Chronic Pain is certainly not a pleasant experience. In the best case scenario, the pain you feel can be an annoyance and disruptive to your life and in the worst cases it can completely throw you off track and leave you helpless and unable to care for yourself. Yet, about a third of the American population suffers from chronic pain every single day of their lives. It can be mild or excruciating, come in episodes or never ease up. The sad part is that most people are not aware that they are in chronic pain, they have just learned to live with it. But there are ways to manage this type of pain and keep it from disrupting your normal routine but you must get a chronic pain diagnosis first.
What Is Chronic Pain?
Since pain is a part of everyday life, most of us have learned to just take it in stride. Pain is a warning signal sent by the brain to alert us that something is wrong with our body. However, with chronic pain, the warning signals never stop. They continue to bombard our nervous system even when nothing is wrong. This unrelenting discomfort can last for months and sometimes even years, taking a major toll on us both emotionally and physically.
Types Of Chronic Pain:
The most common types of chronic pain we experience are headaches, joint pains, and backaches. Other types of pain could result from the recurrence of a previous injury, or tendinitis, sinus pain, and carpal tunnel syndrome.
No one really knows what changes a pain from an acute signal that something is wrong to chronic pain but there’s no question that living with it can be quite distressing. Sometimes, when the pain has continued unabated for quite some time our emotional defenses begin to take over leaving us with anxiety, stress, depression, and other feelings of negativity. Because the mind and body are so closely intertwined, these negative feelings can actually begin to amplify the sensations of pain sending us into a vicious cycle of a new and more intense round of pain. For this reason effective treatment should be started as soon as possible to control the advancement. Those who get a chronic pain diagnosis take the first step in addressing not just the physical condition but the psychological damage it does as well.
Symptoms Of Chronic Pain:
Chronic pain can include any type of pain or physical sensation that does not go away. Some patients describe it as a shooting, burning, aching, or electrical sensation coursing through the area. The feeling often leaves patients feeling sore and tight in the affected area.
There are also secondary symptoms that result from chronic pain. These include fatigue from the inability to sleep, withdrawal from society, a weakened immune system, and mood swings. These can all be debilitating if left untreated so if you suspect that you’re suffering from chronic pain, it is recommended that you get a chronic pain diagnosis as soon as possible. This way you can make sure that you take the steps to get your pain under control. This way, you can take back your life and start living with the rest of the world once again.
Chronic Pain Treatment:
Medication:
Chronic pain treatment with prescription drugs can only be allowed under specific circumstances and with doctors orders. Since most of the medication prescribed is highly additive, you’ll need to work with a doctor on a medication that is suitable for your symptoms.
