01 Jun 2007
Many people with back pain tend to have these traits. So how can you reduce these good-day and bad-day over achieving traits?
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Pete Moore explains
First you need to ask yourself these two questions.
- Do you do more on good days and less on bad ones?
- Are you an over achiever – you do more than you have to?
Many people with back pain tend to have these traits. So how can you reduce these good-day and bad-day over achieving traits?
A familiar scene most people with pain can relate to. Over doing it on one day and having to pay the price the next. |  |
Pacing is the key!
Pacing is about spacing out your activities throughout the day to avoid making your pain worse. Many people with persistent back pain push or force themselves to get something accomplished in the short-term. Pacing is the opposite of this.
There is that old proverb – “How do you eat an elephant?’” Answer “One bite at a time.”
Pacing is simply performing tasks/activities in a manageable way – not doing them all at once. It is also learning to move about before your back pain discourages you from moving. Equally, it is also useful to know when to stop before your back pain may begin. In short, pacing is ‘taking a break before you need it.’
Here are some typical everyday tasks/activities that need to be broken up and paced. You may want to add some others of your own to this list. - walking
- sitting
- standing
- vacuuming
- gardening
- cooking
- work
- working at the computer
- cleaning
- reading
All these and other activities you can think of need to be broken down into manageable sized segments.
The three step approach to pacing
Firstly:
You need to become aware of what you are doing. Ideally you need to stop and think before you launch into an activity that soon becomes an over-activity.
Secondly:
Start thinking about why and how you need to do it. Many people with back pain feel pressured from work or their family. But in most cases it is the people themselves who allow themselves to feel pressured, because they want to keep up with others.
Thirdly:
You need to start to develop a new approach for the task/activity. You need to discard the old 'all or nothing' attitude (‘I've got to get this done – now just in case my back pain increases and prevents me from doing so and have to stop and rest’) and opt for a new approach based on the following principles:
The Three Ps to PACING SUCCESSFULLY and keeping you in control are: - Prioritising = prioritise what needs to be done
- Planning = plan what you want to do and how to do it before you begin
- Pacing = gradually does it – you don’t have to do it all at once – take a break before you need it
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Prioritising:
I think the word speaks for itself. Make a list of what you think ne... |
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