How To Distract Yourself From Pain? – Effective Ways To Follow!

Not even a single day passes in our life without feeling some sort of pain. Sometimes it may be a physical or bodily pain and sometimes it may be a mental or psychological pain. Both are often interconnected and one causes the other in many situations. Some pain may take a long time to subside and in due course, we will have to suffer a lot. But are we that helpless before the periods of long excruciating pain? Don’t we have a way out? Can we actually distract ourselves from pain? We will discuss some proven methods that can alleviate your pain.

Feeling Unbearable Pain? Distract Pain Through These 6 Simple Methods!

Distracting yourself from pain is a good technique to overcome situations you feel unbearable pain. Distraction is the act of drawing someone’s attention away from something. You can actually distract yourself from pain to feel much relief. It just means that you use your brain to focus your attention on something different. In this method, you keep your pain in the background and focus on some other activities like playing simple games, counting, breathing, and similar activities. It is to be understood that being stressed, anxious, and depressed can make chronic pain worse. So it is important to try methods that can help in distracting our mind to something that is positive, productive, and healthy. 

You can completely avoid taking pain medications if you follow relaxation, meditation, positive thinking, and other mind-body techniques. You must be careful about drugs prescribed to relieve pain as they have many unpleasant or even serious side effects if used for a long time period.

The distraction method is good if you are looking for a drugless cure for common pain conditions such as backache, arthritis, fibromyalgia, and other chronic pains. In the beginning, it will be difficult to shift our focus from the pain, especially when the pain is very high. So it is advised to practice the techniques you like when the pain is absent or when it is in a manageable condition.

Techniques for distracting yourself from pain

You can use different techniques based on the type of pain, environment, and the people around you. For instance, if you are in a shop, classroom, or at the movies, you can use techniques that do not affect others. If you are at your home, you can listen to music, use a stress ball, or do a puzzle. If the people around you know that you have chronic pain, then you could get them involved for the purpose of distraction. You can chat with them, watch a movie or do some other activities with them. Your family and friends can give you company and lend you support.

Now let’s discuss some techniques in detail that are effective in distracting yourself from pain and reducing stress. Depending upon your mood and condition you can use different techniques. You can also use a combination of these techniques to bring out desired results.

Breathing Exercises

It is one of the most important techniques to distract yourself from pain. You might have noticed that your breathing changes according to your mood. When you are angry or worried your breathing rate will increase. Similarly, when you are calm you breathe slowly.
The reverse is also possible. You can regulate your thoughts if you can control your breathing. Deep breathing is very useful for that purpose. All you have to do is inhale deeply, hold for a few seconds and exhale. It clears your mind of anxious and stressful thoughts and will help to relax.

Enjoy Nature

Sometimes a breath of fresh air and a nice walk through a scenic place is all that you need to relieve yourself. It can bring wondrous changes in your mind and body. There are studies pointing to this fact. According to research, group nature walks can lower depression and stress and can enhance your overall well-being and mental health.
So next time when you get a chance to immerse yourself in the beauties of nature, make full use of it. Walk with your friends or your partner for a better experience. You will not only enjoy the outdoors but also get time to spend quality time with the person concerned. Believe that nature has the ability to wipe off your pains and struggles.

Reading Books

Reading for pleasure is a very efficient way to distract yourself in periods of pain. It can positively impact your mental health and overall well-being. A study has found that reading for pleasure is helpful to increase empathy, improving relationships with others, reduce the symptoms of depression, and improve well-being all through life.
You can read things like short stories, magazine articles, cartoons, poems, plays, novels, biographies, and television or movie scripts. Once you are absorbed in a good book you will find great relief from pain. Books are easy to access and you can get a good collection of books from your library and also from online sources.

Listening to music

Music can be a great savior from pain. Soothing and calming music can help you to distract from the pain. Choose a slow-tempo music genre to help you relax when your pain has increased. For example, you can listen to relaxation or classical music. Once your pain is under control, consider playing something more energizing like jazz, pop, or dancing. Create appropriate playlists to play while you have pain. You can also listen to good audiobooks and podcasts to distract yourself in moments of pain. It can briefly transport you to a painless condition.

Have a good laugh

Laughing is good for your mind and health. We feel great after chuckling with our family and friends. Studies have found that humor therapies can help to reduce pain and stress and increase our overall happiness. Those who participated in humor therapies had a significant decrease in pain and perception of loneliness when compared to those who did not participate in such therapies. Those who undergo humor therapy are found to have a significant increase in life satisfaction and happiness. So look for something to laugh about and a buddy to share it with. Funny movies, comedy nights, and jokes are all good ways to have a good laugh.

Engage in creative activities

Engaging in creative activities can be a good way to distract your mind from the frustrating sensations of pain. Drawing and doodling are good techniques. Use crayons, textas, pencils, pens, and paints to draw, illustrate, or doodle on blank or colored paper or cardboard. Crafting and making models is another technique. You can make things from items around the house or from a local store. Examples of these include collages, scrapbooks, holiday photo books, model cars or airplanes, castles, dollhouses, and so on. You can also spend your time constructing paper models, Lego cities, beaded jewelry, paper mache masks, and so on. Doing origami is also a rewarding activity

In Summary

Various kinds of pain affect us and they are unavoidable in our life. But hopefully, we have numerous distraction techniques that help us to overcome those distressing periods of pain. We have discussed the most effective methods in detail. Next time when you are hit with pain do remember them and practice them. At first, it will be difficult to properly concentrate, but with time and proper practice, you will be able to successfully distract yourself from pain. But do consult your doctor if the pain persists for long.