It is one thing to reduce pain levels once you’ve implemented strategies to do this. It’s another to maintain these levels over time.
In all areas of behavior change; whether it be pain, weight, alcohol, opiates, tobacco, OCD, anxiety, depression,etc; the most critical element is to have sufficient support systems in place and to know your triggers that can induce relapse.
Consequently, relapse prevention is just as important as pain reduction. The goal is to reduce negative pain scale ratings, improve positive one’s, then sustain them, keeping the average, healthy rating levels steady over years.
The inability to maintain behavior change is why diet plans often fail. Most people go on a diet plan, then gain their weight back on once they’ve lost weight. Why? Because maintenance strategies to keep weight within a reasonable range over time aren’t in place.
This the same rational
e for pain reduction and pain loss maintenance.
