Pain Management Tip: Dress for the Occasion

Have you ever noticed a connection between the clothes you wear and your pain levels on a given day?  Do heavy coats or tight shirts affect your posture and increase pain?  Maybe tighter pants make it hard to sit right, or a skirt affects your stride, causing the pain to increase.  It might be helpful for you to take notice of the how your wardrobe affects your pain.

Tip:  Dress for the occasion.

I don't mean that you have to give up on looking fashionable if you want to be comfortable; you don't need to give up jeans for sweats.  All I'm saying is that if your clothes affect your pain levels, you can think ahead based on your plans for the day, and dress accordingly.  You are a human being, and you can think through a problem and find a helpful solution. 

My Experience:  I've noticed a few connections between my clothing and my pain levels.  For example, if I wear a heavy coat while shopping, I'm done for.  Searing pain begins to afflict my upper back within just a few minutes.  I end up being so distracted by the pain that I flee the store, vowing to only shop online from that day forward.  Carrying a purse has a similar effect.  So, I've learned to leave my coat in the car, even on cold days, and carry my wallet in the pocket of my jeans when I shop.  That eliminates both the coat and the purse and generally means I have more stamina to pay attention to what I'm looking at and to shop wisely, rather than making regrettable purchases just to get out of the store quickly. 

Shoes are another important piece of this puzzle.  If you have chronic pain problems, you have probably noticed that sensible, comfortable shoes make a big difference.  If I am attending a somewhat fancy event, I'll still try to wear the most comfortable, supportive shoes I can pull off for the occasion.  

In general, I try to wear long shirts that are somewhat loose fitting around the middle.  I'm not talking about baggy clothes, just slightly loose.  If a shirt is too short - meaning that when I sit or stoop or stretch it shows skin - I'm too self-conscious to move comfortably.  If it is too tight, it restricts my movement a little.  But if it's just the right length, and just the right looseness, I can unselfconsciously sit, stand, stoop, stretch, reach, etc in movements that are natural for my body.  This is especially helpful if I need to stretch or reposition myself in order to ameliorate pain episodes.

So think this through.  You may never have noticed a connection between your clothes and your pain.  Maybe it's time to start paying attention to this to see if it can help you lessen your pain problem, even just a little.

Disclaimer:  The Pain Management Tips in this blog are merely ideas and observations from my personal experience of chronic pain and pain management.  I hope my ideas and experience can help you, but I'm not an expert, and really I'm in no position to be giving advice.  Talk to a doctor or pain psychologist for more trustworthy input.  

Brownies You Don't Have to Share

Let's face it.  Going without refined sugar can feel lonely and oppressive when you live in a world where almost everything contains high-fructose corn syrup or white sugar.  I often find myself drooling over carrot cakes in the displays at coffee shops, or dejectedly turning down chocolate chip cookies from coworkers.  

I just need to remind myself that since going refined-sugar-free, I've discovered some wonderfully decadent desserts that also are quite nutritious.  Tasty treats I can feel good about.  

What's great about this kind of decadence is that people who eat a lot of sugar don't think my delicious desserts taste as good as their sugary, buttery options, so it gives me an excuse to not even try to share!  

And, strangely, sometimes these things are so rich and nutritious that I'm full before I can pig out on them the way I want.

Here's an example.  I found this recipe for "Raw Fudgy Brownies," and decided to make a couple of changes to suit the contents of my cupboards.  I didn't have macadamia nuts, and I didn't have time to soak the cashews for 2 hours.  So I tweaked things a little.  Because coconut oil can be pricey, I only used it in the ganache and left it out of the brownie.  

Raw Brownies

2 cup mixture of cashews and almonds, soaked for an hour or more (try other nuts if you like!)

3 dates, chopped

1 cup almond flour (I just ground almonds in the food processor until they were as fine as they'd get without becoming almond butter)

2 Tbsp chopped walnuts

1/2 cup cocoa powder (or more if you want stronger chocolate flavor)

2 Tbsp maple syrup

Ganache

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

 

Soak almonds and cashews for an hour or more.  A few minutes before draining, add the dates to the water.  Strain and place in food processor, pulse until crumbly.

Add almond flour, cocoa powder and maple syrup and pulse until well mixed.  It will eventually become a little doughy, but will still be crumbly.  (Add melted coconut oil ~2 Tbsp or so ~ if you want it to be wetter.)

Dump the mixture into an 8x8 pan lined with wax / parchment paper and press down with back of spoon or with fingers.  

Blend the ganache ingredients in bowl until smooth.  Pour and spread over the brownies.  Chill in refrigerator for 10 to 30 minutes.  

Lift brownies out of pan using wax paper and place on a cutting board.  Cut with a large knife (to avoid sawing).  

Eat as many as you can, and don't worry about sharing with your sugar addict friends!