My Pain Management is most appropriate for people who are experiencing chronic pain. The site provides a variety of exercises for managing pain. The exercises are not intended to be specific to a particular condition or cause of pain. Since the symptoms of pain can vary and pain is a very personal experience, everyone will have different ways of handling their pain.

Therefore, some techniques may work for you and others may not. As you visit different modules, you may find that you prefer some exercises more than the others. In order to manage your pain, you may need to combine a variety of techniques and strategies. Feel free to explore! Discover what you like and what works best for you.

The techniques provided on this site are not meant to replace any pain treatments you already use. You should continue to work with your physician to address any physical health problems you are having, including pain. You should contact a medical professional if you have severe or unexplained pain.

How to Use the Modules

Before you begin to explore your options for managing pain, you may need to stop and think about your relationship with pain—how you respond to pain and what you are currently doing to manage pain. If this is your first visit to My Pain Management, we recommend trying the modules in the following order:

Step 1: Visit the Planning for Change module to better understand how to make a change in managing your pain. The module includes worksheets that you can use to reflect on your own experience, if you wish. Similar versions of these same worksheets are included in each module. They can help you think more specifically about your responses to pain and how you plan to continue using any specific exercises that you found helpful.

Step 2: Learn the Abdominal Breathing exercise. This technique will help you in a wide variety of situations. In addition, you must master abdominal breathing before learning the relaxation exercises.

Step 3: After you are comfortable with abdominal breathing, work on the Relaxation exercises. These are also helpful in a wide variety of situations.

Step 4: Try any of the other exercises, in any order you like.

Step 5: Once you have mastered the modules you find helpful, then visit the Next Steps module to put together a self care plan or to learn more about managing chronic pain.

You may notice some repetition in the modules, particularly in the worksheets. This is intentional because some people may not want to use all of the modules or they may not have started with the Planning for Change module. Again, use what works for you!

If you are ready to try an exercise, click on one of the following:

• Abdominal Breathing
• Relaxation
• Appreciation & Pleasure
• Expressing Yourself through Writing
• Appreciative Writing
• Writing About Difficult Experiences
• Visual Expression