Law enforcement officers will likely deal with injuries and/or illnesses resulting in chronic pain at some point during their career. Unlike acute pain from an injury that resolves itself over time, chronic pain involves much more than the physical pain itself. Often, chronic pain sufferers are faced with additional emotional and psychological challenges that accompany the pain experience. Many officers who deal with chronic pain view it as a normal byproduct of a physically demanding job. The negative impact of chronic pain on general well-being is often diminished among law enforcement personnel who are trained to suck it up and keep pushing through the discomfort. Ineffectively managed pain can be the driving force for self-medication via alcohol, over-the-counter medications, prescription medications and even illicit substances in extreme situations.

Brain scans of those who experience chronic pain show that most of the activity takes place in the emotional processing areas of the brain rather than sensory processing areas. The stress from chronic pain has been shown in research studies to alter the nervous system and emotional functioning in profound ways. Although physical pain is a real thing, our brains can intensify or reduce our perception of pain. This means that chronic pain sufferers have additional possibilities to overcome pain.

Pendulation exercise. One technique for pain control involves shifting attention from the painful part of your body to another part of your body that has an absence of pain. Sit or lay as comfortably as possible. Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Next, focus your attention on an area of pain or discomfort in your body. As you focus on that area, describe in detail how the pain feels. Is it sharp or dull? Hot or cold? Consistent or sporadic? Do your best to remain focused on the descriptive details of your pain, not any other thoughts or feelings you may have about it. After spending no more than a minute or so on the pain area, shift your attention to a part of your body that is absent of pain. For example, your ear lobe or the tip of your nose. As you focus on this new area, describe in detail how it feels. Is it light or heavy? Hot or cold? Do your best to remain focused on the sensation of what this absence of pain feels like. After spending no more than a minute or so on the area without pain, shift back to the painful part of your body. Again, focusing on the sensation. Then, shift back to the part of your body that is absent of pain. Continue to shift back and forth, spending approximately one minute on the area you are focused on. As you do this exercise, be sure to pay attention to your breathing and try to maintain an evenly paced, slow breath. End the exercise on the part of the body that is absent of pain. You should notice your perception of pain decreasing over time when you are not paying attention to the painful area.

Pain thinking exercise. Another technique for pain control involves reframing pain-maintaining thoughts such as, “Not again … I can’t do this … it’s going to be a terrible day.” How you think about pain can increase or decrease your perception to pain. Rather than making definitive or predictive statements, acknowledge your pain as it exists in that moment and remind yourself that it will not always feel this bad and that you have made it through days feeling this way before. It can also help to create some emotional distance with your pain. For example, instead of saying “I’m miserable,” try something like “I’m feeling miserable right now because of my pain.” Rather than label yourself as the emotion, acknowledging the emotion in the moment and why you are feeling that way creates a sense of feeling without having to let it consume you.

Meditation. Meditation has been found to reduce the distress associated with experiencing chronic pain and even reducing the sensation of the pain itself. This has a lot to do with how connected you feel with your body, mind and spirit. While you cannot always control the source of your pain, you can achieve a sense of calm within the chaos. Meditation helps you ground your senses, clear your mind of thoughts and focus on the moment. It helps to reduce stress and place your nervous system in a state that promotes healing. You can find many meditation scripts and tools online or through apps such as Calm or Headspace.

Yoga, Pilates and swimming pool exercises. Yoga, Pilates and swimming pool exercises are great low-impact resources to help you maintain some muscle strength, enhance your breathing skills and boost your mental focus. Always check with your medical provider before participating in any workout routine to ensure it is healthy to do so. These exercise resources often have available modifications to compensate specific injuries or functional deficits.

Formal psychological interventions. There are many psychological interventions available to help you manage pain control when used in conjunction with medical interventions. For example, neurofeedback, cognitive behavioral therapy and EMDR modalities are known to be helpful for chronic pain sufferers.

As always, be sure to utilize your support system or bring in additional resources to bolster your support system. Managing chronic pain is no easy task and doing so with the help of other people and tools is much better than doing it alone.