Managing Chronic Pain
Letting that sink in – managing chronic pain – is something I have had to come to terms with.
We want a quick fix. I want a “fix!” If I can just get past this. If I can just get to the day when my back doesn’t hurt anymore. Will there ever be an end? Why am I not better yet?
Can you relate to any of those questions? This journey of chronic pain has left me in a constant view of “waiting for it to be over.” After this next procedure I will be better! That is what I would continually tell myself. “This next procedure – this will be it and I’ll get my life back.”
If you have experienced pain or are currently walking through chronic pain like me it can be so tempting to focus on the “fix” of your pain. If that is you, you are not alone. I am in that every day.
But I have learned that I have had to change my perspective towards my expectations. Instead of waiting to “just get better” I have had to adjust my thinking to a “managing chronic pain.” Instead of a fix, it has had to become more of a “chronic pain management” instead.
When we talk about chronic pain management, there are two areas of importance. The first, is how to physically cope with chronic pain and the second is how to emotionally deal with chronic pain. They are closely related but separate, and both incredibly important.
How To Physically Cope With Chronic Pain
I struggle with daily thoracic pain from an auto accident. Although I will discuss what I do to physically manage my thoracic chronic pain, these tips may help even if your chronic pain is different than mine.
The first thing, and this was hard to learn, is to know my limits. That may seem extremely obvious to you. Of course you need to know your limits of what you are capable of doing. But it can be really hard to follow. Especially, if what your life looks like now with chronic pain is very different than it did before.
I need to be careful with what I choose to do and not to do. For example, I used to run half-marathons prior to the accident. That is an obvious example I know I can no longer do. But the difficulty is in the little things.
The bigger activities you can no longer do can be easy to refrain from. But the little things? That’s tough. Especially if you feel like you should be able to do them. For example, I know that if my thoracic pain is more difficult today, that doing simple tasks with repetitive movements will exasperate it. Give yourself permission to get help with simple daily chores and tasks when you need it.
Also, I have found that changes in my diet can have a positive effect. I try to follow an anti-inflammatory diet as best I can. The diet doesn’t take my pain away, in other words – it’s not a fix for my chronic pain – but I do notice that overall I have more energy and know the anti-inflammatory effects on my thoracic injuries is beneficial.
Thirdly, I have been trying procedures called prolotherapy and platelet rich plasma injections. Both of these procedure are safe, effective and non-surgical treatments for pain. I will cover these in more detail in future blog posts but they have been a godsend.
How To Emotionally Deal With Chronic Pain
When you just want it fixed and you just want the pain gone, it can be difficult to maintain a perspective of chronic pain management versus fixing it. I want it fixed! But I have been down this road long enough to know there is not a quick fix. I have had to make the choice to accept my current reality of managing it instead.
But a change in your mindset can have a powerful effect on your outlook towards your chronic pain. As mentioned above, the trap of just trying to get back to how you were before your chronic pain is easier to reject when you are not continually focused on fixing it. This topic of how to emotionally deal with chronic pain can be a series in itself such as the fear, guilt, anger, and anxiety that can easily make their way into your day when you are living with chronic pain.
I won’t dive into each of those emotions today, but that subtle (or maybe not-so-subtle) shift in your mindset can really change your outlook on your day.
Here’s a personal example to illustrate this: I recently had another doctor’s appointment and was devastated that morning for the fact I was here yet-again for another appointment and it’s not over. I thought it would be over by now. The nurse I had that morning, she was so kind. She told me “you want to fix it, but right now all you can do is manage it.” And that really hit me. That’s what I needed to hear that morning.
And here is where that subtle shift from “fixing it” to “managing your chronic pain” is so powerful: I can not fix it but I can manage it. I can make choices every day that make it a little easier and some days better than others. And with that little change, the devastation of it not being over is lifted a bit.
Lastly, this simple (actually its anything-but-simple) verse I hold onto when I find myself struggling with just wanting the pain over is this: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.
All things.
All things.
No matter what struggle, hardship, or pain you are facing – all things.
And that Truth right there makes it a little easier to accept and focus on managing chronic pain versus fixing it.
Lisa
Thank you Lisa! I have chronic pain and I tend toward denial of it and the reality of it. I had not realized how much I still am waiting for it to be gone completely. At its worst I could not walk except at a very delicate slow pace, and, to stand and teach my courses, the pain gave me nausea. The fact that it remains (for the last year or two or three) at a level where I am able to walk or walk run most days is such a blessing that I tend to ignore the ever present knee, hip, shoulder, and arm pain from my degenerate cervical disks that push into my spinal canal. Your post offers me love and compassion to accept my truth and continue to choose the loving maintenance I do (mobility exercises for the neck, traction for the neck, yin yoga, meditation, acupuncture). Yes, this is my life and it is very very good.. Thank you again Lisa!!
Thank you for sharing, Michelle! You give me encouragement too and how you put it “loving maintenance” – yes, that is such a great way to put it. Accepting it and doing so with gratefulness for what you are able to do instead of discouragement for all that has changed. Thank you!💙💙