Pain Relief Techniques for Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
You and your child can reduce your child's long-term (chronic) pain associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) with the following techniques:
- Distraction using activities, conversation, reading, or other forms of entertainment
- Progressive muscle relaxation
- Meditative breathing exercises, such as roll breathing and belly-breathing
- Positive ways of thinking about and coping with pain and illness, as taught in cognitive-behavioral therapy
Mental health professionals (counselors, psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists) and books can provide information and training about these techniques.
Donna Schwartz, a 62-year-old retiree, has the dream snowbird life. She produces and directs comedies at a local theater in Delray Beach, Fla., plays tennis, goes for long leisurely walks almost daily, and drives up to Long Island, N.Y., around the holidays to spend time with her grandchildren. But Schwartz’s life wasn’t so fulfilling several years back. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 1985, the New York native was forced to sell her packaging company and had resigned herself to spending...
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