Best Ways To Prevent a Pain Crisis
Your first line of offense against a pain crisis is communicating clearly with your doctor about what you’ve been experiencing.
By doing that, you’ll ensure that you’re always taking the right kind of medication to prevent the blood cells from clumping. Once that is in place, you can start taking care of yourself.
Since infections can spur a crisis, it’s important to do everything you can to stay healthy. That includes making sure that you’re up to date with your vaccinations. Make sure to keep other conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure under control as well.
If you’re traveling, it’s best to use commercial airlines where you won’t be as affected by changes in the air pressure. Whenever the temperature changes, be prepared to keep warm. Bear in mind that a good night’s sleep is essential to wellness to talk to your doctor about what you need to do to sleep well.
Additionally, your nutrition choices will go a long way in keeping a pain crisis at bay. Just as with sleeping well, eating properly and drinking the right amount of water will boost your body’s immune system responses.
If you don’t exercise regularly, start a routine that doesn’t put pressure on your body. Your doctor can help you to decide what suits you. Other recommended lifestyle changes include cutting cigarettes and alcohol out of your routine as these habits are well known to negatively affect the overall health.
While it’s not always possible to avoid stressful situations, you can develop a strategy to deal with them. Talking to trusted friends or a therapist will help you to deal with what you’re feeling. A general support structure can also help you to maintain the kind of positive outlook that persons who are living with a chronic illness usually benefit from.
A sickle cell disease pain crisis can disrupt your life for short or long periods. It’s possible to treat them but it’s far better to do what you can to prevent the experience. Remember that you’re not doing this on your own. Your doctor can provide invaluable input on all the areas you need to adjust to keep living a healthy life.