Imagine your child comes to you at night complaining of a bellyache. Likely, you begin to consider a number of possibilities – “Do they have a GI bug? Did they eat too much? Not enough? Maybe they need to use the bathroom?” Now imagine that your child’s belly issues start to occur more regularly, over the course of several months. Understandably, this may create more concerns and worries for you and your child.
Almost all people experience pain, which is a signal from our brain to our body that something is wrong. However, when pain persists over time, it may be considered chronic pain. Chronic pain is a discomfort that has lasted 3 months or more, even after an injury or tissue damage has healed. It can exist anywhere in the body and is common in children and adults. Common areas include the stomach, headaches, back, pelvis, or even pain throughout the entire body. Management of chronic pain is very different than for pain from an injury (acute pain).
It is likely a good idea to check with your pediatrician about your child’s pain. If it is chronic pain, these tips are the top ways to manage pain so it doesn't get in the way of your child living their best life!
Focus on Healthy Habits
Sleep is important for restoring energy for the next day, as well as for healing, learning, and regulating mood. Focus first on keeping consistent sleep/wake times, limiting naps, and turning off screens the hour before bed. For age-specific recommendations, visit sleep education.
Exercise helps our brain know that movement is safe. For acute pain, rest is best. But for chronic pain, gradually introducing low-impact movement is an important way to calm down the pain signals and help keep a focus on functioning.
Nutritious foods and hydration ensure bodies stay healthy and get the fuel needed to keep up with daily demands.
Participation in social activities gets youth out of the house to spend time with friends and family, which can help with improvement in mood.
Stress management is a key part of managing chronic pain. Stress can often lead to worse pain, so it’s important for youth to have a set of skills to manage daily stress.
Use Relaxation/Coping Strategies
With chronic pain, the nervous system is often more sensitized. So, using skills to relax the brain and body are important to calming down the nervous system, which can lead to fewer pain signals. Some helpful relaxation and coping skills include:
Relaxed/belly breathing and other calming exercises like imagery or progressive muscle relaxation
Once pain becomes chronic, we don’t want the brain focusing much on the pain sensation. Sometimes our thoughts can be negative and/or fearful, which can lead us away from functioning and even contribute to worse pain. Because of this, it’s important to make sure our responses to pain are helpful and focused on coping.
Youth are encouraged to focus on daily functioning, rather than overly focus on pain. They are recommended to notice thoughts that are negative or fearful and consider new ways of thinking about their pain (for example, they may think “I have pain today, and I am going to use my coping skills and not let pain get in the way”).
Parents/caregivers, teachers, coaches, and other supportive adults should support this approach and decrease how much the child focuses on pain. Instead, adults can provide encouragement to focus on functioning and using the above skills to manage pain.
Working together with your child’s health care team on pain management can help your entire family live a full and active life.
Amy Hahn, PhD, is a part of the pediatric psychology physician team at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
Hannah N. McKillop, PhD
Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Hannah N. McKillop, PhD, is a psychologist in the Division of Pediatric Psychology and Neuropsychology at Nationwide Children's Hospital and a clinical assistant professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine.
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