Pain is the body’s way of telling that something is not
quite right. Unfortunately it is not always possible to pin down what exactly
is wrong, or what the cause of the pain is. Pain is experienced when certain
nerve endings are stimulated to send messages of pain to the brain.
Normally, chronic pain is experienced due to an illness or
medical condition, for example arthritis. When pain is localized, for instance
a headache, heartburn, or toothache, it may be due to temporary ailments.
Naturally, injuries also trigger pain.
As a remedy, it was found that progressive muscle relaxation
can ease tension and subsequently alleviate pain.
Here is what to do:
1. Sit comfortably in a chair with a straight back, with the
body in a 90⁰ relation to the chair. The hands must be in the lap and the feet
solid on the floor. All clothes, like belt, tie, and other tight fitting
clothes must be loosened. When in a comfortable, relaxed composure, take a deep
breath and exhale very slowly.
2. The next step is to extent one of the arms in front of
the body. Make a tight fist, and tense the muscles of the hand as hard as possible.
Keep and hold this position for a count of 5 whilst concentrating on the
tension in the hand.
3. Then, slightly relax the hand for a second or two and
tense the muscles again for a count of 5.
4. Now, totally release the tension, relax and take a deep
breath and very slowly exhale.
5. The next step is to repeat the sequences in 2-4 for the
other hand, then for the arms, shoulders and facial muscles, taking deep
breaths between each muscle group until the entire upper body is relaxed.
6. When this is done, the same routine must be followed for
the lower body, tensing and relaxing muscles of the stomach, buttocks, legs,
and feet.
7. With the entire body subjected to the tensing and
relaxing of muscles, close the eyes and sit quietly and relaxed for at least 5
minutes. Breathe deeply; concentrate on any word that comes to mind, or a
number or even a nice scene.
Just remember, pain that is unusual, very tense and last
more than one day, growing steadily worse or is accompanied by fever, vomiting
and other symptoms, warrants prompt medical attention.
Daniel
