and keeping it going – is one of the best things you can do to lessen the pain.

This is because enjoyable, rewarding and regular activity will build your confidence to do more things – and that means you’ll be struggling less with pain.

Keep moving

Like many people with persistent pain, you may be avoiding physical activity because you are worried it will make your pain worse.
These fears are normal and understandable – the last thing that you want to do is aggravate it further! So it may be encouraging for you to know that getting fit and staying active is actually good for your pain.
The key to getting fitter is to keep it going every day. To help maintain regular activity levels, there are a number of things that you can do:
Do physical activities that you enjoy
Quite simply, if you enjoy what you’re doing then you’ll be more motivated to keep it up.
Learn the skill of pacing
Pacing is a really useful skill as it guides you to do the level of activity that is right for your body.
Try doing activities outside during the day
Being outside in the daylight helps your body clock to stay in balance with day and night time patterns.
Avoid energetic activities shortly before sleep
Exercising late in the day ‘wakes up’ your body and so it can lead to problems falling asleep or staying asleep.

Daily activity is my medicine

Many people with persistent pain have discovered that getting more active not not makes them feel better and do more – it also helps them rely less on pain medicines.
For many, regular activty takes the place of medicines entirely – as someone living with pain puts it: “Stretching and exercise are my daily medicine.”
The importance of getting active one of the key messages in Live Well with Pain’s Ten Footsteps programme. That’s why it is has lots of practical tips and techniques to get you moving – whatever your current confidence level.

 

Learn more about getting active

The Ten Footsteps programme includes a footstep dedicated to setting goals and getting active, where you can explore resources and learn new skills.

Explore Footstep 4 – Setting Goals and Getting Active