How to Stay Focused on Your Goals
Mental focus is the ability to direct sufficient mental effort to relevant information when needed. It is important for our wellbeing as it allows us to complete relevant tasks, acquire new information, come out on top during competition, and achieve important goals.
Staying focused is often a challenge, but it can be especially difficult when there are perpetual distractions on offer. Today’s world of constant connection means diversions are never more than a few clicks away, and modern society is finding it trickier than ever to stay on task. While this may seem like little more than a nuisance with everyday tasks, how much we are able to stay focused can have larger consequences when it comes to setting and following through on our life goals.
Luckily, focus can be thought of as a mental muscle: the more effort you put in, the more it will improve. If you are wanting to explore how to stay focused on your goals, here are a few strategies that may help.
Assess Your General Focus Levels
Taking time to assess your mental focus can help you to identify whether or not your concentration levels need some improvement. If you find it easy to stay alert, you set goals and break then up into manageable chunks of work, and you take short breaks between tasks, your focus is likely to be good. If you often find yourself daydreaming, you battle to tune out distractions and you regularly lose track of your progress, your focus levels may need work.
Some contributing factors to poor focus could include being hungry, not having enough quality sleep, feeling stressed, worried or anxious, or having too many distractions in your immediate environment. If you find that you are regularly battling to stay engaged in important tasks, there may be an underlying condition contributing to your lack of focus.
Get Into the No-Distraction Zone
No matter the scale of your goals, you need to create an environment and implement daily habits that support you staying focused. Here are a few simple yet effective strategies to support your concentration efforts:
- Plan your day in advance. Many people start their morning by working through a back log of emails and figuring out which tasks are most important for the day ahead. This is a wasted opportunity to dive into important tasks with a fresh and focused mind. Make a plan for your work day the night before, and enjoy putting your brain to better use right away when you sit down to work in the morning.
- Create a morning routine that you repeat daily to prime your focus. This could include simple tasks such as making the bed, stretching and preparing coffee, or following a 10-minute meditation and working out.
- Start the day off with a healthy breakfast of “brain foods”, including a balance of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. Fresh fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds make great snacks between meals. Don’t forget to stay hydrated as well.
- Ensure you have a quiet area to conduct your work undisturbed. Keep the door to this area closed if possible, and ask loved ones not to disturb you for a certain period of time. If you are in an office environment, try wearing noise-cancelling headphones that not only reduce sound, but also let colleagues know you would not like to be disturbed.
- Keep your work space and immediate environment uncluttered and as plain as possible.
- Play calm or ambient instrumental music or white noise that you don’t notice much as you work.
- Close out of programs or apps on your computer that aren’t essential, and turn off push notifications on your phone. You can block-check emails and important notifications at dedicated times throughout the day between completing tasks.
- Consider putting a lock on social media. These apps are designed to pull our focus and encourage perpetual browsing. There are a handful of social media blocking apps that keep you locked out for certain lengths of time, helping you stick to the task at hand without the promise of distraction at your fingertips.
Find Out What Motivates You
When considering how to stay focused on your goals, it is helpful to understand the motivators that are most effective for your personality.
Incentive-based motivation involves assigning yourself rewards after reaching certain milestones. E.g. treating yourself to a weekend away after a good month of sales.
Motivation based on achievement would include the possibility of achieving something as a result of your work. E.g. choosing work roles that offer promotions and the opportunity to climb a career ladder.
While fear-based motivation has negative connotations, it can prove effective in helping you to stay on task. E.g. double checking your work due to fear of failure in a new job role. It should not, however, be used as a long-term strategy, as it can lead to unhealthy levels of stress.
Experimenting with different types of motivators can help you to develop an internal drive that keeps you on track towards your goals.
Determine Your “Why”
Learning how to stay focused on your goals involves determining your “why” – why certain projects, tasks, hobbies or habits are important to you – and help to fulfil a bigger picture of what you want for your life.
Aligning your life goals with your core values allows you to experience greater feelings of happiness and fulfilment when you achieve them. Ensuring that your daily responsibilities are connected to your greater purpose therefore provides a powerful internal motivation that is stronger than simply working for a pay check: it is easier to keep working on a project when you are regularly reminded of how it will benefit you in the bigger picture.
Write Down Your Goals
When considering how to stay focused on your goals, it is helpful to have them written down. Not only does this supply you with a visual reminder of your goals that you can regularly revert back to, but it also allows you to formulate a written action plan of how to achieve them.
Setting SMART goals is widely renowned as an effective game plan when exploring how to stay focused on your goals.
SMART goals are:
Specific: Considering your goal in quantifiable or targeted ways will help shine a spotlight on exactly what you want to accomplish. E.g. “I want to get better at running” could be improved to “I’d like to complete a half marathon”.
Measurable: Applying methods that allow you to measure your progress helps to motivate you and keep you accountable.
Achievable: It is important to set realistic goals that you have the resources and time to work towards. E.g. perhaps “I’d like to earn six figures” is not likely in your career trajectory, but “I want to double my salary in two years” is within reach.
Relevant: While you don’t necessarily have to rule out left-field goals (e.g. learning how to play an instrument if you don’t think of yourself as musical), it helps to keep goals aligned with your values, dreams and ambitions to guarantee motivation and fulfilment.
Time-based: Goals that are time-based have specific deadlines. These can be short-term or long-term, and should have realistic milestones that you can adjust as needed.
The next point outlines this in more detail, explaining how to stay focused on your goals by managing your time.
Create a Time-Specific Plan
Creating a to-do list is only the first step in keeping you on track. Time management is a valuable skill that can bolster efficiency. Here are a number of time-relevant strategies to help get you closer to your goals:
- Do a time audit. Identifying how many hours you spend working, commuting, doing housework or enjoying leisure activities will help you realistically map out how much time you have available to focus on your goals, as well as pinpoint areas you could improve upon. E.g. reducing time spent scrolling through social media while working on a deadline, or pushing dinner back by 30 minutes each evening if you find yourself unproductive after eating.
- Scheduling your time is one way of guaranteeing that you put appropriate effort into working towards your goal. Blocking out patches of time daily, weekly or monthly to dedicate to specific tasks could help you to better prioritize working on specific goals.
- Then, consider setting milestones to identify smaller goals that set you on a trajectory towards a larger achievement. These help you stay focused by giving you bite-sized, realistic targets to work on, and provide regular opportunities for feelings of accomplishment that keep you motivated to continue moving forward.
- Identify the tasks on your to-do list each day that are the most important to make progress towards your goal. Making it a priority to get these tasks out of the way will help you keep your focus and ensure you make daily progress towards your chosen outcome.
Evaluate Your Progress
Periodically reviewing progress made towards your goals offers benefits that are two-fold: it supplies you with a sense of achievement for the tasks you’ve completed so far, reinforcing productive behavior; plus, taking the time to check for weak spots or identify successful strategies helps you to modify your game plan as needed.
Stick With Tasks to Completion
It may sound obvious, but finishing tasks is crucial for working towards your goals. Having a clear idea on what the objective of each task is and what it entails will ensure you keep working towards it. Celebrating every task completion with a reward of some sort, however small, will also provide positive reinforcement to continue working. It also assists with time management, by drawing to your attention the length of time each task takes to complete.
Try a Goal-Tracking App
Technology can help you stay on top of your goals by organizing and automating your workload. Goal-tracking apps can break down ambitious goals into reasonably sized tasks, helping you to methodically work through your to-do list. These types of apps also serve as excellent motivators, reminding you daily about the goals you want to achieve.
Review Your Goals Daily
Perhaps most important of all when exploring how to stay focused on your goals is to ensure you are still passionate about the targets you have set. Regular check-ins will keep you committed to progress, as well as create a habit of putting your goals at the forefront of your mind each day. This helps you prioritize tasks that are aligned with your goals, resist distractions, and keep you alert to relevant opportunities that may further your progress.
Share Your Commitment to Your Goals
Sharing your goals and intentions with others can have a positive effect on your productivity. Telling others what you hope to achieve helps keep you accountable, plus it helps you find and align with others who are chasing similar outcomes. Surrounding yourself with those who motivate or positively influence you can have a supportive effect when considering how to stay focused on your goals.
Get a Mentor (or Many)
With the above in mind, it is important to remember that a support system is essential for bringing your dreams to life. And as much as family, friends and like-minded individuals can bolster your progress and keep you accountable, you will also benefit from the input of mentors or those with advanced skills. Seek out individuals, companies or coaches that offer superior insight or resources to contribute towards your progress.
Visualize the Results
Another key motivator for how to stay focused on your goals is to visualize the outcome. Actively imagining how it will feel to reach your goal – such as how it will benefit you, the level of pride and accomplishment you’ll experience, and the reinforcement of confidence it will give you in your own abilities. Thinking about this outcome serves as ongoing encouragement to keep working, particularly in the face of obstacles or setbacks.
Make it a Mantra
Putting words to your desires serves as a powerful way to hone your focus and prioritize goal-relevant tasks. It will help to add meaning to your actions – giving the task at hand more philosophical clout. It can also help make your goal sound more real and attainable. e.g. “I am going to complete this task and get one day closer to the life of my dreams”. Speaking your goals or mantras aloud is also thought to positively impact your physiology, taking the idea of a goal and bringing it closer to reality. It also acts as a powerful reset if you find your focus waning.
Distractions can range from irritating to dangerous when it comes to following through on important tasks. Taking control of how to stay focused on your goals can have a profound impact on your productivity, happiness and long-term progress. Start small by choosing just a few of the tips discussed above to try out. Making consistent, incremental changes to hone in on your concentration will help you build healthier daily habits that become second-nature over time. In this way, you can start to take more control over your focus and therefore your output, giving more attention to the things that matter and getting closer towards realizing your goals.
What is Stress? A Closer Look
Thanks to its emerging presence in daily life, stress has become a modern day buzzword with mostly negative connotations. With its prevalence on the rise, you may find yourself thinking, “What is stress, exactly?” In short bursts, stress can be useful, helping you avoid danger or concentrate on an important deadline. But ongoing stress may be harmful to your health and wellbeing, causing physical ailments such as high blood pressure or heart disease, as well as emotional issues, such as anxiety or unhappiness.
Understanding what causes stress and how it affects you can help with managing it better.
What is Stress?
Stress is the body’s reaction to a challenge or demand. It refers to feelings of emotional or physical tension, and sources of stress could include any thoughts or events that generate feelings of frustration, anger, apprehension or nervousness.
How Long Does Stress Last?
When asking a healthcare practitioner “What is stress?” they may refer to both acute and chronic forms of stress.
Acute: This type of stress occurs within a few minutes or hours of a certain event. It is usually intense and lasts for a short period of time.
Chronic: This type of stress lasts for longer periods of time or may keep recurring. If you are regularly under a lot of pressure or find daily life difficult, this is what stress type you may be experiencing.
Is Stress Normal?
When considering the question, “What is stress?” you may be wondering what stress experiences constitute as normal. Stress is fundamentally a normal human reaction that everyone has from time to time. The human body has been designed to tolerate stress and react to it accordingly. Small amounts of stress can be positive, helping us to complete tasks or feel more energized. However, stress can become problematic when it is very intense or symptoms are ongoing.
There are two commonly acknowledged categories of stress: eustress and distress. Eustress refers to stress that has a positive effect on you, helping energize and motivate you towards making a change. Certain stress responses can help your body to adjust to new situations, or alert you to danger to help you stay safe. Distress, on the other hand, refers to stress that has a negative impact on your wellbeing. This type of stress is usually intense or persistent with no relief.
What Causes Stress?
A natural follow-up question to “What is stress?” is “What causes stress?” There are many circumstances that may contribute to stress, whether it is one larger event or a build-up of smaller issues. Pinpointing what stressors are troubling you may therefore be difficult.
Some contributors may include:
- Feeling under a lot of pressure
- Facing big changes in your life e.g. divorce or bereavement
- Not feeling as if you have control over certain situations
- Having overwhelming responsibilities
- Worrying about things/something
- Experiencing periods of uncertainty
- Not having enough activities, work or change in your life
What Stress Responses Does the Body Have?
When taking a closer look at what stress is, we need to observe the autonomic nervous system. This is responsible for controlling functions such as your breathing, heart rate and changes in vision. It has a built-in “fight or flight” response that helps the body handle stressful situations. This response is helpful when activated appropriately for short periods of time. However, prolonged activation can lead to wear and tear on the body. And the hormones that the body produces to react to stress may result in negative emotional, behavioral and physical stress symptoms.
Physical stress symptoms include:
- Chest pain
- Racing heart
- Trouble breathing
- Aches and pains
- Exhaustion or difficulty sleeping
- Blurred vision or sore eyes
- Shaking or trembling
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Sexual issues
- Indigestion or heart burn
- Digestive problems
- Jaw clenching or muscle tension
- High blood pressure
- Feeling sick or nauseous
- Changes to your menstrual cycle
- Sweating
- Rashes or itchy skin
- Sudden weight loss or gain
- A weakened immune system
- Exacerbation of existing physical conditions
- Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (“broken heart” syndrome)
Emotional stress responses may include:
- Irritability or impatience
- Anxiety or depression
- Panic attacks
- Feelings of overwhelm
- Nervousness and fear
- Racing thoughts
- Indecision
- Lack of concentration or brain fog
- Nail biting
- General disinterest in life
- Low sex drive
- Restlessness
- Crying or feeling tearful
- A lack of humor
- Worry and tension
- A sense of dread
- Exacerbation of existing mental conditions
- Suicidal thoughts
And behavioral symptoms of stress may include:
- Alcohol abuse
- Gambling
- Overeating or developing an eating disorder
- Compulsive sex, shopping or internet browsing
- Smoking or drug abuse
- Lack of exercise or over-exercising
- Withdrawing from social interactions
When seeking to gain a better understanding of what stress is, it’s important to understand that short patches of stress are normal, but long-term stressors can lead to the emotional, behavioral and physical stress symptoms described above. There are different strategies to help you manage your stress better, including medication, certain products or lifestyle changes, but you should reach out to your doctor if you are feeling overwhelmed by your symptoms.
Nerve Pain in Different Parts of the Body
Nerve pain in the body is a characteristic sensation that feels different from other forms of pain. It might feel like a burning, needle-like, or electric pain, often accompanied by symptoms like tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness.
Nerve pain can manifest anywhere in the body, from head to toe. In some cases, it might even affect multiple body parts simultaneously. Below, we will learn how nerve pain can affect different areas and what specific nerve conditions might cause these topical pains.
Understanding nerve pain in the body
Before we dive into nerve pains specific to each body part, let's talk about nerve pain in general.
Our nerves are like a complex network of cables threading through our entire body. Their role is to transfer information like commands, various signals, sensations, and feelings.
Nerves are very sensitive tissues, and even the smallest irritations can lead to nerve problems. The cause of nerve pain might be swollen tissue, a misaligned joint or bone, some growth pressing on or irritating the nerve, or other forms of impingement or pitching. Nerve damage due to a medical condition or physical trauma might also lead to nerve problems.
Nerve pain can manifest in different forms, and doctors use various terms to describe nerve dysfunctions.
Neuralgia is an intense and sharp pain that affects the body alongside the path of a nerve. Radiculopathy refers to nerve damage and radial nerve pain related to the pinching of the nerve roots. Neuropathy is a general term that encompasses various nerve disorders and dysfunctions.
Symptoms of nerve pain
Nerve pain is a characteristic sensation that feels different from other forms of pain. It might feel like an electric shock, a burning sensation, or a pins-and-needles-like, stabbing, or shooting pain.
Other accompanying symptoms might be tingling, numbness, sensitivity to touch, muscle weakness, or loss of balance. In severe cases, paralysis or dysfunction of body parts or organs might also occur.
Nerve pain in the head and neck
Two common conditions that lead to nerve pain in the head and face are occipital neuralgia and trigeminal neuralgia.
Occipital neuralgia causes severe, electric shock-like pain radiating from the base of the skull. Trigeminal neuralgia, on the other hand, affects the trigeminal nerve and results in intense, stabbing pain along the pathways of the face.
Dental issues, like cavities or infections, can also cause nerve pain in the jaw and teeth. Addressing the underlying dental problem is crucial to stopping tooth nerve pain and restoring oral health.
Nerve pain in the neck and shoulders
The most common cause of nerve pain in the neck area is cervical radiculopathy, a condition originating from nerve compression in the neck.
It often leads to radiating pain and discomfort down the shoulders and arms. Symptoms of a pinched nerve in the neck may include tingling, numbness, and weakness in the affected arm. Similarly, a pinched nerve in the shoulder can cause sharp, shooting pain and hinder arm mobility.
Nerve pain in the arms, and hands
Nerve pain in the arm is often the result of nerve compression either in the shoulders, elbows, or wrist. In rare cases, pain can radiate into the arms, resulting from conditions like cervical radiculopathy or spinal stenosis in the neck area.
The symptoms can be nerve pain in the arms or hands, tingling, and even muscle weakness. Damage to the nerves in the hands or fingers can lead to neuropathy, causing symptoms like burning sensations and difficulty with fine motor skills.
A common nerve problem in the wrist is carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), occurring from irritation to the median nerve, causing nerve pain in the hand and forearm.
Nerve pain in the torso and back
Nerve pain in the back or torso may stem from a number of various conditions. The spinal cord is the main pathway for the nervous system running throughout the entire spine. Nerve compression, irritation, or damage to it or the nerve paths stemming from it can cause several issues, including nerve pain.
Spinal stenosis, brachial neuritis, radiculopathies, various neuropathic conditions, and sciatica might all lead to nerve pain in the back.
Nerve pain in the hips, buttocks and pelvis
Nerve pain in and around the hip area is a common experience, especially among the older population. It might stem from conditions like sciatica, spinal stenosis in the lower back, or tailbone problems.
A pinched nerve in the hip or the surrounding areas can lead to nerve pain, tingling, numbness, and, in severe cases, bladder problems or even paralysis.
Nerve pain in the legs and feet
Nerve pain in the leg might not always be a local problem, as it can radiate down from the hip area. Spinal stenosis in the lower back and sciatica can both affect nerve pathways running down the legs.
Morton's neuroma and tarsal tunnel syndrome are two conditions that affect the feet locally. The former causes tissues to thicken in the feet, leading to nerve irritation. The latter means compression of the posterior tibial nerve that runs through the tarsal tunnel.
The symptoms of leg nerve pain might be burning, stabbing, or shooting sensations in the area, accompanied by tingling, numbness, loss of feeling, or muscle weakness.
Nerve pain affecting multiple parts or the entirety of the body
Some nerve conditions go beyond localized discomfort, causing widespread dysfunction across various body parts.
Peripheral neuropathy, a result of nerve damage outside the brain and spinal cord, might cause nerve pain, numbness, and muscle weakness in multiple body parts.
Fibromyalgia, characterized by chronic muscle and joint pain, often triggers migrating nerve discomfort, fatigue, and cognitive challenges. In conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disorder affecting the central nervous system, nerve pain can manifest in different body areas due to communication disruptions between the brain and body.
Different Types of Pain Management
Pain is the most commonly experienced symptom of thousands of issues within the body, from injuries and diseases to conditions, medications or treatments. In some instances, pain may have no known cause.
A pain management plan is designed by medical professionals to help those seeking pain relief from various types of pain. While pain treatment typically addresses symptoms that are acute, temporary or short-term, pain management usually supports individuals living with chronic, ongoing pain symptoms. The purpose of pain management is to help individuals feel better and improve their quality of life on a daily basis.
Types of Pain
Acute: This refers to sharp, intense pain that is usually the result of injury, such as bone fractures, muscle strains or tears, burns or other accidents. Certain medical conditions or illnesses can induce acute pain, such as appendicitis or kidney stones.
Chronic: Pain that lasts longer than six months is labelled as chronic. This may be caused by disease, untreated injuries, medical conditions such as arthritis, or neuropathy (nerve damage).
Neuropathic: Nervous system issues may cause nerve – or neuropathic – pain, where nerves send pain signals to the brain despite being undamaged. Conditions such as diabetes or HIV may induce this type of pain.
Common Conditions that Cause Pain
- Back issues and injuries, including sciatica, osteoporosis and herniated disks
- Muscle and joint injuries such as sprains, tears and frozen shoulder
- Arthritis, including osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
- Headaches and migraines resulting in pain in the head and neck
- Face and dental issues, including TMD (temporomandibular disorder) or abscessed teeth
- Chronic pain disorders such as fibromyalgia
- Organ issues such as kidney stones or urinary tract infections
- Nerve damage such as carpal tunnel syndrome
- Reproductive issues, including endometriosis or polycystic ovaries
Pain Management Techniques
Individuals seeking pain relief and needing ongoing pain management must first undergo medical investigation to rule out options for possible treatments or surgical procedures. Medical professionals may recommend a single approach or a combination of several to address your unique pain symptoms.
Medications
Different medications are needed to treat different types of pain, and are usually a vital part of the pain management plan. Acute pain relief can usually be achieved with short-term intake of paracetamol and ibuprofen. More severe or chronic pain may require a doctor’s prescription for higher strength versions of these tablets, anti-inflammatory drugs such as celecoxib or colchin, or even opiate-based options, which provide more pain relief than most other medications.
Due to the side-effects of certain medications, individuals should start on the lowest effective dose of pain relief as possible.
Most medication for pain management is taken in tablet form, although liquid form, suppositories may be recommended as well. A patch for back pain or other types of pain is also often used. Less common are pain injections, such as steroidal injections, which are usually administered in hospital and are rarely prescribed for chronic pain.
Counselling and Therapy
Changing how your mind reacts to physical discomfort can help you manage chronic pain. This can be achieved through cognitive behavioural therapy and biofeedback. Chronic pain may also contribute to feelings of depression or anxiety, which may be supported by counselling, meditation or other types of mind-based therapy. A pain diary may help you identify when pain is better or worse, informing your treatment plan.
Exercise
Movement and exercise in general is important for whole body health, including ongoing mobility and pain management. Specific activities such as Pilates, yoga, swimming or walking may be recommended to help reduce different types of pain, improve posture and enhance general body function. Exercise is also an important component of mental health.
Hands-On Therapy
Treatments such as massage, physical therapy, chiropractic adjustments or acupuncture may serve as helpful forms of pain management, depending on your symptoms.
Lifestyle Adjustments
Looking at health holistically may help individuals to reduce pain symptoms. Staying at a healthy weight, eating a balanced, nutritious diet, staying hydrated, getting enough quality sleep and managing stress levels can all contribute to a helpful chronic pain management plan. It may not always be possible to find total relief from ongoing pain, or it may take a while for pain symptoms to improve. Your medical professional will work together with you to adjust your pain management plan over time to give you the most relief possible.
Increase Attention Span: Tips and Strategies for Better Focus
The length of time you manage to stay focused on an activity or object is considered your attention span.
While short attention spans are typically associated with children, the reality is that many adults struggle with attention deficits too. On average, individuals are thought to hold an attention span of just 14 minutes. Individuals check their phones as often as 150 times a day, which is every six to seven minutes of their waking lives. University students have been found to give in to distractions such as social media or texting a mere five minutes into studying. While it’s not unusual to have your mind wander when you should be concentrating on something else, attention spans are at an all-time low.
Just how low they sink depends on the task at hand. A neighbor complaining about a stranger, for example, may not hold your attention as long as a circle of friends talking about their latest news or a gripping action movie.
There are, however, a few measures that can be taken to help improve diminishing concentration.
Why Do We Lose Attention?
In the same way, it is necessary to seek out food and water, the brain is designed to be on the lookout for new information. And just as the body is satisfied with the primitive rewards of eating and drinking, the mind is rewarded by the dopamine system for information-seeking behavior.
This positive reinforcement of discovering novel information means humans are far better at giving in to distractions than they are at completing tasks. From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense: it was more important to realize there was a wild animal nearby than it was to continue with the activity at hand.
Why Are Attention Levels at an All-Time Low?
In today’s fast-paced society, we are overwhelmed with offers of convenience and instant gratification that hinder our ability to stay focused. Constant distractions and the temptation to seek out immediate satisfaction through online shopping or social media constantly bombard us, with attention spans shortening as a result.
Studies of grey matter show that tuning out things that may distract you is also taxing on the brain – it is not a passive process. So not only do you have the challenge of giving enough attention to the task in front of you, but the brain has to extend resources to cancel out the many annoying or tempting distractions around you too.
Chronic stress levels are also soaring, putting us on high alert for threats. Our tendency to seek out new information therefore increases, resulting in loss of focus and decreased attention spans.
Other Causes of Short Attention Spans
A short attention span may sometimes be the result of an underlying physical or mental health condition.
ADHD is a common disorder that is most often recognized in childhood and lasts into adulthood. Those with ADHD typically have difficulty paying attention and controlling their impulses.
Individuals suffering from depression experience persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed. Along with these, struggling to concentrate and hold attention is a common symptom of depression.
Attention issues are also amongst the most common symptoms in individuals after sustaining a brain injury, from mild bumps and concussions to traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Children and adults with learning disabilities such as dyslexia may have difficulty paying attention alongside their issues with basic learning skills, such as reading or spelling.
Poor diet, lack of exercise, autism spectrum disorder and head injuries can also impact an individual’s ability to concentrate.
Skills Needed to Increase Attention
The ability to lengthen one’s attention span is often correlated with specific skills. The first is your ability to handle boredom, restlessness and other uncomfortable emotions that give you the urgent need to switch tasks. This is closely connected to the second aspect of longer attention spans- patience. Practicing more patience can help prevent boredom, and allows you to sit with a slower pace or more subtlety without craving a quicker or more elevated experience. The ability to take an interest in anything is the third aspect of a longer attention span. The more interest you can show in particular tasks, the longer it will be able to hold your attention.
Benefits to Improving Attention Span
Many people think of their attention span concerning their work or study performance. In reality, the ability to hold your attention affects many areas of your life, from work/life balance and achieving goals to improving friendships and romantic relationships, as well as having more control over your mental and emotional well-being.
When you increase your attention span, you work more effectively in less time, as well as generally support your memory and problem-solving skills which impact all areas of your life. Holding your attention for longer allows you to stay engaged in interactions with friends or romantic partners, contributing to better relationships. When you increase your attention span, you are also able to dedicate more time to your hobbies, boosting proficiency and feelings of satisfaction. The inability to hold attention has also been correlated with anxiety disorders, where more attentional control may assist in the limiting of certain thoughts that contribute to anxiety, helping you to feel better overall.
Instant Strategies to Increase Attention Span
Drink Water
Drinking enough water is critical for your mind and body. Dehydration can worsen your ability to think, including mild dehydration that you may not notice. Dehydration for as little as two hours can negatively affect your ability to focus, so ensure you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day if you are exploring how to increase your attention span.
Chew Gum
Chewing gum appears to improve attention and performance, increase alertness and lower stress – at least in the short term. Rather than the gum itself, the act of chewing produces “mastication-induced arousal”, sending more oxygen to the brain that wakes us up and ensures we are fully focused on the task at hand.
Stay Actively Engaged
If you are struggling to pay attention during lectures or meetings, stay actively engaged by asking questions or taking notes. This helps you keep your mind on the present activity versus allowing it to drift. Jotting down notes during an enjoyable podcast could also keep you more present than simply listening. Taking notes by hand is more effective at increasing attention span than using a laptop or other device, which can provide additional distractions.
Remove Distractions
Our brains use precious resources to resist distractions when trying to stay focused. If you are working on how to increase your attention span, an easy strategy is to remove any possible distractions that may serve as obstacles between you and your concentration. Smartphones are an obvious distraction and can interfere with concentration simply by being in the room, even if on silent.
Batch Check Notifications
Keeping your phone and laptop notifications on silent or disabling them together allows you to check them on your terms. If possible, try batch-checking your emails, texts or social media notifications in allotted slots. Even if you need many slots in one day, it is likely to beat the on-demand checking we usually do every few minutes and buy you more uninterrupted time to increase your attention span.
Strategies to Increase Attention Span Over Time
Extend Time Between Breaks
Many breaks are good for refreshing your concentration between tasks. But if you are exploring how to increase your attention span, you can work to extend the time taken between breaks to slowly lengthen your focus in one sitting.
Do More of What You Do Best
Most individuals naturally have a few activities that fully absorb their concentration e.g. drawing, putting together a piece of furniture, finishing a crossword or building a puzzle. These instances where you feel productive, focused and “in the zone” are known as flow states. Practicing those tasks wherever you can and naturally staying focused for extended periods helps increase attention span overall. When considering how to increase your attention span, you can try working on one of these tasks for 30 minutes and then switching to the activity that requires your attention. This will help you stay in a flow state as you work.
Seek Out Flow State Activities
If you’re not sure what naturally absorbs your attention, there are a few characteristics of activities that may induce a flow state. One of those is high consequences that pose a physical, mental or social risk (e.g. surfing, karaoke or engaging in sensational or vulnerable topics of conversation). Another is engaging in multiple sensory streams at once (e.g. playing a team sport or a dance class with a partner). Activities characterized by a stimulating environment offering complexity, novelty or unpredictability could also induce a flow state (e.g. an immersive art exhibition or live concert), as could particularly creative exercises that require out-the-box thinking, such as brainstorming or problem-solving. Seek out activities that offer one or more of these characteristics if you are exploring how to increase your attention span and want to spend more time in a flow state.
Practice Active Listening
While listening requires us to be silent, it is not a passive act. Failing to listen properly is often a sign of a short attention span. We can improve our listening skills and therefore our focus by practicing active listening.
Rather than thinking about what you’re going to say next, focus intently on what the speaker is saying. This leads to more pauses as you contemplate your answer and more thoughtful responses. Building your empathy in conversation also helps hone your focus and keep your mind in the present. This involves constantly imagining yourself in the person’s position to better understand how they would be feeling, using phrases such as, “If I were you, I imagine I’d be feeling…” You could also try reflective listening, where you reflect sentiments that are shared with you in your own words. This requires you to listen attentively to ensure you have understood, encouraging the brain to focus a little harder than it normally would.
Get Moving
The benefits of exercise extend to all areas of our wellbeing, including our cognitive function and therefore attention span. Exercise has been shown to help improve attention and focus particularly in those with attention deficits, such as people with ADHD. This could include activities as simple as a brisk 30-minute walk taken four or five times a week.
Build Your Meditation Practice
Mindfulness and meditation are highly regarded as a method to improve mental health and function. If you are considering how to improve your attention span, evidence suggests meditation can increase focus, with continued meditation potentially improving sustained attention over time. Building upon a meditation practice by starting with two minutes each day at a time and leading up to 10 minutes or more can similarly help increase attention span incrementally.
Try Extreme Temperatures
Recent trends are giving more attention to age-old practices such as cold plunges and saunas. Part of increasing attention span has to do with improving one’s ability to stay with unpleasant feelings. Cold exposure is thought to stimulate the vagus nerve, which can help to both increase attention span and combat depression. If you don’t have access to a cold pool or plunge, try running a cold bath – even adding ice to it – and see if you can sit in it for two minutes while taking deep breaths. Increase this length over time.
Saunas can help increase levels of two hormones: norepinephrine, which increases focus and helps increase attention span, and prolactin, which helps repair nerve cell damage and improve brain function. Endorphins in the body get a significant boost as well, due to heat stress induced by the sauna. Beginners should start with 5-10 minutes, while more seasoned sauna goers should aim for 15-20 minutes in one sitting.
Listen to Music with Your Eyes Closed
Music is a stimulus that may help or hinder when it comes to concentration. Ambient music is discussed more here, but music can also be used front and centre as a tool to increase attention span. Try listening to music with your eyes closed, starting with one song and focusing on the lyrics and tune rather than letting your mind wander. Increase to more songs daily over a week or more. This will help to improve the length of time you can give your uninterrupted focus on the task at hand.
Work Hard, Play Hard
Concentration can be thought of as a muscle when considering how to increase attention span. Strengthening it requires full exertion followed by total rest. Too much exertion results in burnout, while too little rest equals inadequate recovery. If you are exploring how to improve your attention span, breaking up your time into periods of complete focus followed by dedicated rest can help: knowing there is an upcoming break can help incentivize you to sustain concentration and resist distractions. If preoccupying thoughts or ideas arise during the work block that you don’t want to forget, try jotting them down in a notebook to address later. Periods of full rest could include a 15-minute nap, gazing out the window or engaging in casual conversation.
An inability to concentrate despite the motivation to complete tasks is a common occurrence in modern life. Recognizing the influence poor concentration has on your day-to-day can determine the effort you need to give to improve your attention span. This is an ongoing practice that can be cumulatively built upon over time, allowing you to accomplish more of what’s important to you and simultaneously feel better and more efficient while doing it.
Food to Help Focus: Unlock the Power of These Brain-Boosting Foods
The ability to focus plays a crucial role in our lives, both day-to-day and long-term. It is critical for taking in new information, learning new things, executing daily tasks and achieving goals. How well we can concentrate can influence our levels of success, and focus levels can, unfortunately, dwindle as we get older.
Several factors can affect concentration, such as brain training, stress management, environmental elements and sleep. What we put on our fork can also have a significant influence on our ability to focus.
If you want to explore different types of food to help focus, here are many nutritional strategies and specific foods that improve memory and concentration.
Nutrition Strategies
Follow a Balanced Diet
Food is fuel for the brain and body, and a diet lacking essential vitamins, minerals, macros and nutrients can hinder your ability to focus. Following a general healthy nutritional plan improves all cognitive processes in the body, including concentration.
When seeking out food to help focus better, try to take in a balance of complex carbohydrates such as brown rice or sweet potatoes, protein sources such as lean, unprocessed meats, eggs or soya, and healthy fats such as avocadoes, nuts and seeds. Aim for an abundance of fruits and vegetables, including a rainbow of different colored ingredients as well as a wealth of leafy greens such as kale and spinach.
It is not only different foods that improve memory and concentration, but water as well; it is crucial to drink plenty of water throughout the day. You can also reduce certain types of food to help focus. Limit your intake of processed foods, refined sugar, empty calories (foods with low nutritional value) and trans fats.
Don’t Skip Breakfast
Studies have found that eating breakfast may help improve attention and short-term memory, with those skipping breakfast not performing as well on academic tests as those who didn’t. In particular, high-fiber whole grains, dairy and fruits tend to garner more positive results as types of food help focus, while high-calorie meals appear to hinder concentration.
Try Smaller Meals More Often
Blood sugar plays an important role in the body as a whole, specifically in concentration. When blood sugar levels are too low, there isn’t adequate energy for brain function, often resulting in poor attention and cognitive function.
Eating smaller meals more frequently helps maintain balanced blood sugar levels that don’t spike or drop too often. Lower GI foods (those that have little effect on the body’s blood sugar, such as leafy greens, high fiber foods and healthy proteins) also help to stabilize blood sugar between meals and avoid sugar crashes.
Specialty Foods
Caffeine
Well-touted for its abilities to provide a mental boost, caffeine is one of the most frequently utilized tools when seeking out food to help focus. It is found in coffee, energy drinks, certain teas, chocolate and some medication, and has been shown to increase alertness, elevate mood and sharpen concentration.
Fatty Fish
Many sources of fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids – key nutrients and major building blocks for the brain. Diets inclusive of fish such as salmon, trout, sardines and low-mercury tuna are linked to improved memory, cognitive function and learning ability, particularly as we age, making them an ideal source of food to help focus.
Blueberries
Blueberries and other deeply colored berries contain plant compounds that offer anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. These nutrients serve as helpful food to help focus by protecting the brain against ageing and neurodegenerative diseases. Some of the antioxidants in blueberries specifically have been found to accumulate in the brain, helping to improve the communication between brain cells.
Dark Chocolate
Part of the focusing power behind dark chocolate and cocoa is the caffeine content, boosting their status as foods that improve memory and concentration. But these foods also offer rich supplies of flavonoids and antioxidants. These offer more than the temporary effects of caffeine by enhancing overall health and therefore brain function long-term.
Turmeric
Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric. It has been shown to directly enter the brain (skipping the bloodstream) and potentially help new brain cells grow, boost memory and delay age-related mental decline that affects concentration.
Broccoli
This powerhouse food to help focus contains a variety of compounds with powerful anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. One of these is vitamin K, which has been linked with better cognitive performance and improved memory.
Walnuts
Coincidentally resembling a brain shape, walnuts are most well-known for their brain-boosting benefits. In addition to the antioxidants, healthy fat, fiber, protein and vitamin E that many nuts contain, walnuts also supply omega-3 fatty acids, recognized for their ability to support the brain’s function, including concentration.
Green Tea
Green tea is another healthy source of caffeine, although it has other beneficial ingredients that make it an ideal food to help focus. L-theanine in particular helps mitigate the anxiety-inducing effects of caffeine, supporting a mind state that is both attentive and relaxed – ideal for concentration. Studies conclude that green tea may improve alertness, memory, performance and focus.
Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds contain many micronutrients that support brain function, including copper, iron, magnesium and higher levels of zinc than most other seeds. Magnesium helps reduce mental stress while zinc is vital for enhancing the memory and thinking skills that help us focus.
A Note on Sugar
While the many health pitfalls of excess sugar are accurately documented, it is worth noting that sugar can be considered a useful food to help focus as it is still the brain’s preferred source of fuel. This source, however, is glucose, not refined sugar. The body processes glucose from the sugars and carbohydrates in the diet, and receives a spike in energy levels that bolsters mental alertness. This temporary boost in focus may prove helpful when limited bursts of concentration are required, but the effects are short-lived, and followed by a drop in sugar levels that can result in tiredness and distractibility.
If you need a quick, short boost in your attention, skip refined sugar and try whole fruits, which include the fiber, vitamins and minerals to make them a more wholesome food to help focus.
While many approaches can help enhance mental performance, you can effectively support your brain health and boost your focus, alertness, memory and mood by adopting certain nutritional strategies. You can also include more of these specific foods that improve memory and concentration in your diet as part of a targeted strategy to increase focus.
How to Deal with Tailbone Pain: Causes and Treatment Strategies
Coccydynia - more commonly known as tailbone pain - is a medical condition that can cause mild discomfort or severe issues.
Tailbone pain can stem from many different sources, including injuries, arthritis, and nerve problems. Understanding the condition and finding the underlying cause is crucial to choosing the right treatment options and alleviating pain.
In this article, we will learn about the characteristics of tailbone pain, possible causes, and available treatment options.
Understanding the tailbone and its function
The tailbone, or coccyx, is a group of three to five vertebrae fused to form a single bone. You can find the coccyx below the sacrum bone, at the bottom of the spine.
It's a common belief that the coccyx serves no purpose in the human body. While it's true that it no longer fulfills its original function, it still provides an attachment point for multiple muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the pelvic area. It also serves as a point of balance when sitting.
Characteristics of tailbone pain
Coccyx pain may vary in severity and the feeling of pain. It might manifest as a dull, stabbing, piercing, or burning sensation.
The pain might worsen when sitting for extended periods, standing up after sitting, and during bowel movements, menstruation, or sex.
In addition to pain, one might experience numbness, tingling, muscle weakness in the legs, or bowel and bladder problems. These symptoms might signal a nerve issue and should always be checked by healthcare professionals.
Some conditions might cause tailbone pain, among other symptoms. Arthritis, sciatica, and spinal stenosis are a few examples.
Causes of tailbone pain
Tailbone pain is a common condition that many adults experience at some point. Women are at a greater risk than men, and obesity is another risk factor for coccydynia. Most of the time, the causes behind coccyx pain are only temporary issues, but in some rare cases, it might result from some chronic condition.
Tailbone injury
A common cause behind tailbone pain is injury. Following a fall or accident, the tailbone might break or fracture.
Doctors will perform X-ray scans to determine the severity of the damage and the course of treatment. If there aren't any fractures or broken bones, a bruised tailbone can heal with rest alone.
Physical stress on the tailbone
Repeated stress to the tailbone may lead to mild or even severe pains. This might result from poor posture, sitting in an uncomfortable position or on a hard surface, added pressure to the bone due to being overweight, or sports like cycling or rowing. Being underweight might also cause issues, as the lack of fat to cushion the tailbones might put more stress on the coccyx when sitting, or the bone might rub against muscles, ligaments, and tendons in the pelvic area.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is a natural cause of pelvic and tailbone pain. During the later stages, joints loosen in the area, allowing bones to move around and give space, causing muscles and ligaments to stretch, leading to pain. This is a natural process, and the pain usually goes away after pregnancy.
Infections
Viral, bacterial, or fungal infections might affect any area in the body, including the bones and the tissues around them. They might cause inflammation, swelling, and pain. In addition to inflammation and pain, fever is a common symptom in these cases. It's vital to contact your healthcare provider as soon as possible if you suspect an infection.
Tumors and other growths
In rare cases, abscesses, tumors, cysts, or other growths like bone spurs might pressure the tissues or nerves around them. This might lead to pain symptoms. Prostate cancer, chordoma, vertebral tumors, colorectal cancer, and pilonidal cysts might all cause pain in the tailbone.
Diagnosing tailbone pain
When diagnosing coccydynia, doctors will ask about your medical history and recent physical traumas like falls, accidents, or childbirth. They will also check for fractures, bone deformities, infections, and growths.
X-rays, CTs, MRIs, and bone scans can provide a reliable picture of the underlying issues and help doctors determine the appropriate course of treatment.
Treatment options for tailbone pain
A sore tailbone might heal with proper rest and home treatment. In some cases, though, underlying issues have to be addressed.
Correcting outside factors
The cause of tailbone pain is often repeated stress to the area. In these cases, one might need to make some lifestyle adjustments. Correcting a poor posture, spending less time sitting, adjusting your sitting position or surface, and maintaining a healthy weight might all contribute to the healing of tailbone pain and avoiding future issues.
Using an ergonomic chair, avoiding restrictive clothing, and using a donut pillow to sit on might also be good ways to help with recovery. In some cases, gentle stretches and light tailbone pain exercises can also be beneficial. Strengthening the muscles around the pelvic area will help stabilize the joints and provide additional support.
Pain relief for tailbone pain
Since tailbone pain often goes away with rest, treatment might be limited to pain management during the healing process. Especially in the case of long-standing or chronic coccydynia, pain relief is a vital part of treatment.
Physical therapy, stretches, or massage can be an effective method to ease tailbone pain.
Painkillers like paracetamol, NSAIDs, or steroid injections can offer pain relief and treat inflammatory symptoms.
Drug-free pain management options like innovative pain patches, herbal remedies, and thermal therapy might be worth considering if you want to avoid the side effects of traditional drugs.
When it comes to tailbone pain, avoiding further stress and trauma, maintaining a healthy posture, and using ergonomic chairs might be your best long-term pain relief options.
Tailbone surgery
In rare cases, doctors might recommend surgery. Total or partial coccygectomy means removing the entire tailbone or parts of it. Tumors or other growths might also get removed using surgical methods.
Spinal Stenosis: What You Can Do to Prevent and Manage It
Spinal stenosis is a common source of back pain caused by the narrowing of the spinal canal and irritation of the spinal cord. The causes might vary, and depending on where the pain occurs, we can distinguish between different types of spinal stenosis. Understanding the underlying issues, symptoms, and available treatment methods can bring you closer to getting relief for your back pain.
What is spinal stenosis?
The spinal canal is a space that runs through the entire length of our spine, surrounded by vertebrae. Its function is to protect the spinal cord and the spinal nerves.
Spinal stenosis is a medical condition where the space in - or around - the spinal canal narrows, restricting the nerves or the spinal cord, leading to nerve pain and other symptoms.
Types of spinal stenosis
We can distinguish between different types of spinal stenosis depending on which part of the spine (lumbar, thoracic, or cervical) they occur in and if they affect the spinal cord or the nerves branching from it.
Lumbar spinal stenosis
Lumbar stenosis is the most common form of spinal stenosis and affects the lower back (from L1 to L5 vertebrae). Symptoms can be felt throughout the back, the buttocks, or the legs.
Cervical spinal stenosis
Cervical stenosis occurs in the neck area of the spine (from C1 to C7 vertebrae), which might cause tingling, numbness, nerve pain, and muscle weakness in the neck, radiating to the shoulders, arms, and hands. In some cases, cervical stenosis might also cause muscle weakness in the legs and balance problems.
Central canal stenosis
Central canal stenosis happens when the center part of the spine, the spinal canal, narrows, putting pressure on the spinal cord or the cauda equina. It might cause inflammation and weakness in the back and other affected areas.
Foraminal stenosis
Many nerves branch out to the sides of the spinal cord. These are called spinal nerves, and they go through the nerve root canals found on the sides of the spine. When these canals get constricted, it can pressure these nerves, causing foraminal stenosis, also known as lateral stenosis. This might lead to nerve pain, muscle weakness, numbness, and tingling in various areas depending on the affected nerves.
Spinal stenosis symptoms
The symptoms of spinal stenosis can vary depending on whether it affects the spinal cord or the spinal nerves and the area of the spine where the problem occurs.
Some people with spinal stenosis might never have any symptoms, while others might experience a wide range of them. Spinal stenosis might cause the following symptoms:
- Back- or spine pain
- Nerve pain in the limbs, shoulders, buttocks, neck, or the back
- Tingling sensation
- Numbness
- Muscle weakness
- Balance problems
- Difficulty controlling bowel or bladder movements
The symptoms of spinal stenosis often occur slowly at first and worsen gradually over time. Certain positions might alleviate the pressure on the nerves, temporarily making these symptoms less apparent.
Spinal stenosis might lead to other, more specific, medical conditions. We will list some of these below.
Cauda equina syndrome
The cauda equina is a group of nerve roots at the bottom of the spine, in the lumbar and sacral area. These nerves play a vital role in controlling bladder and bowel functions and the movement of the legs. If these nerves get constricted, it might cause problems in these areas, a condition called cauda equina syndrome. If you experience nerve pain and difficulty controlling the functions mentioned above, you should seek medical help immediately.
Sciatica
The sciatic nerve stems from the lower back and runs throughout the buttocks and the legs. Its function is to transfer sensations and control movement. When the sciatic nerve gets irritated or constricted, it might lead to burning or needle-like pains, tingling, and numbness in the affected areas. This condition is called sciatica.
Neurogenic claudication
Neurogenic claudication, also known as pseudo-claudication, is a common symptom of lumbar spinal stenosis. The compression of the spinal nerves causes nerve pain, tingling, numbness, weakness, heaviness, or cramping in one or both legs. A characteristic sign of neurogenic claudication is that it might get better or worse, depending on your posture. You might experience relief when leaning forward or sitting down.
Spinal stenosis causes
Spinal stenosis might occur naturally due to old age, but in most cases, it goes unnoticed without any symptoms. However, some underlying causes might lead to more severe spinal stenosis, where the symptoms are apparent and can have a severe impact on your everyday life.
- Injuries - Accidents, blunt force trauma, sprains, or other issues might damage the bones, muscles, ligaments, or tissues around the spine, leading to spinal stenosis.
- Bone growths - Osteoarthritis, Paget's disease, or other conditions can lead to unnatural bone spurs in the spinal area. These bone growths might constrict the spinal canal or nerve root canals and lead to spinal stenosis.
- Inflammation or infections - Overuse, inflammatory arthritis, autoimmune diseases, or infections might cause inflammation in the surrounding tissues, potentially leading to swollen muscles or thickened ligaments pressing on the spinal cord or the nerves.
- Disk problems - The spinal disks are soft, shock-absorbing cushions in the spine. These disks might get misaligned, herniated, or damaged in other ways, pushing into the spinal canal, causing nerve irritation.
- Tumors or other growths - In rare cases, tumors or other tissue growths might occur near the spine, potentially constricting the available space and leading to nerve problems.
- Poor posture - Severe cases of poor posture or keeping the spine in unnatural positions for long periods of time might also lead to spinal stenosis.
The risk factors for spinal stenosis include old age, repeated stress or injury to the spine area, and poor posture.
Diagnosing spinal stenosis
When diagnosing spinal stenosis, your doctor will perform a physical examination and ask about your symptoms and medical history.
Spinal stenosis is fairly easy to diagnose using X-rays and MRI or CT scans. These imaging tests often reveal the source of the issue, showing herniated disks, bone spurs, tumors, and muscle or ligament damage.
Spinal stenosis treatments
The recommended treatment methods for spinal stenosis largely depend on the underlying issue. Doctors will focus on solving the causes while providing relief for the symptoms.
Physical therapy
Physical therapy can help alleviate spinal stenosis symptoms or even fix the problem entirely. Building muscle strength can help stabilize the spine, gentle stretches can help realign the bones, and massage or other forms of movement might help with swollen muscles.
Certain forms of exercise might improve flexibility and balance as well.
Pain management
Pain management is a vital part of most treatment plans. It can make the healing process more comfortable or provide relief for chronic cases of spinal stenosis.
- Analgesics - These simple painkillers might provide relief for minor pains
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - NSAIDs can alleviate pains while at the same time reducing inflammation in the body
- Steroid injections - Steroids are potent medicines that can help with inflammation, swollen tissues, and severe pain
- Opioids - Opioids provide very strong pain relief, but because of their addictive nature, they are usually only considered a last resort option
- Alternative pain relief options - Herbal medicines, natural agents, and drug-free pain management options can help relieve pain with minimal side effects or provide a supplementary pain management option alongside traditional methods
Surgery
Doctors might recommend surgery in some cases, which might correct issues like herniated disks or bone deformities. The goal is to expand the available space in the spinal or nerve root canals.
Sciatica Pain Relief – What Are Your Options?
Sciatica is a painful condition that can hinder your movement and everyday life.
Finding the proper treatment methods is essential to relieve sciatic nerve pain and restoring your range of motion and balance.
In this article, you will learn about sciatica treatments, their pros and cons, and home remedies for sciatic pain.
Understanding sciatica pain
Before we get to sciatica treatments, it's crucial to understand the condition itself.
The sciatic nerve stems from the lower back and extends into the legs. Its function is to transfer sensations and regulate muscle movement. When this nerve is irritated or damaged, it might cause sharp or burning pain, numbness, tingling, muscle weakness, or even paralysis in the buttocks, the legs, or the lower back. We call this condition sciatica.
The causes of sciatic nerve pain can vary, ranging from underlying spinal conditions and herniated discs to muscle imbalances and physical trauma. Sciatica often stems from irritation to the sciatic nerve, like swollen muscles or bone spurs rubbing or pushing on the nerve.
Treating sciatica
When it comes to sciatica treatments, diagnosing the source of the issue is vital because treatment methods might vary for each.
When the underlying issues are simple problems like overuse of muscles or a joint sprain, sciatic pain might get better simply with rest. In other severe cases, like bone deformities, herniated discs, or tumors, surgery might be the only viable option.
Treating the underlying causes of sciatica
While finding relief for sciatica symptoms is vital, at the same time, doctors will aim to identify and treat the source of the issue.
Rest
Sciatica might stem from swollen muscles pressing on the nerves, which may occur due to overuse, inflammation, muscle strain, or other milder issues.
If there's no other underlying problem behind the sciatic nerve irritation, resting the muscle or ligament that causes sciatic nerve entrapment might be all that is needed.
Physical therapy for sciatica
Sometimes, sciatica might result from muscular abnormalities, bad posture, or keeping the lower spine in an unnatural position for extended periods.
Physical therapy, like stretches, strengthening exercises, and posture correction, might be enough to cure sciatica by removing the irritation on the sciatic nerve.
Medicine-based approaches
In some cases, the underlying cause behind sciatica might be some inflammatory disease, infection, or other condition that can be treated or cured by taking some drugs. These diseases might lead to swollen muscles, temporarily deformed disks or other factors that cause sciatic nerve irritation.
Doctors might recommend antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroid injections, or other drugs.
Surgery for sciatica
When other treatment methods fail to bring results, or the source of sciatica requires immediate intervention, doctors might advise surgical approaches. This usually happens if your sciatica gets more severe and you experience symptoms like paralysis, muscle weakness, or difficulty controlling bladder or bowel movements.
Cauda equina syndrome, tumors, herniated disks, or central spinal stenosis are some underlying issues that might require surgical approaches.
Sciatica pain relief
The main symptom of sciatica is nerve pain that might feel like burning or a pins and needles type of sensation. It usually occurs in the lower back, the buttocks, or throughout the legs. Most of the time, sciatica pain is only apparent on one side of the body. In rare cases, it might affect both sides, signaling possible spinal damage that requires immediate attention.
Sciatic nerve pain relief is a vital part of any treatment effort. Let's take a look at available pain management options.
Painkillers for sciatic pain
Traditional painkillers can bring immediate relief for sciatica pain in most cases. They are the most reliable and widely available pain management options. Their downside lies in the possible side effects, especially when taken over long periods.
Depending on the severity of the pain and the underlying causes, doctors might recommend different types of drugs.
- Analgesics - Simple painkillers, like paracetamol, can help relieve minor pains.
- NSAIDs - Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduce pain and inflammation at the same time.
- Steroid injections - Epidural steroid treatments can offer potent pain relief and treat inflammatory diseases when other methods fail to bring results.
- Opioids - Opioids are strong painkillers that can effectively treat even severe pains. However, they are usually recommended only as a last resort because of the risks of addiction.
Alternative remedies for sciatica pain relief
If you want to avoid the side effects of traditional drugs, alternative pain relief techniques might be the right option for you. Some of these methods require professional care, while others are easy ways to start your sciatica pain treatment at home.
- Acupuncture - Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese practice backed by scientific research. It utilizes needles to ease pains and treat various conditions.
- Massage therapy - Professional massage therapists can help ease muscle tension and remedy swollen muscles, which might help relieve sciatica symptoms.
- Thermal therapy - Heat and cold therapy are both effective and science-backed ways of pain management, and they can be easily done at home.
- Herbal remedies - Some herb-based solutions can help ease mild pains. Herbal ingredients, like capsaicin, lavender oil, and Boswellia, are often used in these products.
- Drug-free pain patches - Pain patches utilizing innovative technologies can offer effective and localized pain relief without the side effects of traditional painkillers.
Lifestyle changes and prevention for sciatica
Some minor lifestyle changes can help ease your existing symptoms and decrease your risk of developing sciatica in the future.
- Stay active - Keeping your muscles and joints in good shape is essential. Yoga, swimming, and other low-impact exercises can strengthen your core muscles, improve flexibility and joint health, and promote a healthier lifestyle overall.
- Avoid stressors - If you're at risk of developing sciatica, it's often advised to be mindful of stressors that might cause muscle or joint damage. Avoid overuse, lifting heavy objects, or physical trauma, whenever possible.
- Manage your stress levels - While stress doesn't directly lead to sciatica, it might be a contributing factor, as it increases muscle tension and the risk of certain diseases and conditions. Meditation can be an effective way to reduce both stress levels and pain perception.
Sciatica pain relief – What are your options?
Sciatica is a painful condition that can hinder your movement and everyday life.
Finding the proper treatment methods is essential to relieve sciatic nerve pain and restoring your range of motion and balance.
In this article, you will learn about sciatica treatments, their pros and cons, and home remedies for sciatic pain.
Understanding sciatica pain
Before we get to sciatica treatments, it's crucial to understand the condition itself.
The sciatic nerve stems from the lower back and extends into the legs. Its function is to transfer sensations and regulate muscle movement. When this nerve is irritated or damaged, it might cause sharp or burning pain, numbness, tingling, muscle weakness, or even paralysis in the buttocks, the legs, or the lower back. We call this condition sciatica.
The causes of sciatic nerve pain can vary, ranging from underlying spinal conditions and herniated discs to muscle imbalances and physical trauma. Sciatica often stems from irritation to the sciatic nerve, like swollen muscles or bone spurs rubbing or pushing on the nerve.
Treating sciatica
When it comes to sciatica treatments, diagnosing the source of the issue is vital because treatment methods might vary for each.
When the underlying issues are simple problems like overuse of muscles or a joint sprain, sciatic pain might get better simply with rest. In other severe cases, like bone deformities, herniated discs, or tumors, surgery might be the only viable option.
Treating the underlying causes of sciatica
While finding relief for sciatica symptoms is vital, at the same time, doctors will aim to identify and treat the source of the issue.
Rest
Sciatica might stem from swollen muscles pressing on the nerves, which may occur due to overuse, inflammation, muscle strain, or other milder issues.
If there's no other underlying problem behind the sciatic nerve irritation, resting the muscle or ligament that causes sciatic nerve entrapment might be all that is needed.
Physical therapy for sciatica
Sometimes, sciatica might result from muscular abnormalities, bad posture, or keeping the lower spine in an unnatural position for extended periods.
Physical therapy, like stretches, strengthening exercises, and posture correction, might be enough to cure sciatica by removing the irritation on the sciatic nerve.
Medicine-based approaches
In some cases, the underlying cause behind sciatica might be some inflammatory disease, infection, or other condition that can be treated or cured by taking some drugs. These diseases might lead to swollen muscles, temporarily deformed disks or other factors that cause sciatic nerve irritation.
Doctors might recommend antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroid injections, or other drugs.
Surgery for sciatica
When other treatment methods fail to bring results, or the source of sciatica requires immediate intervention, doctors might advise surgical approaches. This usually happens if your sciatica gets more severe and you experience symptoms like paralysis, muscle weakness, or difficulty controlling bladder or bowel movements.
Cauda equina syndrome, tumors, herniated disks, or central spinal stenosis are some underlying issues that might require surgical approaches.
Sciatica pain relief
The main symptom of sciatica is nerve pain that might feel like burning or a pins and needles type of sensation. It usually occurs in the lower back, the buttocks, or throughout the legs. Most of the time, sciatica pain is only apparent on one side of the body. In rare cases, it might affect both sides, signaling possible spinal damage that requires immediate attention.
Sciatic nerve pain relief is a vital part of any treatment effort. Let's take a look at available pain management options.
Painkillers for sciatic pain
Traditional painkillers can bring immediate relief for sciatica pain in most cases. They are the most reliable and widely available pain management options. Their downside lies in the possible side effects, especially when taken over long periods.
Depending on the severity of the pain and the underlying causes, doctors might recommend different types of drugs.
- Analgesics - Simple painkillers, like paracetamol, can help relieve minor pains.
- NSAIDs - Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs reduce pain and inflammation at the same time.
- Steroid injections - Epidural steroid treatments can offer potent pain relief and treat inflammatory diseases when other methods fail to bring results.
- Opioids - Opioids are strong painkillers that can effectively treat even severe pains. However, they are usually recommended only as a last resort because of the risks of addiction.
Alternative remedies for sciatica pain relief
If you want to avoid the side effects of traditional drugs, alternative pain relief techniques might be the right option for you. Some of these methods require professional care, while others are easy ways to start your sciatica pain treatment at home.
- Acupuncture - Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese practice backed by scientific research. It utilizes needles to ease pains and treat various conditions.
- Massage therapy - Professional massage therapists can help ease muscle tension and remedy swollen muscles, which might help relieve sciatica symptoms.
- Thermal therapy - Heat and cold therapy are both effective and science-backed ways of pain management, and they can be easily done at home.
- Herbal remedies - Some herb-based solutions can help ease mild pains. Herbal ingredients, like capsaicin, lavender oil, and Boswellia, are often used in these products.
- Drug-free pain patches - Pain patches utilizing innovative technologies can offer effective and localized pain relief without the side effects of traditional painkillers.
Lifestyle changes and prevention for sciatica
Some minor lifestyle changes can help ease your existing symptoms and decrease your risk of developing sciatica in the future.
- Stay active - Keeping your muscles and joints in good shape is essential. Yoga, swimming, and other low-impact exercises can strengthen your core muscles, improve flexibility and joint health, and promote a healthier lifestyle overall.
- Avoid stressors - If you're at risk of developing sciatica, it's often advised to be mindful of stressors that might cause muscle or joint damage. Avoid overuse, lifting heavy objects, or physical trauma, whenever possible.
- Manage your stress levels - While stress doesn't directly lead to sciatica, it might be a contributing factor, as it increases muscle tension and the risk of certain diseases and conditions. Meditation can be an effective way to reduce both stress levels and pain perception.