Part 1 - Chronic Pain

Taking the First Step: Understanding Chronic Pain

If you've been in pain for longer than 3-6 months, you are likely familiar with the term chronic pain. By definition, this is a type of pain which persists long after your initial injury has physically healed.

It's a frustrating and often "invisible" condition. Because it doesn't always show up on X-rays or MRIs, many people feel ignored or dismissed by their medical team. This is incredibly disappointing – chronic pain is complex, and it deserves a high level of attention because of how significantly it can impact your quality of life.

The Short-Term Relief Cycle

You have probably tried many things to get out of pain:

• Massage and adjustments

• Acupuncture and dry needling

• Heat creams

• Pain medications

Whilst these can provide a window of comfort, the relief is often short-lived, and the side effects of long-term pain medication use can often feel just as debilitating as the pain itself. You may have even tried exercise, only the be sidelined by a flare-up that makes it hard to get out of bed the next day.

More Than Just a Physical Problem

Chronic pain starts off by appearing as physical problem – but it quickly starts to impact other areas of your life, such as your social life, mental health, your ability to work, and before you know it, you start to feel like your entire life revolves around your pain.

The First Step: Understanding

The first step to taking back control is your life is to gain an understanding of your pain – the better you understand what is happening in your body, the less anxious you will feel and the more in control you will be of your life.

Start by reading the next post below to see what exactly is going on when you are in pain

Resources:

Much of my writing has been highly influenced by Professor Lorimer Mosely. He has a brilliant TedTalk on YouTube explaining pain which I highly recommend watching https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwd-wLdIHjs