It took me a long time to realise that attending to my basic well-being could have a positive impact on my persistent pain condition.  Although good nutrition won’t eliminate chronic pain, it can reduce the extra stress on the body caused by poor nutrition. 

I have found that however hard I have tried that my activity levels are lower than pre-injury.  Combining this with an over-reliance on convenience foods caused me to gain weight, which undoubtedly must have increased mechanical stress on my body, thereby increasing my pain.  A few years ago I decided to lose significant weight in order to give my body the best chance it could have, and I have never looked back.   I try to maintain a healthy weight and a reasonably healthy diet as I believe it gives me the best chance of living well with my pain.  It’s certainly worth thinking about.

Although I haven’t been able to find any particular foods that have made my pain better or worse, I realise this is not the case for others.  I would recommend keeping a food diary in order to work out if there are any particular foods that are acting as triggers for your pain situation. 

I hope these resources will help you reflect on your nutrition and the value of improving it in order to hopefully improve your life with persistent pain.