Tai Chi as a Pain Relief Technique

Emily Galvin is an author on behalf of The Hope House, a luxury rehab center located in Scottsdale, Arizona dedicated to personalized care and holistic wellness.

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Tai chi is an age-old technique that can be very beneficial to those dealing with chronic pain. Combining fluid movements and light cardio, tai chi is a great choice for those seeking natural pain relief.

There are many physical and mental benefits to tai chi, as well as treatment options to complement these techniques.

What is Tai Chi

Tai chi is derived from ancient Chinese Taoism practices. There are various forms, some of which are more physically demanding than others.

There are 5 main styles of tai chi. These include Chen, Yang, Wu, Sun, and Hao. Each differs slightly in stance, movement, and difficulty. The first style, Chen, is most often separated into three difficulty levels: low, medium and high. These levels can accommodate participants young and old — no matter their experience level.

Getting blood flowing and muscles working is a great way to help your body relieve pain on its own. In fact, many drug addiction programs use tai chi to relieve chronic pain instead of opioids. This is often done socially to promote strength and perseverance among a group of people.

Using Tai Chi for Pain Relief

Fluid movements and light exercise makes tai chi a great option to get blood flowing for those who deal with chronic pain. Specifically, tai chi can be very helpful for reducing discomfort in those with osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, or other painful conditions.

Other than these, tai chi can be a great way to reduce mild occasional pain as well. Some choose to start their day with tai chi or yoga to energize their bodies and minds.

Techniques like tai chi, meditation, yoga, or other light exercise can be very effective in addition to conventional medication. These complementary and alternative methods of treatment can have plenty of physical advantages as well.

Physical Benefits

Depending on the type of tai chi used, there can be many physical benefits. Some of these include:

• Improved balance
• Greater flexibility
• Muscle strength
• Stamina

When dealing with chronic pain, it can be extremely difficult to exercise balance, flexibility, strength and stamina. In building these skills specifically, tai chi reduces the discomfort of constant pain overall. Starting slow and building strength at your own pace is the best way to be active without worsening pain.

Mental Benefits

Along with physical benefits, there are also a lot of mental health benefits that tai chi can bring. Reduced stress and increased awareness are only a few. Any exercise that calms and focuses the mind is a great benefit to the brain’s function.

Some also use tai chi as a spiritual practice, and find that it is grounding to utilize consistently. Others prefer to use the movements as a light exercise rather than spirituality.

Others use tai chi to complement treatment for addiction or other rehabilitation purposes. In fact, certain Arizona treatment facilities offer tai chi as part of their rehab programs. This can be a great addition to treatment plans as it can provide a social atmosphere as well as pain relief for those looking to quit opioid addiction.

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Whether you are looking for a light exercise to relieve occasional pain, or a long-term solution to chronic pain, tai chi is worth giving a try. Taking into consideration the physical and mental benefits, this pain-relieving technique could be a great addition to your routine.

Take some time today to try tai chi and see how it can benefit you.