The COVID-19 pandemic affects all of us and people with pain may feel particularly anxious. Managing physical and emotional aspects of pain is difficult under normal circumstances, and veterans and military service members and their families may feel particularly vulnerable due to the many new physical and emotional challenges brought on, or heightened, by the pandemic.

We at the NIH-DoD-VA Pain Management Collaboratory strongly encourage everyone to continue to adhere to public health guidelines to reduce risk of personal exposure to COVID-19 and to protect the public’s health. For up-to-date information on the recommendations of the CDC, DoD, and VA, please follow the links in the section below.

The president of the American Academy of Pain Medicine has published an informational message related to pain management amid the pandemic at https://painmed.org/aapm-news/message-from-the-aapm-president-about-covid-19.  It includes guidance about interacting with pain-management specialists, including use of telehealth approaches to promote access to pain care, as well as information about medications, billing, and reimbursement.

Remember that it is particularly important in times of stress to strive to maintain those activities that are known to be useful for managing pain and staying healthy, such as not using tobacco products, eating well and exercising regularly.  In fact, many movement therapies are known to be effective for managing pain and include:

• • stretching
  • structured exercise
  • yoga
  • tai chi

For many people, skills for coping with pain previously learned from therapists, classes, and other interactions with healthcare providers can be especially helpful in times of stress and include:

• • cognitive-behavioral therapy
  • acceptance and commitment therapy
  • mindfulness-based stress reduction

Stay well!