Tara Miller, Q.C. – May 2020
As part of MDW Law’s continued personal injury client support, this post is part of our ongoing interviews with health providers who share their advice for treatment support when accessing traditionally treatment during COVID is very limited.
Natalie is an experienced osteopath and athletic therapist at Cove Sport Therapy https://cliniciansolutions.net/covesporttherapy/. Located on beautiful Lake Banook, Cove Sport Therapy focuses on a personalized, whole health hands-on care approach to client care. Physiotherapy clients of Cove Sport Therapy continue to access physiotherapy treatment via tele-health with booking information available at https://cove.janeapp.com/. However, clients of osteopathy, massage and other clinical services to manage chronic pain no longer have any ability to access this treatment. Natalie has valuable advice for her clients and others to help them manage their chronic pain until hand-on treatment can resume.
Natalie stresses the first priority in managing chronic pain during COVID-19 is to take care of mental health. Research is clear the physical sensation of pain is increased by mental stress. With such an intertwining of the two, taking steps to proactively address your mental health will always lower physical pain.
With mental health a priority, and consistent with Cove Sport Therapy’s whole health approach, Natalie has a list of 10 things to ensure become part of your daily routine for further support.
1. Drink LOTS of Water: Pain is worse if people are not well hydrated as inflammatory markers are pronounced if dehydrated.
2. Have a Healthy Breakfast: A plate full of food with a rainbow of colors will aid in managing pain.
3. Have a Healthy Lunch: The same rainbow of colors as breakfast!
4. Have a Healthy Supper: The same rainbow of colors as breakfast and lunch!
5. Spend Time in Nature: This is made much easier with the recent ability to return to Nova Scotia parks.
6. Physical Exercise: This can be tied into #5 (spending time in nature). Moving your body, whether by taking a 20-30 walk/day or accessing many incredible online resources for free, is a valuable tool for managing pain. Recognizing that motivation during COVID-19 can be a big challenge, Natalie recommends even a short daily walk will be helpful.
7. 10 Minute Rehab Moment: For those who cannot access manual treatment, it is still important to spend time each day specifically focused on rehab. This can include doing injury specific home exercises as directed by your treatment providers. Tele-health providers such as physiotherapists can also teach self-care techniques such as teaching clients how to use their own hands to provide manual rehab. Natalie also suggests bringing a second person into your tele-health appointment so they can be taught how to perform certain manual techniques for you at home.
8. Activity of Joy Every Day: Mental health is strengthened by doing something which brings you joy. Make an effort to do something which brings you joy every day whether that be painting, reading a book, baking, playing Fort Night or watching a Netflix show which makes you laugh.
9. Gratitude: Research confirms that daily gratitude brings down physical pain. Take time each day to reflect on 3 things which you are grateful for. These things can be captured in a written journal or even on a private Instagram page for your eyes only where you can record pictures of things/places which bring you gratitude and reflect back on them.
10. Meditation: Similar to gratitude, daily meditation has also been shown to have a positive impact on pain experience. There are many online resources for meditation with one such app “Headspace”. While Headspace is typically a subscription app, it currently has a free section to help weather the COVID storm which includes many resources. https://www.headspace.com/headspace-meditation-app. There are also many online meditation resources available on Youtube.
If you have any questions regarding your accident claim and accessing treatment, then please reach out to one of our Personal Injury team for a free consult. Contact us at 902.422.5881 or info@mdwlaw.ca