Forward Progress Through Work/Rest Cycles
Learning to live with and become functional with chronic pain can often be a painful journey. For me, there were many days where I felt as though I was making no forward progress at all. In fact, in my first year, I often had days where I felt as though I was moving in reverse. This can be extremely demoralizing for people who simply want to return to their former lives. However, some of my best advancements in functional activity came when I started utilizing work/rest cycles. As always, before employing these tactics, you should check with your medical providers to see if this information is recommended for you.
Early on in my journey to becoming functional with chronic pain, I was fortunate enough to meet a physician’s assistant who worked with the neurologist I see for my pain issues. One of the best pieces of advice she ever provided me was to break up my physical activity into work/rest cycles. In 2003, after my pain started, most days were extremely trying for me. Before the onset of my pain, I often worked anywhere from 8-12 hours a day building my new insurance business. If I wasn’t working on my business, then I was likely working on the home my new wife and I purchased only about two months before the onset of my pain (it was our first home). While my employment work was not terribly physical, the work around our new home often was quite physical as we were totally re-landscaping the yard, updating things in the house, etc. We practically bought the home so we could experience the joys of DIY projects we watched on HGTV. Ah, to be young, healthy, and energetic! However, after my pain started, I was reduced to being able to load the dishes in the dishwasher and, if I was lucky and feeling good, folding a load of towels before needing an extended break. I often found myself doing as much as I could for as long as I could, until the pain became unmanageable and I literally could hardly move my arm. At this point in time, my pain averaged about a 6-7 on a scale of 1-10, with flares taking it to an 8-10 level.
In the fall of 2003, the physician’s assistant introduced me to work/rest cycles. Rather than working until I hurt so badly that I could hardly move my arm, she suggested I set specific amounts of time to be active, immediately followed by specific amounts of time for rest. The key was to follow the prescribed time periods. The object wasn’t to try and accomplish as much as possible in the allotted work time; rather, the object was to simply be active for a specified period doing activities that were within my capabilities, then resting, and then repeating the cycle as often as possible. Unfortunately, my capabilities were very much diminished at this point, but I was willing to try anything.
I started with work/rest cycles of about 10 minutes. I would work on doing dishes and laundry for 10 minutes. When my 10 minutes were up, I would stop my activity and rest for an equal amount of time. Initially, I was able to complete 3 work/rest cycles of 10 minutes before needing closer to a one hour break after the third work cycle. While that doesn’t sound like a high volume of activity, this new method allowed me to increase what I could get done. It also slowly allowed me to build a tolerance for being active, and within a few of months, I was doing 20-30 minute work/rest cycles. While I still needed the one-hour break after the third work/rest cycle, this was a vast improvement in my functional abilities and I was thrilled.
As time progressed, I continued utilizing the work/rest cycle method, increasing my both my strength and pain tolerance. Today, I am back to work full-time. While my career does not involve much physical labor (I sit at a desk and use a computer all day), I am now able to once again do yardwork (such as mowing my grass, planting small plants, etc.) as well as some smaller home improvement projects. I still have pretty regular pain flares, but I am more in tune with what will cause them and what is needed to reduce the pain back to manageable levels (rest, heat, stretches, etc.).
If you’re having trouble functioning with chronic pain, perhaps work/rest cycles would work well for you. While it may not allow you to be as active as before your pain began, it may allow you to become more active than you currently are, and when dealing with chronic pain, I’ve learned functionality and activity are the ultimate goals. Again, as I noted above, please check with your medical provider before employing this (or any technique you read about on any site) to make sure it fits within appropriate care methods for your particular situation. Please feel free to comment here on your experiences and let me know if work/rest cycles improve your functionality, or other suggestions you may have to share. Good luck to you all and remember, forward progress toward functionality is the goal.
