Healthy Fluids

Yesterday I had horrible back pain. It is a result of my bad computer habits. I sit at my computer from 8-12 hours a day with my legs crossed, look at one computer on my right and type on another one on my left – and it finally caught up to my back. I was in so much pain that I couldn’t sit, lie down, or stand up. Heat wasn’t helping and cold wasn’t helping.

In short, I couldn’t find any pain relief.

I got to the point that I wanted to knock myself out so I could just stop feeling the pain. And then I discovered something…

I found King of Queens on TV, and despite my pain, I started laughing. Instantly my pain started to go away.

So, I told my husband that I wanted to watch comedy shows all night. No drama or anything else – just comedy. It seemed to help my back (although the massage and hot chocolate didn’t hurt either!) I went to paid PAIN FREE!
Laughter, The Drug Free Pain Reliever?

Today I felt a little better, but there was still pain. A few minutes ago my mom called me and I couldn’t hear her. I thought that something might be wrong but then suddenly I heard a small “Hello?” She was not aware that she had called me and she was trying to call someone else.

In any case, she started talking but I couldn’t hear her again. I said, “Mom, I can’ t hear you. I think your phone is cutting out.” She replied with, “I always talk into the wrong end of this thing.”

I started laughing so hard that I couldn’t even hear anything else she said. I laughed for at least a minute and then I finally gained some control to talk to her and she said in all seriousness, “Can you hear me now? I can hear you just fine!” and I burst out laughing again.

I’ve been laughing ever since.

But, I noticed that the pain that threatened to keep me in my chair moments before she called was gone, and I thought I better look this up to see if it was just feeling good or laughing that was causing my pain relief. Turns out it was laughter.

To be honest, I already knew this, but I just wanted to confirm what I felt.

And, while I learned that laughing with others is better than laughing alone for pain relief, I can definitely say that laughing at my mom and not with her was still a pretty good pain relief technique for my back. Tonight, I will try to laugh with my husband and see how much better I can feel through that.
Laughter Therapy For Pain Relief?

If laughing with others is good for both physical and mental pain, then laughter therapy should be amazing for pain relief.

I’m not sure about this therapy though. I have seen a few laughter therapy videos and I’m not sure if laughter therapy may be more annoying that beneficial. I am not a big fan of fake laughter – or fake anything, and I find that it is necessary in order to get started sometimes.