How to cope with chronic pain?

[fenwick]

I was a victim of medical malpractice in 2009. I suffered a nerve injury which is likely permanent in my left arm thanks to a person who didn't know how to draw blood properly.

I can't turn to sweets anymore since I've gained weight as a result. I tried a counselor and she let me down. Taking my money and smiling when I cry in front of her as I explain my injury. So counselors are no good either.
Doing stuff that distracts me is ok, but sooner or later I remember the injury.
I can't exercise as well as I used to, playing piano hurts too.
In the past I took pain killers of prescription strength and they doped me up, made me dizzy and sleepy until I drew the line, so medicine and drugs are not an option for me.

I wear heat pads to decrease the edge of the pain, but they burn my skin and harden after some hours. Capcasin cream is ok but it stays in the skin for a long time and it's hard to get it off after it starts burning.

I feel desperate, alone, misunderstood. Doctors avoid involvement with my injury because they don't want to be hassled with being involved in a lawsuit. I have been waiting to prove my injury through MRN for a year now. One long painful year during which I endured mediocre limited medical tests, being denied medical care, painful nerve conduction studies, and traumatizing negation from doctors who don't care.

Since my options are so limited, what would you recommend I do?

I am 22 and miss my old life where my arm was not injured and I was free.

[banys]

You have to find a way to deal with the chronic pain so that you can get your old life back. You have to reconsider some of the options you have already mentioned. For example, there are numerous kinds of pain medication, some of which are non drowsy, so you have to get that sorted out.

Learn the art of slow breathing. This technique is a natural way to reduce your pain and is vital to any pain management program. Your breathing is your life force, and learning to do so properly is vital to dealing with pain. There are a number of programs taught on this at every hospital in the country. Sign up for one, and pay attention. This is a natural painkiller that does work.

Allow yourself 1 hour per day to let it all out. Crying and wallowing is sometimes helpful when you are truly hurting, and allowing yourself the time to do so can be liberating. Curl up in bed and just let yourself go for a while. Let this be the time that you turn off your guard and do what you want. Cry, scream, moan, complain and completely give in to the pain. You may be surprised to find that your chronic pain will lose steam. Somehow, allowing your body to feel something can disarm it. Give it a shot! But when the hour is done, you have to get up and move on and do something. As difficult as it is to do, you have to let go of it, accept the situation that is, and get on with things.

Purchase a TENS Unit. This stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation. This treatment is not painful and no needles or injections are required. You can administer these treatments yourself. Apply the small conductor sticky pads to the problem area. Turn the TENS unit on to your desired level and feel the difference in a matter of minutes. This machine stimulates the nerve fibers to reduce the pain.

Ask about aquatic or physical therapy. Both of these therapies reduce pain. The aquatic therapy is great for loosening up the muscles and soothing them. Physical therapy involves a therapist who uses exercise and stretching regimens to relieve pain.

Find a certified acupuncture therapist. This professional can place needles in energy centers to lift blockages, increase blood flow and remove pain.

Research nerve blocks and their affect on pain. This will probably be the last step your doctor takes before he suggests surgery. This process calls for injecting local anesthesia into the problematic nerves to stop the pain. If this step is successful a second injection is used to numb the nerves altogether. This treatment will last from 2 to 5 days.

Find somewhere to volunteer. Often when we spend time helping others we focus less on ourselves and our own issues, and realize that things could be so much worse.

You have to make an action plan to take your life back. You, and only you, can do it. There is no point in feeling sorry for yourself, or in wishing only that this didn't happen. It did, so you have to confront the pain, and the situation, and find your path through it.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2283828_deal-chronic-pain-.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2155920_deal-chronic-pain.html
http://pain.about.com/od/painandmentalhealth/a/anxiety_pain.htm