by Carol Harper | Sep 8, 2015 | Inspirational Quote
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by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Dec 3, 2014 | Wellness Blog
Most of what I write about in this blog is derived from the science of pain management. But, I also find lessons about coping with pain in daily life. Those lessons often correspond to science-based recommendations. Today I want to talk about something I have...
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Oct 22, 2014 | Wellness Blog
When you think about your own pain experience, you may first think about how much you hurt. But, the full pain experience is actually broader than “how much”. The Initiative on Methods, Measurement, and Pain Assessment in Clinical Trials (IMMPACT) is a group of 27...
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Sep 24, 2014 | Wellness Blog
People with chronic pain often say that their partner, family, friends, co-workers, or boss don’t seem to understand their pain problem or what it is like to live with pain. You may wonder if others understand the impact of chronic pain on daily life, whether...
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Sep 23, 2014 | Wellness Blog
Your chronic pain problem may have knocked you off course. Your personal, family, work, health, and social goals may have been derailed. You may feel as though you are simply stuck, unable to go forward and incapable of going back to your old life. Sometimes it...
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Mar 17, 2014 | Featured, Only Online, Wellness Blog
Fear is a natural and common reaction to pain. When pain becomes chronic, fear can become an ongoing part of the pain experience. I have talked about ways to manage fear in a previous blog. Today, I want to talk about another aspect of fear. Chronic fear will tend...
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Feb 25, 2014 | Featured, Only Online, Wellness Blog
Pain can be scary. If you have chronic pain, you may have become chronically fearful – afraid of loss of control, scared that simple movement may increase your pain, afraid that you may re-injure yourself merely by doing what you need to do to live your life, and...
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Feb 10, 2014 | Depression, Featured, Only Online, Wellness Blog
It can be difficult to feel thankful when you live with chronic pain. Because pain may interfere with important areas of life, you may have suffered some difficult losses. Over time, you may have become more resentful and less thankful. But, if you take the...
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Dec 5, 2013 | Wellness Blog
Chronic pain can make your goals seem unimportant or unreachable. Your pain may interfere with your social goals, career goals, or family goals. Personal goals like exercise, hobbies, reading, or learning something new may have fallen by the wayside too....
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Oct 16, 2013 | Wellness Blog
Chronic pain often gets in the way of life. Pain can cancel, interrupt, delay, interfere with, and diminish living. The worst part is that it can make you afraid to try again tomorrow. It can challenge your beliefs in your ability to do what you want to do in...
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Sep 26, 2013 | Wellness Blog
Stress can make chronic pain worse. Whether you suffer from headaches, arthritis, abdominal pain, temporomandibular disorder, or any other chronic pain condition you may benefit from identifying methods to reduce the stress in your life. One approach to stress...
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Sep 16, 2013 | Wellness Blog
Felix Naughton and his colleagues conducted a study to examine the relationship between sleep quality, depression, pain severity, and disability. Their results (reported in the journal Pain) showed that sleep quality did not directly affect disability, but rather...
by Linda S. Ruehlman, PhD | Aug 30, 2013 | Wellness Blog
Living with severe pain can be a trigger for depression, a sense of loss of who you are and who you will become, and a belief that you can’t manage your pain or your life. It is true that pain often changes people. You may have lost some of the positive abilities...
