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Pain Relief Resources
for you to
use at Home

Check out this page for free to use resources for chronic pain relief

​​These resources consist of videos, audios and information, that are designed to encourage you to engage in your own treatment at home.

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  • Relaxation videos

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  • Mindfulness ideas

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  • Information and links from outside the Natural Pain Solutions Website (links cannot always be guaranteed as websites can get updated or information deleted.)

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  • Nutrition and Diet for Pain Management

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  • The use of supplements

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  • Weight Matters

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  • Movement and Exercise

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  • More resources will be added over time - so check back from time to time to find new ideas and techniques.

Relaxation Videos for Chronic Pain Relief

Join Jean and Relax by the River

Many of you are living in cities with little green space or are in an office all day long.

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I invite you to join me by the river that flows through Hagley Park in Christchurch.

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You can switch my voice off if you wish and just watch the ducks doing their duck thing in the river.

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Enjoy

Be Mindful of Your Breath and Listen to Jean's Calm Voice

Mindfulness can give you the opportunity to distract your mind, your brain from its constant focus on chronic pain.

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This short video, above, is an easy, straightforward way to begin to self-care.

 

The reason to start in this way is to take simple steps, rather than have to study, do extensive practice or have to travel to group sessions.

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Please feel free to share with friends or patients as it's only a click away on their mobile phone.

Notice Your Breath Audio

Getting in Touch with your Breath

Find a quiet place to begin 'breath noticing' this is a beginners audio that will talk you through easy steps that Jean has used many times in her clinic working with clients with chronic pain or anxiety.

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It's important to be kind to yourself and not expect too much.

 

This is the start of a journey to self-care and the opportunity to begin to take control of your chronic pain.

Steam Train Emotional Release

Steam Train with Exhaling Emotions

This is my most popular audio, easy to do and always a favourite relaxation.

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Find that quiet place where your body is comfortably supported, close your eyes, listen, imagine and enjoy this magic technique.

Join Jean's Relaxation Online

I offer a large range of methods and simple, easy to use ideas to holistically treat chronic pain and the stress, anxiety and daily challenges that accompany your persistent pain.

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Not Available at the moment

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First and Third Tuesday of Month 

6.30pm NZ time

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Thirty minutes of interactive meeting to learn and practice easy meditation, mindfulness and relaxation that encompass, emotional, physical and your mind to take into everyday life.

Welcome from Jean your Natural Pain Therapist.jpg

Nutrition and Diet - Eating for Pain Management

There is a need for a healthy diet.

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  • Pain causes fatigue, therefore may be lacking the energy needed to prepare food 

  • We need easy to eat food also 

  • Our favourite food (healthy)

 

"Make these above become a habit. Beware sometimes it's quite easy to start a habit, but to make it a habit takes a little bit of effort."

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"Start a stepwise approach to eating more fruit and vegetables - by adding one more piece, normalise, then add one more....."

 

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I decided to have a look at food and eating advice various countries provided for their population as it's generally easy to find online. I found the information below that you might find useful.

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1. NZ - at least 5 vegetables and 2 fruits

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2. UK - have 5 portions of fruit and vegetables - 2022 

This site is interesting site doesn't expect too much of a non-vegetable eater, with advice just to add 'one more piece of fruit or vegetable - a stepwise approach' in an informative video.

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3. Australia - Again recommendations are 2 fruit and 5 vegetables, although a little more complicated information from their official 2013 dietary guidleines

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4. Canada - easy to use information, about healthy eating - down to earth and easy to understand, not giving particular numbers but helpful ideas to improve the amount of fruit and vegetables you eat. (link) 

 

I particularly like this diagram below from their website.

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Beware processed foods - they contain many "non-researched" manmade chemicals

Ultra-processed foods are increasingly filling the shelves of supermarkets and they contain many, many additives and chemicals that are needed to keep food fresh or to hold it together in certain way.

 

These chemicals are created to stick the pieces of food: that started as food before it was taken, cut into pieces and then reassembled again?

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As far as these chemicals and additives and flavourings, and colourings and stabilisers and emulsifiers  - we have no idea of the affect of long-term eating these ultra processed foods.

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However research is showing that they are not good for us and it's much better to be eating "healthy food", as above.

But what is healthy food?

​​​First be curious about the labelling because "healthy" and "natural" marketing may mean very little or absolutely nothing. Therefore the best diet is fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains and good protein. 

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How did I discover diet really mattered when treating pain? 

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Relevant: Eat your Veggies to Help your Pain

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"If you have chronic pain the first self-help technique needs to be a good diet."

Supplements for Chronic Pain Can be Very Confusing.

Just a brief word here about supplements that so many people take - without noticing the label on all dietary supplements that should say "supplements don't replace a good diet" that I wrote about above.

 

So, before you spend money on supplements make food and eating changes mentioned above.

 

As a naturopath I have prescribed supplements in my practice resulting in improvements in pain and general health. However, nutritional supplements should be used appropriately and their use monitored. 

 

  • Beware of purchasing anything from the Internet.

  • Beware of recommendations from a friend their body's illness is not yours.

  • Get professional advice from a naturopath or nutritionist.

 

There are two ideas as a naturopath that I will suggest you investigate. If not from a naturopath, your local pharmacist may help. Magnesium may be of benefit if you have chronic pain, preferably as a powder as it's easier to digest. And also discuss the use of zinc for chronic pain with your pharmacist, naturopath or doctor.

Link Between Being Overweight and Chronic Pain

Finally there is one thing that needs to be mentioned in relation to what and how you eat, that is weight loss. 

 

  • If you realise your body will benefit from losing weight - make changes.

  • The weight is from the fat that you are carrying - fat is inflammatory.

  • Start with the healthy eating ideas - just make one change, then another....

  • Plus start to bring the portion size down - very important step

  • A key idea to this is to use a small plate.

 

If you have an enormous plate and are trying to put small portions onto that plate it will only make you feel more hungry, and want so much more food. 

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However switch to a small, well filled plate that will satisfy you from the eyes down.

The Importance of Exercise and General Movement for Chronic Pain.

I think this is sometimes the most difficult part of managing or treating chronic pain. If we are in pain the last thing we want to do his move is that painful part of our body. When even thinking about moving that painful body part can immediately make our pain worse, often by various degrees.

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Relevant: Why do Physiotherapists ask Chronic Pain Patients to Exercise?

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So there's a couple of ideas that I think are important for movement and by extension exercise when we are trying to make changes of the intensity or the duration of our chronic pain.

 

  • The movement or exercise that we do must have a purpose.

  • If we are doing exercises to recover or improve our range of motion the exercise has to be, as much as possible, enjoyable or at least rewarding.

  • The movements that we are expected to do must make sense to us, we need to fully understand the what where and how of the movements we are being asked to do.

  • Movement of a body has to be done for our health, physical and mental. As we have to have blood circulation and other enzymes hormones and neurological messages continually working as well as possible.

  • We have to remember that healing and pain relief is not a mechanical process it is a physical and mental process which needs us to be active.

 

 

These two articles below provide information about how your body and brain enable muscles to move your body and to relax.

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Relevant: How movement helps chronic pain (a painless, different treatment option)

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Relevant: 3 Easy ways for relieving back pain

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