As reported in The Journal of Pain published by the American Pain Society, researchers in a Chicago-based program set out to determine how effective mind/body self-care techniques were in helping adults cope with chronic pain.

The study documented the experiences of seventy-eight people age 55 and older as they used the internet to access a variety of online pain management tools. Researches assessed changes in pain intensity as well as the subject’s ability to better manage their pain.

The subjects in the study were divided into intervention and comparison groups. The intervention group used online tools at least once a week.

A website the intervention group was given access to guided visitors through such pain coping techniques as deep breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, journaling about their feelings and experiences, creative visualization exercises and positive thinking exercises.

Online instructional materials such as videos, worksheets and illustrations guided the subjects through the various modules in the online program and encouraged them to participate in developing coping strategies.

At the end of the study, researches evaluated the experiences of the intervention group and the comparison group. They concluded that the intervention group using online tools showed significant improvements in pain intensity as well as the level of interference in daily activities the subjects attributed to pain.

Researchers also concluded that the subjects using online support tools showed improved confidence in their ability to use self-care techniques for managing their own pain.

The researchers concluded that online intervention offers a viable means of empowering older adults with chronic pain to learn self-care techniques and integrate those techniques into their daily lives.

From my own experience in organizing self-help support groups, I know that the average person suffering chronic pain gets very little help in learning to manage it. My hope is that this study will lead health care providers and insurance companies to develop online programs teaching pain management techniques and provide easy and affordable access to them.

### Bonnie Boots publishes Pain Health News to provide information and motivation to people living with chronic pain.  You can stay in touch with her by typing your email address into the subscribe box in the upper right corner of this page.

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