5 Tips for Surviving the Holiday Season with Chronic Pain
/By Crystal Lindell
The holiday season kicks off this week, but for people with chronic pain, this time of year can be difficult to navigate.
Below are some tips for surviving the season while also dealing with chronic pain and illness. You can trust that they actually work, because all of them are gleaned from my own experiences of surviving the holidays while dealing with chronic pain myself.
1. Check Your Pharmacy Schedule
A lot of pharmacies are closed on holidays or they close early, so if you have refills scheduled on those days, it’s best to plan ahead. Make sure you know when they are open so you can get your medications.
If you have a refill scheduled for a day when your pharmacy is closed, you may want to ask your doctor if they can send in any refill prescriptions the day before the holiday.
In my experience, a lot of doctors are surprisingly accommodating about this. Of course, if they refuse, you can ration out your medication a little so that you have enough to cover the holiday.
2. Embrace Pre-Made Food
One of the most draining tasks over the holiday season is cooking. So, I highly recommend embracing pre-made food options.
Whether that means grabbing pre-made sides from the grocery store or ordering a fully prepared holiday feast from a local restaurant, outsourcing the labor of cooking can be a huge help if you have chronic pain.
Obviously though, buying pre-made food does usually cost more than cooking from scratch, but if you’re really in a pinch, I do have one more suggestion: Order takeout.
Fast food is usually inexpensive and quick, which means you’ll have more time and energy to actually enjoy the holiday season with loved ones.
Later, when you look back on those memories, it won’t matter if dinner was tacos or chicken wings, as long as you were all together.
3. Include Rest Days in Your Holiday Plans
If you have multiple family functions to attend, try your best to plan days of rest into your schedule.
Put “Rest” on your calendar as though it were any other required activity. And if it conflicts with other events, don’t be afraid to say that you just can’t make it.
I know that saying “no” is easier to suggest than actually accomplish, especially when it comes to family. So if you do get pressured into doing multiple events in a row, just do your best to schedule an equal number of guilt-free rest days afterward. Emphasis on the “guilt-free.”
For example, if you have plans on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, try to use Dec. 26 and Dec. 27 to recover. And I don’t mean, spend those days cleaning up, I mean actual rest.
When you’re dealing with chronic illness, providing your body with rest is just as important as providing food.
4. Wear Compression Socks on Long Trips
Swollen feet and ankles are a common side effect of both chronic illness and many prescription medications.
So, if you’re traveling this holiday season — whether it’s a three-hour flight or a one-hour drive — I highly recommend wearing compression socks during your trip. Aside from preventing swelling, they can also help prevent dangerous blood clots.
5. Use Gift Bags
Wrapping gifts is a lot more time consuming than people usually like to admit, so do yourself a favor and just use gift bags instead. And save the ones you get, so you can reuse them next year.
Gift bags don’t have to be expensive either. If you head over to Dollar Tree, you can find a wide assortment of gift bags for just $1.25 each.
The holiday season can easily turn into a series of stressors and pain triggers, but if you plan ahead and allow yourself some grace, you still can enjoy it — even with chronic pain.
