PainCornerStore: Assemble Your MultiModal Solution Today

Developing a multimodal system for you is a very personal issue.  What works for me might not work quite as well for you so an effective multimodal system will have to incorporate segments from your personal values.  There are some basic elements that can be added to any multimodal system and these elements are what you can use to build upon.  

You know what kinds of foods you like, comfort foods so to speak and what kind of friends you have.  You will know which friends you can rely on to help you and not become an enabler.  You don't want somebody who will just go with the flow and not be there to support you when needed and challenge you at other times.

You will need to identify your resources that you will use to build your multimodal system.  Of course one of those resources is this website.  From there you will need the support of your spouse or significant other.  Your children will need to know about the situation based on their ages and maturity to handle the situation.  Extended family can prove helpful as well.  Then there are you coworkers and friends.  The people you select will need to be made aware of your situation merely so they can be supportive and offer a second line of support.  Once you have the people side selected you can move to the other segments.

Here are the segments as I see them:

Supporters: family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, church members, clergy

Food:  easy to fix recipes, healthy foods, plenty of water, balanced diet, daily vitamin

Exercise:  simple to follow regimen, workout partner, place to workout/room to workout, chart to note progress, workout equipment as useable

Mental:  place to meditate, meditation process, music to meditate to/mood music, books to read, interactive games to keep you involved, "sharpen the saw" processes, stress relievers, hobbies

Recovery:  comfort products, massage products, heating pads, ice packs/ice recirculators, medications as prescribed by your doctors

Social:  neighbors to visit and to visit you, local activities to attend, social internet activities if desired, volunteer projects, family time, family events

Intimate:  select time with spouse/significant other, conversation, cuddling, date night, massage

Spiritual:  meditate, commune with self, reflection, forgiveness, anxiety relief, prayer, spiritual readings, motivational readings,

Those are the segments I would suggest and you can always add more.  Don't think that you are limited to the tasks that I noted.  You can always expand those task, eliminate some or modify them.  Remember, the multimodal system will only be effective if you put your mark on it.  You must add things that are significant and impactful to you.  Only you know what you think and feel so use that as your guide to adding different tasks to each segment.  

The emphasis should be on not allowing the pain to dictate your life schedule by adding in segments that move you through each day.  Taking care of your body and mind while fighting thru severe and chronic pains and pain flareups only serves to help you tolerate the pain better.  When you exercise in severe moderation, remember to keep it simple.  You just want to keep your body moving, keep the blood flowing, the muscles tone, joints flexible and help keep the free radicals flowing and cells rebuilding.  

You're not training for the triathalon so don't overdo it and put yourself in a tailspin that's worse than the pain you're already in.

See the website for more tips, ideas, information and methods to work through segment of a multimodal pain tolerations solution.