RELAXATION, BREATHING TECHNIQUES, AND SELF-MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN PAIN REHABILITATION

Abstract

Chronic pain is now understood as a multidimensional biopsychosocial phenomenon rather than a purely nociceptive event. This chapter examines relaxation, breathing, and self-management strategies not as generic comfort measures but as physiologically grounded interventions acting on descending pain-modulatory pathways, autonomic balance, and central sensitization. Drawing on the revised International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) definition of pain and contemporary evidence on vagal afferent signalling, heart-rate-variability (HRV) biofeedback, progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness-based approaches, and structured self-management education, the chapter offers physiotherapists a mechanism-based framework for prescribing these interventions across common pain presentations, supported by current clinical practice guidance including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline NG193.