Living with chronic pain conditions is so much more than just experiencing pain from time to time. It’s a situation that comes as a rollercoaster of emotions, lifestyle changes and on-going care, to name a few of its challenges. Naturally, the difficulties that appear with these health problems are only understood by those who experience it, but it doesn’t have to be that way. If you have just been diagnosed with one of these conditions, have a loved one who is suffering from one, or simply wish to empathize, keep reading. We, at The Painless Center, provide you with the necessary information to discover and understand a bit more of them.
About Chronic Pain Conditions
According to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), around 24.3% of adults had chronic pain by 2023. At least 8.5% of adults presented high-impact chronic pain—limiting their daily lives and working activities. Some common conditions that can cause chronic pain include:
- Arthritis
- Osteoarthritis
- Fibromyalgia
- Spinal stenosis
- Complex regional pain syndrome
These, and other conditions can be a cause of chronic ache and discomfort that impacts on the daily routines and activities of those who suffer from them. Because these health problems are highly common, you probably already know someone who is suffering from one of them. A situation that is increasingly becoming more usual due to the aging population—where conditions that cause chronic pain are more prevalent.
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5 Things Most People Don’t Understand About Living With Chronic Pain Conditions
We already know that chronic pain conditions are highly common, especially among adults and elders. However, despite how usual they are, they’re still misunderstood, with even widespread misconceptions circulating about them. To clarify and bring some light to what it’s like to live with chronic pain, we bring 5 details about how these conditions impact on those who suffer from them.
1. The Condition Is Not Temporary
A popular misinterpretation is to think of one of these conditions as you’d think of a disease like the flu, reasoning that with the right treatment and proper rest it will go away. In truth, while treatment and rest are one of the key ways to keep symptoms at bay, it doesn’t mean that the health problem will disappear. In fact, lifestyle changes like diet, routines and exercise are crucial for people who experience these health issues—often being part of the treatment itself. Because of this, maintaining those adjustments in their way of life is going to be crucial to maintaining their health as optimal as possible.
2. It’s Not Like Any Other Pain
Everyone has experienced some form of discomfort throughout their lives, but there are some things about pain that are only understood by those who experience these health problems. Most people think that they can comprehend what pain is like for people with these ailments, because they had felt something similar before. Truth be told, feeling temporary discomfort that goes after a few days—at most—is not the same as feeling constant pain for years. A fact that it’s difficult to accept for both those who experience it, and those who have only known pain that dissipates after a while.
3. Stress Makes Chronic Pain Conditions Worse
By releasing hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline through the “fight-or-flight” response, stress triggers pain for those who suffer from chronic pain conditions. A reaction that causes tension, inflammation, and worsens pain, as a result for those who experience this response alongside a painful chronic condition. Something that can cause a vicious cycle where mental stress is constantly activating physical pain—even impacting on sleeping quality and further worsening the situation. People who don’t suffer from one of these ailments, as well as many people who do, ignore how chronic pain and stress can be two sides of the same coin.
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4. Being Invisible Doesn’t Make It Imaginary
Although chronic pain is not visible, it doesn’t mean that it’s not there—a fact that most people don’t realize or try to empathize with. Pain caused by chronic conditions can be debilitating, limiting and long-lasting—while the person suffering from it looks “normal”. Because of this, there’s no particular way for people experiencing symptoms like these to look like. Despite this, the fact remains that there’s a health condition causing chronic pain and those who experience it know it.
5. “Have You Tried…? It Is Good for Chronic Pain Conditions”
Special diets, exercise routines, extra sleep, a miracle herb or med, you name it, people with chronic pain conditions have already tried it. Those who suffer from one of these health issues want a cure as much as the next person—probably more, if we are to be honest. The truth is that they have already tried several tips and tricks in an attempt to get it to stop. Despite this, these ailments are not something that can be simply cured or willed away if they tried hard enough.
Find Care for Chronic Pain Conditions With a Team Who Understands
Although many people have several misconceptions about what chronic pain conditions are, or how they affect the people suffering from it, at The Painless Center we understand. Living with one of these conditions also means that on-going medical care and guidance are also required, and that’s something that we can do for you. From identifying symptoms caused by your health condition, to why it happens and what you should do, our expert providers can guide you through how to care for your health.
Contact us to receive care from a team that not only develops a treatment plan for you—according to your specific issue—but also offers you techniques to deal with the pain caused by it. Schedule your appointment with Dr. Jason Chiu, our double board-certified pain management specialist, and his staff, so you can find relief and manage your chronic pain condition.