Chronic Pain is challenging to live with. When the person living with Chronic Pain is also a Dad or Dad-type figure, there are added challenges. If you know anyone that lives with Chronic Pain and they’re also a father figure, now is the time to celebrate Father’s Day with them! Here are some cool ideas that we’ve come up with for showing appreciation:

Lawn and Garden	Chronic Pain can limit the amount of time and effort spent on the lawn and garden. You can help your guy feel like he’s still a part of keeping his lawn beautiful by doing some lawn work yourself or hiring someone for the season. If your guy is able to do the work himself and he enjoys it, why not try some ergonomic garden tools. If he prefers to stay indoors these days, try this cool Zen Gardening Kit!
Car	Bending over an engine or rolling under a car isn’t exactly the best option for Super Dads with Chronic Pain. Why not try giving them gift cards for car washes, oil changes or even a tune up! If getting in an out of the car causes pain, a swivel seat cushion and the Car Caddie Helping Handare great assistive devices!
Golf	A lot of the pro-golfers wear magnetic golf bracelets to lessen their pain. Check out AbleData.com for a great list of assistive and adaptive golf accessories for people with various disabilities, including Chronic Pain. Supportive Spouse informed me that a gift certificate to Dad’s favorite golf course would also be a great idea.
Exercise	A pedometer is a great gift for the guy that incorporates walking into his Chronic Pain Toolkit. This fancy pedmoeter provides instant gratification of seeing how many miles, steps and calories he has burned. Aquatherapy exercises in the warm water pool can be boring at times. Add some fun into your Dad’s pool therapy routine with this completely waterproof iPod Shuffle Swim Kit. Another way to go would be to just spend time with them while participating in their Chronic Pain exercise routine.
Computer	Anyone that sits like the guy in this picture is sure to develop back and neck pain. Show your Dad that you support his efforts to improve his work habits by getting him an ergonomic keyboard or mouse. On the higher end of spending (but well worth it) is a Dragon NaturallySpeaking Wireless package with a bluetooth headset. Your Dad can dictate into the bluetooth and stretch at the same time that he’s writing his “Thank You” email to you!
Memories	Men with Chronic Pain often feel as they’re not “good enough”, especially if they’re no longer able to provide for their family. A great way to remind them of how special they are is by making a photo book. That way they can pull it out and look at it on one of those pesky flare days. We just made one for my Dad and it took us 3 hours and 20 photographs. We used Shutterfly.com (because we had a coupon), but my Supportive Spouse has also used Blurb.com with success.
Massage, heat, and ice	Living with Chronic Pain means having a staple of ice/heat packs in your Chronic Pain Toolkit. One can never have too many of those as they sometimes rupture. My absolute favorite (they seem to retain temperature and are less likely to rupture) are the clay packs. Or you could help Dad save some money by purchasing a gift certificate for a massage or get him a tool such as the Thera Cane Massager. Soothing heat with a far infrared heating pad can ease sore muscles and speed healing. If your Dad uses detoxification techniques (or just wants to sweat) try an economical way to have a sauna at home.
Encouragement	Encouragement and support can be given in many ways: words, cards and attending doctor’s visits. However, for those of us that live with Chronic Pain, there is nothing quite like the encouragement from others who are going through the same thing. As you can see by the photo, my Chronic Pain One Date At A Time or “ODAT” book is well used. I highly recommend this purchase for anyone living with Chronic Pain. The book was written by Mark Allen Zabawa and you can purchase the book directly from his website.

Pain Camp is a safe place to share your thoughts, experience, strength and hope.  Are you a Dad with Chronic Pain? What would be a great gift for you?  

 

Photo credits:tammy.j, mjohanson, Robby Virus, turbotoddi, Lopers Company1, Thiyagu’s Flick via flickr.com. Shutterfly.