There is a lot that providers do to help ameliorate chronic pain, but in the provider/patient relationship, there is much that a patient can and must do in order to achieve their pain relief and wellness goals.

First and foremost, we all need 8-9 hours of restorative sleep per night. Suffice it to say we must work together to help the patient obtain 8-9 hours of restorative sleep per night, or the pain will never get better.

Second, eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong (food) is huge! Refined and processed foods, white sugar, white rice, white pasta, white flour and in some instances gluten and dairy, are physiologic bomb shells that stoke the furnaces of inflammation at the cellular level. A good rule of thumb is, “eat what comes off a plant, and not made in a plant.”

Third, exercise and movement continue to be one of the best anti-inflammatories on the planet. Capability-appropriate exercise to break a light sweat for 20-30 minutes per day, 5-6 times per week is vital to help turn down the fires of inflammation and pain.

Fourth, stop smoking. Your pain will never go away as long as you are throwing this kind of fuel on the flames of inflammation.

Fifth, consider the use of omega-3 oils, turmeric, Coenzyme Q-10, and other anti-inflammatory supplements to help quench the flames of inflammation at the cellular level.