When pain sets in for the long-term, it is not just your body that will suffer.
Little by little, it will affect your mood, sleep will become difficult and your hand movements will become hesitant. It will affect your social life as well.
With rhizarthrosis you may start to experience pain almost on an everyday basis. How do you carry on regardless? How do you prevent the pain from becoming all-encompassing? This is where psychological management comes in.
It is an essential component of improving your life with rhizarthrosis, alongside physical or medical treatment.
Understanding the psychological impact of the pain
Chronic pain, like the pain caused by rhizarthrosis, has major repercussions for your mental balance.
It can cause the following:
Added to that is the problem of hypervigilance: the more you worry about the pain, the more omnipresent it seems. This is also known as kinesiophobia – the fear of movement or physical activity – and it reinforces inactivity and malaise.
Breaking out of this vicious circle requires work on both the body and the mind.
Tools for coping with the pain
Different approaches can help regain control and reduce the mental burden of pain:
Techniques that everyone can try, such as cardiac coherence exercises or abdominal breathing, can help to calm your nervous system and improve your stress management. And they also help with pain perception.
CBTs are a scientifically validated form of treatment, which help to identify the negative thoughts associated with pain and manage them better: fear of deterioration, anxious anticipation, loss of confidence, etc. They can also help you to gradually resume certain activities.
These methods, which help to change the way people deal with pain, should be supervised by professionals trained in pain management (specialist doctors or psychologists). They do not make the symptoms disappear, but they can help to improve tolerance and reduce anxiety.
This involves concentrating on the present and suspending judgement. It can gradually help you to stop ‘fighting’ the pain and instead to welcome it differently, thereby reducing its grip on your mind.
Better sleep to cope with the pain
Sleep is a natural pain regulator.
To make sure you sleep better:
Good-quality sleep boosts your ability to adapt to chronic pain.
Diet – an undervalued but genuine source of support
Certain foods have a beneficial effect on mental balance:
These dietary habits should form part of an overall strategy, as discussed under ‘Prevention and education’.
Stay active… but gently does it
Exercise activates endorphins, our feel-good hormones, and so adapted physical exercise is essential:
Our page on ‘How to maintain thumb mobility despite rhizarthrosis’ provides practical tips on how to stay active, within your limits.
Learning to manage pain flare-ups
A simple 3-step method can help with dealing with intense pain:
The role of support
Pain isolates. If you are listened to, supported and understood, then it makes all the difference.
Talking to a healthcare professional (psychologist, pain specialist, physiotherapist) can help you regain confidence. Some people also find comfort in discussion groups, where they can talk to other people who are affected by the condition.
And do not forget your day-to-day hand movements, tasks and activities: simplify your hand movements, use suitable grip aids and let yourself slow down without feeling guilty about it.
That is an integral part of psychological management.
Remember:
Living with rhizarthrosis is about much more than just your joints.
it’s about maintaining an overall balance between movement and rest, treatment and adaptation, body and mind. You cannot fight chronic pain just using medication.
You need to understand it and tame it… and handle it using the right tools.
