5 Daily Habits for Pain Relief

From playing pickleball to taking your grandchildren to the playground, staying active is a major part of your life – and that’s just how it should be. But sometimes, the aches and pains of aging can get in the way. Whether it’s sore knees, lower back pain, or arthritis, these uncomfortable health challenges can stop you from living your most active life.

However, pain relief techniques can help you feel energized and ready to take on the day. Try adding these five daily habits for pain relief to your routine.

1. Prioritize good sleep

While you’re sleeping, your body is busy healing and restoring itself (talk about multitasking). Research has shown that short sleep times, fragmented sleep, and poor sleep quality can make you more sensitive to chronic pain like rheumatoid arthritis^1. . Similarly, people with sleep issues may be more likely to develop fibromyalgia and migraines down the line.

On the other hand, getting high-quality sleep may improve chronic pain². Start by instituting good sleep habits into your bedtime routine. Go to bed and wake up at the same time each day, and avoid using electronics close to bedtime. You could also try light stretching, meditation, or reading a relaxing book to signal your body that it’s time to go to bed.

2. Stay hydrated

When you’re dehydrated, your body pulls fluids out of your tissues, which can worsen any existing aches and pains. Dehydration can also slow healing and lead to injury.³ Hydration helps counteract these pains because the water that moves through your body is key in keeping your muscles, tissues, and cartilage soft and pliable. Aim to drink half your body weight in ounces every day.

3. Avoid inflammatory foods

Certain inflammatory foods may worsen pain as they trigger an immune response in your body. Your body tries to “purify” itself in response to these toxins. Sometimes, that inflammatory response sticks around even after the toxins have been eliminated. An anti-inflammatory diet can help regulate your immune system’s response and assist with pain management.

Most experts agree that a Mediterranean diet that limits processed foods is best for chronic pain. Fill up on whole fruits, dark leafy greens, nuts, vegetables, and whole grains. Omega-3 fatty acids (found in salmon, olive oil, and avocados) can also help reduce inflammation.

4. Exercise daily

This tip might seem counterintuitive, but regular movement is essential to pain relief. Exercise can help decrease inflammation, improve mobility, and reduce pain levels.

The goal here is to find movement that feels good for your body. Walking, water aerobics, and yoga are all great options for exercises that are gentle enough to do every day. Weight training can also help reduce pain and stiffness while increasing flexibility in people with arthritis.

5. Treat sore muscles and joints

To supplement the rest of these habits, add in a pain relief treatment. With its fast-acting, cooling menthol formula, Biofreeze provides powerful pain relief for sore muscles, joints, simple backaches, sprains, strains and arthritis. It’s available in a variety of formats to make it easy to apply on both small and large muscle areas (even the spots that are tough to reach). And you can rest easy knowing it isn’t tested on animals and is formulated without NSAIDs.

Use Biofreeze after an especially active day, for those aches and pains that come along with it. It’s safe to use for penetrating pain relief on your back, neck, shoulders, knees, hands, wrists, elbows, feet, and ankles.

By adding these pain relief strategies to your life, you’re free to take on whatever the day holds. With Biofreeze at your side, you can feel confident knowing even if pain flares up, you’ve got the tools for powerful relief.

Click here to find the powerful pain relief of Biofreeze.

 

^Sources:

^{1 https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/pain-and-sleep}

^{2 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24793909/}

^{3 https://www.ptcoa.com/tips-to-avoid-dehydration-pain-relief}