It's that time of year again.  The holidays are just around the corner.  Does the thought of another holiday season fill you with joyful anticipation or overwhelm you with fear and dread? The average person considers the holidays at least somewhat stressful. For people with chronic pain, who are already struggling to cope with daily life in general, the added demands and stresses of the holidays can make your pain and other symptoms even worse.

While you may not be able to totally avoid all stress, there are steps you can take to reduce your stress level and minimize potential pain flares.  The key is planning ahead.  Making decisions now, before the pressures and deadlines are upon you, will help give you a sense of control and reduce your stress.  And starting early will allow you to do a few things each week as you are able rather than pushing your body to do more than you should at the last minute. 

Following are two articles that may help you get started planning for this holiday season:

Surviving the Holdiays

10 Tips to Reduce Holiday Stress

Wishing you happy and pain-free holidays,