3 Chronic Pain Myths Busted!

3 CHRONIC PAIN MYTHS BUSTED!

If you battle chronic pain, you understand how hard it is to get people to understand what you’re going through. It often feels like you aren’t allowed to talk about it because it either makes people uncomfortable, or people just don’t take you seriously. Life becomes lonely, depressing, and bleak.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be this way! Learning more about your condition and informing others is helpful to feeling empowered and feeling like you belong.

Read ahead to see some common Chronic Pain myths busted and learn more about how you can take back control of your life!

MYTH #1: After healing from surgery or injury, you shouldn’t have any more pain.

FACT: There is a big difference between Acute Pain and Chronic Pain.

Acute pain is the experience of nerves and tissue beginning the healing process immediately after an injury or invasive procedure. Ranging from stubbing your toe to open heart surgery, the body and brain jumps to action, locating the source of pain and sending signals to start protecting and healing the affected area. There is pain involved in this process, but it is usually short-lived relative to chronic pain.

Chronic pain does not go away. It is much more complicated than acute pain, because there are often problems with the brain and body’s signaling system, leading you to still feel pain long after the tissue has healed from acute trauma (injury/surgery). These signaling problems are often due to the brain misreading or misinterpreting information the body is sending it. This confusion between brain and body often has to do with various other issues not related to the source of pain itself, such as: increased stress response, anxiety, depression, emotional/mental trauma, sleep problems, poor diet/nutrition, sedentary lifestyle, etc.

A primary treatment component for chronic pain is mental health intervention such as individual and group therapy and/or medications to help with mental health symptoms. It is important to understand chronic pain is complicated and may take some time to get to the root issue and work to untangle the physical and mental/emotional symptoms you experience.

MYTH #2: It’s all in your head.

FACT: As I mentioned above, there is a mental piece to chronic pain, but that does NOT mean “it’s all in your head.”

The brain and body have interesting ways of communicating, using electrical and chemical signals to relay information: 1.) amino acids and proteins act as neurotransmitters carrying information from nerve cell to nerve cell about what the body is experiencing and how the brain should respond, 2.) hormones are released depending on these signals to help the brain get the body what it needs to stay protected and decrease pain.

But when wires get crossed, so to speak, the brain and body are not communicating properly, which can lead to intensified or sustained pain sensation in the body. This leads to worsening mental health symptoms, which in turn further complicates the brain and body messaging system. The cyclical nature of mind and body functions interacting is what really creates the perfect storm of chronic pain. The problem with chronic pain treatment, is that we are just now realizing that physical and medical interventions only deal with one of these elements – the physical/body.

Medical professionals are now turning to mental health interventions to help deal with the other crucial piece – the mind/brain. So, though the mind is very much involved in chronic pain, the physical pain you feel is very real and should be treated as such.

MYTH #3: Chronic Pain is a life sentence.

FACT: Chronic pain can be reduced and even eliminated with appropriate treatment and lifestyle changes.

Working with chronic pain patients has given me hope that there is true recovery when both the body and brain are attended to. Developing self-esteem and self-compassion is an important starting point in healing the mental aspect, which in turn will lead to healthier behaviors and habits which can reduce the sensation of pain in the body. Stress management skills will help to reduce the constant flow of chemicals responsible for keeping your muscles tense, your heart rate and blood pressure up, your breathing shallow, and your mood low. The chronic fight or flight response, which is the primary symptom of anxiety and PTSD can be decreased with proper use of coping skills for stress. Many other symptoms may be present and should each be identified and dealt with individually to improve your overall function and fulfillment in life. It is up to you to make the changes necessary to find relief and hope. Don’t hesitate to reach out for help, either through professional counseling or psychiatric services, or through community support groups.

As author Haruki Murakami said: “Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.”

**Interested in learning more? Contact Vickie via email. Also, be sure to comment below to share your story, encourage others, or offer your opinion on this article.