I suffer from CRPS (Complex Reginal Pain Syndrome) but it doesn’t matter what chronic pain condition you have, pacing still works regardless.
In this post:
A bit about me
When I first got my diagnosis after 25 years of living with chronic pain, I struggled to accept it and wanted to carry on living the way I always had, because, in my head, I didn’t want to give in and let the pain win.
I did a lot and I mean a lot of research online, read books, talked to other pain sufferers, joined pain management programmes and even became a pain management coach to help other pain sufferers manage their pain and offer emotional support from one pain sufferer to another.
If you are interested in my pain management programme click here.
The reason I did all that was to try and understand what I could do to live my life with less pain, and not beat myself up about not being able to do what other people do, or what I feel I should be able to do.
I am doing this post today to share my story, and knowledge and to tell you that you are not alone and are very welcome to comment or email me anytime.
So, what does pacing mean?
Pacing means spreading out or cutting your activities into more bite-sized chunks to reduce the increase in pain in everyday life.
Sounds simple enough right?
Yep, that’s what I thought at first too. That and I don’t need to pace, I’m coping fine as I am.
I was wrong.
Why pacing and changing the way you think is important
First of all and I can’t stress this enough, is that just pacing alone isn’t going to be enough.
This isn’t a quick magical fix. sorry, but it isn’t.
But what this is, is pacing long term, which means you will get better at doing it, and it will become a habit. Everything is hard at first until it becomes a habit right?
An important thing to understand is that you have to change your mindset from, “I can’t do this anymore”, to, “So I can do this, but I have to do this, this way now.”
Once you get your head around that mindset change, then pacing will work a lot easier for you. Stop battling against yourself. Let the past go and focus on the future, YOUR future, which starts right now.
How to start pacing
Register to download my pacing tolerance worksheet to start measuring your activities and how your pain changes.
Once you get your worksheet printed we can move to the next part.
What I recommend to start with, is simply timing, sitting, standing and walking.
By this, I mean sit in one position and start your timer, stay in this position until your pain levels start to increase, then stop the timer and make a note on the pacing tolerance worksheet under the sitting section.
Do the same with standing and walking.
Make sure to do this every day for at least a week to get enough data.
If you need to print out the worksheet to do a second or third week, that gives you even more data and you can start to see patterns more clearly.
This is also a good idea to do when seasons change, because If you are like me, then you will notice how your pain levels change from winter to summer and everything in between.
Common Questions
Q. I’m in constant pain, so I can’t figure out when my pain starts or stops.
A. I had the same issue and to overcome this, I did a 60-second meditation to get me in tune with my body before starting.
Q. My timings are all over the place.
A. Depending on your condition, you may find your results vary, but this does not mean you can’t get a rough idea. Try doing this for another week and see what patterns arise. Maybe it’s a certain day or a certain time of day that you realise pain levels increase.
Q. My condition isn’t like yours, I can barely move so this doesn’t apply to me.
A. As I said at the beginning, It doesn’t matter what condition you have or how much mobility you have, you can still learn to pace and it can still be effective for you.
Please remember, we are all on different pain journeys, even if we suffer from the same condition.
Please don’t compare yourself to others, and I know this isn’t easy of course, but it really doesn’t do you any good either.
I am always here if you ever want to chat.
You can read my pain journey here.
MY PACING TOLERANCE WORKSHEET
Next on your pacing journey
When you have done the above steps and feel comfortable with the timings you have, It’s time to put them into action.
Make a note for the next day to implement these timings into your day.
I will use my worksheet above as an example.
I know I can stand in one position for 20-30 seconds before my pain starts to increase.
This means when my 30 seconds are up and not a second longer, I need to change position.
If I was standing washing up, and I knew my tolerance time was 30 seconds, I could change position to sitting and fold the laundry, or I could use a stool to dry up.
Again make sure you use your tolerance times for sitting, standing and walking.
What's the point?
I am aware this is a pain in the butt and you are probably thinking, “Why can’t I just carry on the way I am?”
Well, the answer is, you could, but you are here reading this post, because your pain levels are increasing which makes you sad, angry, and disappointed in yourself and you want it to change.
From pacing consistently, I am now able to reduce a lot of my unnecessary increasing pain.
That’s huge!
This means I can do more by doing things differently and feel useful. I play with my kids, and I know I can do it but I have to do it this way now.
Sometimes we have to do the hard work to get the benefit, and this is one of those times.
Believe me, it is worth it.
I have a mood and symptoms tracker journal available to purchase below.
This has been so helpful in knowing my pain feelings, when, how and more.
( I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you)
