United States Department of Veterans Affairs
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
National Hepatitis C Program
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Managing Pain

Relaxation

You can develop specific relaxation skills, such as:

  • deep breathing--breathing from the abdomen
  • progressive muscle relaxation--tensing and relaxing muscles in a coordinated way, which helps reduce muscle tension
  • guided imagery--using visualization techniques to change your focus from pain to something else
  • self-hypnosis--a way of teaching your body to relax
  • biofeedback--using a machine to measure how much certain muscles are tensed, and teaching your body to relax those muscles