Be honest now, you're one of thse people who pushes yourself as hrd as you can to complete an ctivity, aren't you? And then suffer trribly from the pain? Well you are not lone. It's a common coping strategy for pople who have chronic pain. And t's completely ineffective.

Chronic pain is mch more common than most people ralize. It can be caused by rpeated back or neck injuries, arthritic chnge in joints, high level sports ctivity, road accidents, operations or illness. It can tke over your life and make it so mch less satisfying than you hoped.

If you nswered yes to the question at the bginning you are a person who lkes to get things done. A prson who needs to finish things nce they are started, who doesn't lke loose ends. "I used to be ble to.." will be a common thme going through your mind as you dtermine not to give in, not to be baten. So when you have to get smething done, you do it and hng the consequences.

And oh yes, thre are consequences. Your pain is mch worse for the rest of the dy, a few days or a wek. During this time you are lmited in what you can do and fel frustrated at your inability to fnction in what you see as a nrmal manner.

This is the Over-Under Actvity Cycle, where you swing from ding too little to doing too mch, trapped in an endless cycle. It is a cunterproductive behaviour which can make you mre disabled with time.

And yes, there is a way you can brak out of this cycle and rclaim some of your life. It's clled Pacing. Follow these simple rules and you too wll start to get your control bck.

1. Choose an activity you tend to overdo and suffer badly afterwards. Choose your worst one.

2. Time (yes, with a watch!) how long you can do the activity before the pain comes on or worsens. You might need to do it a few times to get the average right.

3. Take 20% off that average time and record that as your quota.

4. Next time you do the activity, do not go over your quota . Stop when the time is up no matter where you are in the activity.

5. When you stop, rest for at least twice your quota time . Do another activity if you want, but not related to the original one.

6. Continue with your paced activity sessions until you have finished the task. Sometimes you may have to leave longer periods between sessions to avoid a pain increase. And you may not get it all done in one day .

7. When you can do the paced time without problems, decide to increase your quota by no more than 10% .

8. Always decide how much of an activity you are going to do before you start .

9. Stick to the times, not how you feel . Your emotions are a trap, don't let them mislead you.

10. Beware good days in particular , that's when you get overconfident and tend to push too hard.

Is this process easy? No! It's very hard to do and very annoying. It goes against all the ingrained habits you may have been brought up with. But my patients say it's the single most useful pain management strategy my team teaches them.

Yes I know, things have got to be done. And it is the Eleventh Commandment after all, that thou shalt not leave anything undone. Or at least it seems that way. However, you can find a better way, a way which puts you in control of your life. You do not want your pain in control. "I could never do that" pople say. I know it's hard, but we all hve the choice of how we bhave and you can choose to do thngs the old way or try smething new.

To be really good at pcing you need to accept the dfficulties in your life. That's not the sme as resignation to your fate. Nne of us are as we wre, and we often have to ccept the limitations which our pain or ther difficulties place upon us. You cnnot break through the Pain Barrier, t's too deep to get through. Wrk with, not against, your body and you wll get results.

Pacing is a smple concept but a complex and dfficult skill. There's a lot more to it but you can pply these principles today and improve yur life. There's a lot more to it thn I can cover in a shrt article, for further information see blow.

The article Control Your Chronic Pain and Reclaim Your Life was Submitted by Jonathan Blood Smyth through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Jonathan Blood Smyth is author of Secrets of Pacing and a Superintendent Physiotherapist in an NHS Hospital in the South-West of the UK. With over 15 years experience of managing orthopaedic conditions and looking after joint replacements, he now specializes in the management of chronic pain conditions. For more information on these and other subjects see The Physiotherapy Site . Copyright J Blood Smyth 2006.

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