recovery Archives - The Health Sessions

How Alternative Forms of Therapy Improved the Quality of My Life

This article is written by Trevor McDonald.

It was 8 a.m. on a Monday morning, and my alarm clock had been buzzing for nearly an hour. I was going to be late to work again. My pain kept me up until about 3 a.m. the previous night, and it was back with a vengeance. Time to pop another opioid painkiller. Could I remember a time when I wasn’t high?

Everything is a little fuzzy, and the pain persists. These pills aren’t working like they used to. I’d stop taking them altogether if only I could. But I can’t…

Not everyone who takes opioid painkillers gets addicted, but many people do. When your pain is chronic, and painkillers are the only reprieve, it’s difficult to avoid addiction.

Like every other fortunate addict, I eventually found my way out. But painkillers were no longer an option. I have scoliosis and suffer from chronic back pain from a bulging disc. Even after dragging myself back from the pits of addiction, I suffered. I wish I could convey how hard it was to go through recovery with chronic pain, but I know some of you know exactly what it’s like. I’m not the only one who has walked this path.

The pain was a constant trigger and it held me back from living a full life. One day, I decided to take control. It’s easy to feel hopeless in the face of adversity. But it’s important to remember that most problems have solutions.

Traditional methods failed me, but I found hope and happiness through alternative forms of therapy. I want to share the methods that worked for me, but I’m a firm believer that everyone is different. When it comes to alternative therapies, especially, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

Here are some of the alternative therapies that worked well for me.

7 Tips for Managing Your Arthritis Symptoms Naturally

This article is written by Carolyn Ridland from Caregiver Connection.

Arthritis is a chronic health condition that affects millions of men and women in the United States. It occurs when one or more of the joints become inflamed and cause pain and other symptoms. The two most common types of arthritis are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

If arthritis symptoms are not managed well, the condition can interfere with your quality of life and may even lead to reduced mobility. For these reasons, it is important to understand how arthritis affects the body and what you can do to protect your health.

8 Natural Ways to Optimize Your Immunity

Your immune system works around the clock to ward off bacteria, viruses and other disease-causing microorganisms. But sometimes it fails: a germ slips through your defense systems and you get sick.

Or worse: in reaction to an unknown trigger, the body sometimes produces antibodies that mistakenly attack its own tissues. This type of overactive immune reaction is what happens in auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and lupus.

Although scientifically speaking “boosting your immunity” makes little sense, common habits like chronic stress, a fast food diet and sleep deprivation are known to decrease your body’s ability to fight off foreign invaders. So what can you do to keep your immune system strong – besides washing your hands and practicing good cooking hygiene?

Of course you can’t always prevent getting sick. But a healthy lifestyle does support the functioning of your immune system, keeping your defenses up and running as good as possible.

Have a look at these 8 natural ways to optimize your immunity and fight off the flu.

Functional Fitness: How to Train for Everyday Life

Most of us work out with a specific motivation in mind. Maybe you want to get back in shape, build more muscle or become a better runner. Improving your overall fitness is often just a nice byproduct. But what if training for real-life situations is your main reason for exercising?

Functional fitness is a term used for full-body workouts, during which you don’t train isolated muscle groups but move your body the way you use it in daily life. Instead of bench-pressing or jumping on the cross-trainer, you train your body to do everyday activities more easily and efficiently.

Functional fitness is also the word that best describes my view on exercising with chronic illness – namely focusing on those areas of fitness that improve your health and quality of life the most. Running on the treadmill obviously boosts your fitness, but it may not be the best choice if what you want most is to be able to carry your toddler or sit behind your desk without debilitating back pain.

You probably don’t live to exercise, but exercise to live a full life.

13 Spoonie-Proof Strategies to Improve Your Attention Span

“Where did I leave my keys?”

“It’s on the tip of my tongue…”

We all know what it’s like to be forgetful or have trouble finding the right words. But when your brain constantly lets you down, it has a big impact on your daily life.

Cognitive problems like poor memory, slow thinking, difficulty focusing and mental fatigue are common and frustrating symptoms that accompany many chronic diseases. Mild mental impairments can be the result of physical changes in your body, a side effect from medical treatments or intensified by stress, anxiety and depressive feelings.

People often don’t realise how much cognitive problems affect your everyday activities. When you can’t think as clearly and fast as you used to, it can be hard to finish your studies, perform well at your job, navigate busy traffic safely or even join in on conversations. As a result, having cognitive problems can contribute to loneliness and social isolation almost as much as physical symptoms do.

Attention – the mental ability to focus on one thing while mostly ignoring everything else that’s going on around you – is one of our most basic cognitive functions. It supports countless brain activities, from listening to someone talk and reading this sentence to driving and memorizing new facts.

That’s why the tips below focus on the often-overlooked mental side of recovery: your attention span.

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