John Claude Krusz, Ph.D., M.D. - The search for pain relief
	Craig R. DuBois, M.D. - Never give up!
	Wayne Martin, LCSW, BCIAC - What role does stress play in pain?
	Wayne Martin, LCSW, BCIAC - How relaxation techniques help

Coping

The most important things a facial pain patient can do to help yourself are to make sure you have the proper diagnosis and to become knowledgeable about your facial pain condition. Education is the key to making the best decisions possible about your treatment. No one has your best interest at heart more than you do. While it is good to get information, advice, and recommendations from your health care practitioners and others with facial pain, ultimately you are the one who must decide what is best for you. You are the one who will be living daily with the outcome, whether good or bad.

The relationships that you have established with family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances may or may not change after you have chronic facial pain. It is difficult for others to understand the degree of pain you feel—some will support you any way; while others may think that you are exaggerating or faking. It is hard to accept others do not believe you but if they are open to reading or learning about your disorder then education may be the key to changing their view. If they are not willing to learn about your problem, then you will probably only add to your frustration by trying to convince them.

Depression, in varying degrees, can be a part of living with chronic facial pain, so talk with your doctor about feelings of sadness. Antidepressant medication may be helpful. If your feelings go to hopelessness or if the sadness is interfering with daily living, it may also be advisable to talk with a counselor or therapist.

You will not be able to function as you normally did at times, so when your pain interferes with your daily life, you can help yourself by allowing yourself to be imperfect, doing things in moderation, getting rest when needed, setting limits which includes saying no, keeping as busy as possible since distraction helps, laugh, sharing your artistic side with others, and setting realistic goals for what you can accomplish.

Positive thinking is one way that doctors are seeing why pain in certain patients is more controllable than patients who have negative thoughts about their situation.  Higher levels of pain patient anxiety/expectations and lower levels of perceived social support were seen in groups with longer duration of pain. 

10 Tips to Reduce Holiday Stress
http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/coping-196531-5.html

Association of stress level with facial pain:  the role of coping.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18686499?dopt=Abstract

Breathing Exercises
http://www.howtocopewithpain.org/resources/breathing-exercises-2.html

Coping with Chronic Pain
http://www.chronicpainsupport.org/coping.html

Facial Neuralgia Coping Skills
http://facial-neuralgia.org/coping/coping.html

Facial pain, depression, and stress – connections and directions.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12406308

Guided Imagery
http://www.howtocopewithpain.org/resources/guided-imagery.html

Relaxation Exercises
http://www.howtocopewithpain.org/resources/relaxation-exercises.html

Stress Induced Oral Behaviors and Facial Pain
http://www.springerlink.com/content/q7274181155865q1/

Stress Management
http://www.howtocopewithpain.org/resources/stress-management.html

Tips for Caregivers:  Coping with Stress and Anxiety
http://www.caregiver.com/articles/caregiver/tips_for_caregivers.htm

Organizations

American Academy of Pain Management
http://www.aapainmanage.org/

American Academy of Pain Medicine
http://www.painmed.org/

American Chronic Pain Association
http://www.theacpa.org/

American Holistic Health Association
http://ahha.org/

American Pain Foundation
http://www.painfoundation.org

National Pain Foundation
http://www.nationalpainfoundation.org/

Facial Neuralgia Resources
http://facial-neuralgia.org/default.htm