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Don't forget your MEDS!

Strategies to help resolve pain and gain greater health

Author: Dr. Britt Dalton, PT, DPT, OCS, COMT, FAAOMPT

The vast majority of the people we see in our clinics are coming in for pain, to develop a healthier, stronger body, or both. They may have had a recent, traumatic injury, or have been dealing with a longstanding problem without one obvious cause. While no two people are the same, and their path to regaining a healthy, active lifestyle may be different, there are some things we encourage all of our patients to do. 

In the past few years, we have had the opportunity to learn from the knowledgeable instructors of The Institute of Clinical Excellence, or ICE. One of the lectures they gave that stood out to us was how they encourage all their patients to take their MEDS. In this case, MEDS does not stand for the medicine your doctor prescribed or the OTC medication you may have purchased, but rather Mindfulness, Exercise, Diet, and Sleep. 

Mindfulness is a practice of meditation in which you are focusing on that you are currently experiencing, taking stock of how you are feeling, without necessarily trying to figure out why or casting judgement about it. This can be done in as little as 5 minutes a day, and there are several Apps that are available to help you with it. Studies have shown that practicing mindfulness for even small amounts of time can reduce stress, emotional distress, and improve self-compassion. 

Exercise is another activity that can provide significant benefits to not only your physical state, but your mental and emotional states as well. The CDC’s recommended physical activity guidelines for adults in a week are 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise, coupled with two sessions a week of strength training. For moderate activity, think of a level of intensity that gets your heartrate and breathing rate up to a level that you may talk, but not sing. For vigorous exercise, this may be a level of intensity that may make it difficult to carry on a steady conversation. And remember, for strength training, you want to include your arms, trunk, and legs.

Diet will also have a significant impact on your body’s ability to function at an optimal level. The Mayo Clinic recommends that for a 2,000 calorie/day diet, you should strive to consume 6-8 servings of grains (preferably whole grains), 4-5 servings of vegetables, 4-5 servings of fruit, and 2-3 servings of dairy or dairy products. Numerous studies have demonstrated the relationship between our diet and chronic pain, sleep quality, and many other modifiable diseases. 

Sleep is the final component of your MEDS. You should strive for 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Establishing a normal sleep routine in which you try to go to bed and get up at the same time each day, avoid eating heavy, fatty meals before bed, and turn off all electronics at least 1 hour before bed can lead to getting more consistent, better-quality sleep. 

It may be hard for you to implement all these changes at once, but starting with small goals to improve one or more of these areas can help you not only recover from an injury, but make your body more resilient and better able to handle any physical or mental stress that may come at you in the future.