Allergies
Pain is a feeling or sensation that is the result of an injury of a physical condition. Pain is a complicated personal experience. We must stress the word personal. Many people can emphasize with the idea of pain; at the end of the day, all of us have gone through some kind of pain in our lives, no matter if it is a headache, injury, or pain you feel when you hit your shin on a coffee table or cutting your finger with a knife. Each person experiences pain differently, however.
When acute pain occurs, that should be taken as a signal of a problem or injury. Typically the pain lasts a short time, and treating it means removing the underlying source of the pain and using analgesics. When acute pain is experienced, the person should go for treatment by a medical professional.
But chronic pain is very much more complicated to deal with. It is pain that lasts longer than six months. It is usually accompanied by such symptoms as inability to sleep, loss of appetite or disinterest in food, weight going up and down, lack of sex drive, and even depression, just to name a few.
Chronic pain interferes with the lives of over fifty million Americans, men, women, and children, on a daily basis. More than half of them (51%) report the pain has a negative influence on their job, decreasing productivity and increasing missing work, resulting in missing out on chances to advance. More than half say that pain negatively affects their individual lifestyles, and 3/4 say pain influences their ability to exercise and also interferes with sleep. Finally, over 56% said that pain makes them act more irritable, more stressed, and lessened their drive and motivation. While 82% of people with pain get medical help, around 34% will put off seeking care due to the lack of concern shown by the provider.
Until very recently, pain was thought of as a symptom of a disease or ailment — it was even accepted as a natural part of growing older; therefore, most people with chronic pain end up being under-treated, wrongly treated or possibly even going without treatment. The reason for this is because doctors are educated on how to treat illnesses and not the control of its symptoms.
Yet, people are continuously looking for ways to decrease pain. A little more than half (63%) take prescription drugs, while nearly nearly the same amount (45%) buy medication at online pharmacy. Of those, however, 76% wind up with some sort of side effect from taking the drugs — either sleepiness or stomach upset accounting for the majority of the complaints. It’s for this reason, that the majority of prescription medication users (51%) are not taking their medication correctly.
Pain is experienced in different ways and it’s unique to each person. In order to quantify pain, there are no certain methods. Diagnostic tests, such as x-rays, MRIs, range of motion testing, etc., can usually show what is causing the pain, but they cannot measure the amount of pain you may have.
Pain scales, in which you categorize your level of pain on a scale of “0″, meaning no pain, to “10″, meaning the most excruciating pain you’ve ever had, assist in quantifying and ultimately treating the pain. Yet it is still a fact that pain level of “6″ doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone, even though they may all have the same problem. Pain scales are a useful way to measure someone’s level pain without comparing it to someone else.
What steps can you take?
Learn the facts. Educate yourself as much as possible on the type of pain you have and what your choices for treatment are. A big issue for those who have chronic pain is the long list of possible complications. As an example, there is stress. Stress hurts the body’s healing process. Levels of stress can be increased by having pain daily. Thus, there is a vicious circle — the more pain you have, it becomes more stressful, which lessens your ability to tolerate pain along with various other everyday stresses. This could explain why traditional treatments do not work for so many people who suffer from chronic pain. Only around fifteen percent of folks go for an alternative method to manage pain.
Look for other, alternative methods of dealing with it. Numerous options exist that go beyond traditional treatments. Maybe acupuncture, a massage, or an evaluation by a chiropractor will be helpful. Don’t overlook these options just because they are not the norm.
Become a member of chronic pain groups that relate to your experiences. You would be astonished at the amount of people out there who are enduring the same thing. People who have experienced it might provide some good suggestions for you.
Remain active. Stress and the feeling of pain can be decreased by consistent exercise. Unable to work out like you used to? Alter it to something that fits your tolerance for pain, or think about trying something new, such as Tai Chi, which provides an easier, gentler workout. You will feel worse mentally and physically if you allow pain to get the best of you.
Record it. Maintain a log of your pain and things that make your symptoms worse. What kind of things can assist you in reducing or managing pain — it could be a certain activity or food — it might be too much stress. When you make a note of it, you can avoid making the same mistake over again.
Give your self an honest assessment. It is not a weakness to experience pain. It can just bother you or debilitate you. You need to accept and understand what your limits are. Maybe you need to learn to live with the pain you experience and just move on.
Pain is not a mere annoyance — it’s a big problem for many people. Pain can have mental or physical causes and can be short term or long term. One thing is certain, pain indicates a problem.
Although we never are free of all the pain, we know we aren’t alone.
