One of the biggest issues that can give you a difficult time as a caregiver is your own chronic pain situation. If you’re not managing your own pain effectively, that can throw a massive wrench into your plans as a caregiver. You can’t take care of your senior well when you’re experiencing your own issues.
Caregiver Staten Island NY – Are You Dealing with Your Own Chronic Pain Issues?
Pain Is Just One More Thing for You to Manage
Honestly, when you’re a caregiver you’re already handling so very much for yourself and for other people. Chronic pain is a huge situation to manage and it detracts from everything else that you’re having to manage. If you’ve got your pain levels under control, either through treatments you’re trying or remedies like physical therapy, you’re going to be far more capable in terms of handling all those other details.
Your Sleep Can Be Affected
Pain steals a lot from you, including your rest. When you’re not sleeping well, you’re not recovering and you’re not able to be as on top of everything as you want to be. No matter what types of sleep problems you’re having, that’s going to affect you in other areas of your life, including caregiving. Figuring out what helps you to sleep well might mean trying set bedtimes, adding appropriate exercise to your daily routine, and talking with your doctor about other solutions.
Pain Costs You Emotionally
When you’re in pain and you’re not sleeping well, your emotions are bound to be a little on edge. Couple that with being a caregiver and you’ve got a lot on your plate emotionally speaking. Managing your pain properly is going to give you a way to manage other things effectively, too, starting with your emotional health.
Pain Makes Everything More Difficult, Including Caregiving
The bottom line is that being in pain makes everything that much more difficult to deal with, to navigate, and to handle. It’s distracting and it doesn’t allow you to put your best foot forward, no matter how much you might want to do so. There’s also the very real fact that your pain means that you can’t be as supportive of your senior as you want to be.
Touch base with your own doctor if it’s been a while since you’ve done so. There may be new treatments you can try to manage your pain more effectively. You owe it to yourself and to the people that you love to be in the best condition possible as a caregiver.
