Chronic Pain, They look fine?

     Chronic pain is considered by the medical industry as being pain that lasts long than six (6) months.  One of the main issues with Chronic pain is that it does not discriminate, it affects the young and old, wealthy and poor, it can be a very minor pain all the way to a very debilitating pain.  Chronic pain can rear its ugly head at anytime and in a number of different ways, with no part of the human body being off limits.  When it comes to chronic pain at various time it can be emotional, physical or even both depending on the week, day, hour or even minutes in one’s day.  To first understand Chronic Pain, one needs to understand the Different types of pain: Acute Pain can best be described as pain that is sudden, after a surgery, a fall, it may come and go for a period of time.  Chronic Pain as mentioned above, is pain that can be made worse by one’s own environment or even their own mental status.  Some of the causes can be ulcers, your work chair, shoes one wears, mattress, driver’s seat in your car, your couch or even the way you walk or that tumble you took last week can develop into chronic pain.  To be called, “Chronic Pain it has to last longer than six months. There are literally hundreds to thousands of disorders, accidents, syndromes and illnesses, chronic pain is the number one pain condition seen in most medical facilities with back pain and more specifically sciatica, or pain that makes it way to ones legs being close behind, this can be caused by carrying your wallet in your back pocket and sitting down without removing it.  The wallet, smart phone, etc. causes excess pressure to be placed on the sciatic nerve which runs from the low back down both legs.  Just a few of the symptoms of chronic pain include, but are not limited to the following:

• Pain described as burning, aching, dull, needling, shooting, electrical or stabbing.
• Feeling of discomfort, tightness, stiffness, soreness or cramping.
• Changes in mood including hopelessness, fear, depression, anxiety, stress, irritability or emptiness
• Pain is not a symptom that exists alone.
• Sleeplessness
• Mild to severe pain that does not go away or changes throughout the day from mild to severe to mild again.
• Withdrawal from ones daily routine.
• Feeling the need that more sleep is needed.
• Weakened immune system, often getting sick or seeing the doctor.
• Disability
• Fatigue
• There are way to many to list

     There are many possible treatments for chronic pain including everything from medications, acupuncture, cortisone injections made directly into the pain site, physical therapy, nerve blocks or more direct treatments like the internal pain management pump which places medication directly at the pain site bypassing the patient’s blood stream or the internal electrical stimulation device which similar to a TENS unit puts a level of current directly on the pain site reducing or stopping the pain. The United States in just the past several years has started accepting such eastern medical treatments which are now being utilized, such as acupressure, acupuncture, meditation and yoga and more.  Think about the way you sleep, eat, drive, play, drink and relax and I’m sure you can list on both hands more activities that cause pain.  Here is a very brief list of conditions for when you should consult a doctor;

1.      You have a severe headache for an extended period of time.

2.     Weakness or numbing in arms or legs.

3.     Chest pains

4.     Stiffness in the neck that won’t go away

 5.    Loss of or change in your sleep

6.      The pain starts affecting your relationships

    There are numerous ways over the past twenty one years that I have found the following steps beneficial in coping with my chronic pain, please understand that not every one of these works every time.  Your pain is effected by and changes with your habits, schedule, and sleep patterns, so you may have to try several before you find one that works for you or realize none of them are working and you need to find what does.  I have listed them in the order which I have found them to be beneficial.

1)    Reduce the stress in your life.

2)    Reduce your alcohol intake.

3)    Register to learn meditation and deep breathing techniques.

4)    Track your pain levels daily and find out when you are in the most pain.

5)    Sign up for a massage.  Doing this helps me for 3-4 days after I’ve overdone it.

6)    Eat healthy

7)    Try and find a way to take your mind off the pain.

     Pain affects each and every one of us differently, so just because for you a particular level of pain is tolerable, does not mean that same level is for everyone.  Also, not everyone with chronic pain has visible signs as to the cause like with a broken arm or leg, the cause of the pain maybe an internal one.  If you are the caregiver, spouse, family member to a caree with chronic pain, please understand that after a period of time having chronic pain the little things we do, bending from side to side, doing standing crunches, grunting or groaning, even just having to take a few more breaks than normal when walking somewhere or we just don’t feel like smiling or laughing at something that is clearly funny, the tone in my “Yes” answer may not sound like a yes, but trust me it is, I just may not have the energy to put into a better sounding one.  And with those people with chronic pain, they have to deal with it every day. So please, please don’t take it personal, I would say more than half the time we don’t even know we’re doing it, the pain “our hitch hiker” demands a lot out of us just to keep things as level as they are.   

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