BACK PAIN

Getting involved in managing your own medical condition or helping those you love or care for to manage theirs is a vital step towards keeping as healthy as possible. Whilst the healthcare team can help you with epxert advice and guidance,nobody knows your body, your symptoms and what is right for you as well as you do.

There is no long term (chronic) medical condition or illness that I can think of where the person concerned has absolutely no influence at all on their situation. The way you choose to live your life, from the food you eat to the exercise you take, will impact upon your disease, your well-being and how able you are to cope. You are in charge!

Being involved in making choices about your treatment helps you to feel in control of your problems, and makes sure you get the help that you really need. Research shows that when people living with a chronic illness take an active role in looking after themselves, they can bring about significant improvements in their illness and vastly improve the quality of life they enjoy.
Of course, there may be occasions when you feel particularly unwell and it all seems out of control. Yet most of the time there are plenty of things that you can do in order to reduce the negative effects that your condition can have on your life. This way you feel as good as possible and may even be able to alter the course of your condition.

So how do you gain the confidence and skills to take an active part in managing your condition, communicate with health professionals and work through sometimes worrying and emotive issues?

The answer is to become better informed. Reading about your problem, talking to others who have been through similar experiences and hearing what the experts have to say will all help to build up your understanding and help you to take an active role in your own health care.

I hope this post will provide an invaluable source of help,giving you the facts that you need in order to understand the key issues and discuss them with your doctors and other professionals involved in your care. I also hope that you will be able to play an active part in the successful management of your condition.