How To Fix Your Back Pain

Posts Tagged ‘Chronic’

Lower back pain is a condition that is quite common for many individuals. There are many different factors that contribute to this condition. Chronic lower back pain is also one of the results of lower back pain gone awry. Since ordinary lower back pain or lumbago usually last for just a few days, lower back pain that last for over six months is called chronic lower back pain. The cause of chronic lower back pain.

Physical Therapy Treatment for Chronic Lower Back PainThere are several treatment options for chronic lower back pain. One treatment choice for this kind of lower back pain is physical therapy or some form of exercise. Although, physical therapy or exercises are usually used in combination with other choices to treat chronic lower back pain, studies have shown that it has a profound effect on the treatment. It shows that medication, behavioral therapy and other treatment options work better if combined with physical therapy or some forms of exercises that involve the back and other muscles connected to it.Michigan State Throw Blanket, Missouri Blanket, Montana Blanket

The role of physical therapy does not stop at exercises; it also includes some forms of massage therapy for chronic lower back pain. Back pain relief also comes in alternative forms such as acupuncture, acupressure and chiropractic therapy. In al three forms of alternative therapy, the expert manipulates the person’s muscles, tissues and bones to treat the problem. In many cases of chronic lower back pain, several or regular visits to the experts are necessary to ease the pain of the lower back or to keep it at bay.

Many other aspects of chronic lower back pain treatment include warm compresses, moist heat, cold packs and capsicum treatment. Warm compresses are usually applied when the back pain rears its ugly head and the pain is more severe. These ease the immediate pain but may not actually have a lasting effect.

Alternating with cold packs may also have an effect but it is best to try which works. Moist heat is dipping in a tub of warm water to ease the pain in the affected area. Some cases of chronic lower back pain require the immersion in a physical therapy tub where hydro massage is given to the individual.

Capsicum treatment is actually the topical application of capsicum extract often found in pharmacies and other alternative medicine stores. The effect of this is an analgesic effect which actually works for several hours. Chronic lower back pain is eased and some relief is achieved.

Article by Elizabeth Peterson K.

A yeast infection, also known as a Candida overgrowth, is not an STD. The condition of Candidiasis is caused by Candid albicans, a single-celed fungus. It is always present in the genital and intestinal tracts. If it is in disproportionate quantities, however, it can cause infection. Diaper rash, vaginitis, and thrush are some of the possible manifestations of candida infection.

Because candida can affect various parts of the body–the most common being the mouth, ears, nose, toenails, fingernails, gastrointestinal tract, and vagina–it can be characterized by a wide array of symptoms. These include constipation, diarrhea, coitis, abdominal pain, headaches, bad breath, rectal itching, impotence, memory loss, mood swings, prostatitis, canker sores, extreme fatigue, vaginitis, PMS, kidney and badder infections, arthritis, depression, hypothyroidism, adrenal problems, hyperactivity, and even diabetes.

Yeasts, incuding candida, feed on sugar. If the body’s pH balance is upset for any reason, the friendly bacteria (such as lactobacilli ) that normally metabolize sugars cannot thrive and do their job properly. Some women find they suffer more yeast infections when using oral contraceptives or during pregnancy. Antibiotics, which kill beneficial bacter along with the harmful ones, are another common cause of yeast infections. Anything that depresses immune function often leads to these types of infections.

In fact, it is said that infections such as candidiasis rarely occur in people with robust immune systems who eat a healthy diet that is low in sugar and yeast. Read a book called “The Yeast Syndrome” by John Parks Trowbridge, M.D., and Morton Walker, D.P.M. You can also read Prescription for Nutritional Healing at your health food store to get an in-depth list of supplements that wil hep you kill yeast cells.

1. Supplement your diet with acidophilus or bifidus to help restore the normal balance of flora in the bowel and vagina. You can also buy yeast fighting supplements. I’ve heard that Primal Defense works very well at killing yeast.

2. Kill yeast with Grapefruit Seed Extract, Pau ‘de Arco, and Olive Leaf Extract, aloe vera juice. Garlic capsules (2 capsules 3 times a day) inhibit the infecting organism. Caprylic acid is an antifungal agent that destroys the candida organism.

3. Make sure that your diet is fruit-free, sugar-free, and yeast-free. Candida thrives in a sugary environment, so your diet should be low in carbohydrates and contain no yeast products or sugar in any form.

4. Avoid aged cheeses, alcohol, baked goods, chocolate, dried fruits, fermented foods, all grains containing gluten (wheat, oats, barley, and rye) ham, honey, nut butters, pickles, potatoes, raw mushrooms, soy sauce, sprouts, and vinegar.

5. Eliminate citrus and acidic fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, lemons, tomatoes, pineapple, and limes from your diet for one month, then add back only a few twice weekly. Candida thrives on them.

6. Eat vegetables, fish, and gluten-free grains such as brown rice and millet.

7. Kill parasites. Parasites can harbor yeast. Go to the health food store and http://www.curezone.com to read about how to kill parasites. Go on a anti-parasite cleanse for at least 3 weeks twice a year.

8. Eat plain yogurt that contains live yogurt cultures. For vaginal candidiasis, appy unsweetened yogurt directly into the vagina or mix with water and use it as a douche once or twice daily until you see an improvement. You can also open two capsules of acidophius and add the contents to a douche. This helps to inhibit the growth of the fungus.

9. Wear white cotton underwear. Synthetic fibers trap heat which creates a favorable diet for candida.

10. Avoid oral contraceptives, antibiotics, and corticosteroids.

11. Avoid household chemical products and cleaners, chlorinated water, mothballs, synthetic textiles, and damp and moldy places, such as basements.

So basically, you can eat vegetables and meats while you are trying to get rid of Candida…Yea, I know, this sounds boring, but it works. Try this for three weeks while consuming grapefruit seed extract and pau de’arco. If you get the sugar cravings, consume a teaspoon of cinnnamon a day.

If you follow these suggestions, you should be able to get re-balanced more effectively than with Diflucan.

Do you want to completely get rid of your yeast infection and stop it from ever returning? If yes, then I recommend you use the techniques recommended in the: Yeast Infection No More Manual.

Click here : Yeast Infection No More, to read more about this natural candida cure book, and find out how it has been helping tens of thousands of people allover the world to completely cure their condition.

Some kind of pain signals keep firing in your nervous system for weeks, months, even years, pulling away your body and mind from concentrating anything. There may have been an initial mishap sometime in the past that marked the beginning of this pain—some sprained back or a serious infection. If you are careless it may impede all the activities of your life.

What is chronic pain?

Chronic pain is different from acute pain. Acute pain turns into chronic pain in course of time. A popular definition of chronic pain, involving no arbitrarily fixed durations, is pain that extends beyond the expected period of healing. Some researchers fix the duration of transition of acute pain into chronic pain as 3 to 6 months. People with chronic pain conditions struggle to carry out their normal duties and sometimes they are even unable to describe their pain to their doctors accurately. Sometimes the pain may be simultaneously located in multiple areas. It is still more debilitating, all-consuming and even frustrating when you have taken every test and tried every medicine and still you have the pain.

Where is the pain?

You may wonder where the pain does exist. Is it in the part of the body or is it in your head? When you treat in one place it seems to move to another. One review on chronic pain says that it should be treated from all fronts. It states that comprehensive programs that address biological, psychological and social aspects of pain can be effective at improving the quality of life. Though medications help to relieve the pain, it is better to manage the pain to a certain level.

Five strategies to manage your chronic pain

1) Leave your thought that a pill will kill your pain

Many people believe that a pill will kill their pain and when it doesn’t work they are all the more aggravated of their pain. Pills have their own side effects. Be aware of the negative results of taking pills for pain and try to follow some natural methods. When you are aware of facts, it becomes easier for you to bear with the pain.

2) Move yourself everyday

Regular physical activities help strengthen the muscles, reduce yours tress and improve your sleep, all these helping you control pain. Science Daily reports that there cannot be a better medicine for reducing pain than doing regular physical exercise, saying, “People who exercise regularly experience 25% less muscle and joint pain in their old age than people who are less active.” Every bit of exercise by moving the body helps in controlling pain. Research at Johns Hopkins University reveals that daily exercises, even short bursts of activity such as walking and gardening helped people with fibromyalgia feel better. The purpose of doing exercise is to eliminate your pain and, where possible, to restore you to normal function. Your physician can suggest you better exercises that help you.

3) Relax to relieve pain

Relaxation techniques can reduce your pain. There are a number of relation techniques that can relieve you from pain. Relaxation with cold packs, heating pads, massage, and exercise can help to relieve pain.  Soft music or soothing television programs may distract you from the pain. If you are taking medicines these relaxation techniques may help you in great way.

4) Keep away stress and depression

By following some techniques to keep away stress and depression you can manage pain with reduced intensity. Research shows that mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques can reduce chronic pain and depression.

5) Meditation and deep breathing

Meditation with deep breathing will fill you with fresh energy and help you manage pain. Yoga can give a great relief from chronic pain. They keep you away from your negative attitudes that generally intensify chronic pain. Mindfulness on some positive thoughts will make you look at pain positively and experience it with less intensity.

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Article by Janice Novak

Back Pain Statistics from the National Institute of Health:

1. Thirty one million Americans have low back pain at any given time.

2. Ninety percent of back problems are due to poor posture. It is the number one cause.

3. Back pain is the second most common cause of work days missed due to illness.

4. Back pain is the most common disability in the United States.

5. The cost that back pain has is estimated to be a staggering fifty billion dollars yearly.

The number one cause of back and neck pain is not overdoing it with a sport, workout or household chore but rather poor standing or sitting posture.

The spine consists of twenty-four interlocking bones called vertebrae. Stacked one upon another, these small bones support the weight of the body. Each vertebra contains four little joints with pain-sensitive linings. Between the vertebrae are circular pads, called disks, composed of a soft jelly enclosed in a tough, fibrous shell. The disks separate the bones and cushion the impact of walking, running, and moving. They’re the spine’s shock absorbers. In a healthy back the disks are plump and thick.

Inside this column of bones is the spinal cord, a thick bundle of nerves. Smaller nerves pass between the vertebrae and branch out to the rest of the body.

The spine has three slight curves, in the neck (the cervical curve), upper back (thoracic curve), and lower back (lumbar curve). These curves absorb shock and give the spine flexibility, while keeping the column balanced over the center of gravity. When the spine curves just the right amount, the vertebrae are stacked up properly. They glide against each other without friction. When the curves are too exaggerated, however, the spinal joints no longer fit together properly and thus press into one another. The joint linings can become irritated and inflamed. Also, because the space between the vertebrae is narrowed when the spinal curves are too great, the nerves that pass between them don’t have enough room and become pressed upon and pinched, causing anything from a dull ache to throbbing, searing pain.

If the joints no longer fit together well, then the muscles surrounding those joints have to contract and tighten in an effort to keep further damage from occurring. The tighter the muscles become, the more the joint surfaces are squashed together, resulting in, you guessed it, even more wear and tear, more pain and discomfort.

You’ll know if your spinal curves are too exaggerated if, from a side view, your head hangs too far forward from your shoulders, or your upper back is too curved or your shoulders round forward or your lower back has too much sway.

When you improve your posture, you take tremendous stress and strain off of bones, muscles and joints.

What is good posture?

Your spine and joints are in good alignment, when, from a side view:

* Your ear, should, hip, knee and ankle are in a straight line.

* Your head is directly on top of your shoulders.

* Your upper back is fairly straight, not slouched.

* Your shoulder blades are lying flat against your back.

* Your shoulders are straight and relaxed.

* Your pelvic is in a neutral position, meaning the little bony protrusions toward the top of the pelvic bones line up vertically with your pubic bone.

* Your knees are unlocked.

Try Posture, Get It Straight!’s One Minute To Better Posture Technique. It will have you standing straighter instantly.

1. Stand with your fee hip-width apart. Your knees should be soft and neutral, not locked.

2. Pull in your abdominal muscles as if you’re zipping up a tight pair of pants. Think of pulling your belly button toward your back. Don’t hold your breath.

3. Lift the front of your rib cage up as if there were a string connected from your breastbone to the ceiling, pulling you up. Try to elongate your midsection by pulling the bottom of your rib cage away from your hip bones.

4. Pull your shoulder blades back, towards your spine and then press them down, as if you wanted to tuck them into your back pockets.

5. Keep the position for a few moments, trying to relax into it and breathing normally. Then shake yourself a bit, walk around the room for a few minutes, and go through the steps again.

Correct Seated Posture

You may think that sitting is easier on your back than standing, but the truth is, when you sit, there is 40% more pressure on the disks in the small of your back. Sitting too long and improperly can be the cause of much back distress.

When you sit, you want to maintain the natural curves of your spine. You are sitting correctly when:

* Your ear, shoulder, and hip are in a straight line.

* Your head is centered over your shoulders, not dropped forward.

* Your rib cage is lifted.

* Your arms are supported by armrests. This takes 25% of the pressure off the lower back.

* Your bottom is against the back of the chair. Your lower back is not bowing out behind you.

* Your thighs are fully supported by the chair seat – meaning your knees don’t extend beyond the chair seat more than several inches.

* Your feet are flat on the floor or a stool.

More Back Pain Between Shoulder Blades Articles

Article by Dan Eitreim

Chronic lower back pain can be caused by very a few different elements. The dilemma is, the low back (lumbar region) is the principal support for the weight bearing motions we all go via every single day and is especially susceptible to injury.

Your back is a effective, intricately developed support method for your body that is made up of bone, muscular tissues, tendons, ligaments and discs. They have to all be in balance and function together or injury and chronic lower back pain is the result.

If we attempt to lift something incorrectly or take component in a strenuous physical activity (like sports) with no an adequate stretch and warm-up, we could pull, strain or tear a muscle. Or, an the worst end of the spectrum, could even cause bone fractures.

Chronic Lower Back Discomfort – The Disc…

These identical varieties of activities could produce a bulging, slipped or herniated disc. The discs are created up of cartilage pads that act like shock absorbers among the vertebrae. They cushion the location in between the diverse segments of the spine.

Day-to-day gravity, wear and tear on the discs makes the fluids seep out of them – making them much less successful as shock absorbers as the day wears on. This loss of fluid can cause us to shed as much as 3/4 of an inch in height throughout the day! This is regular and the liquids are reabsorbed at night (if you get a good nights rest) but as we age, the capability to reabsorb the liquids lessens. This is frequently identified as degenerative disc disease.

And these are only a few of the troubles that could trigger chronic low back discomfort and have us searching for some severe back discomfort relief. There is sciatica, osteoporosis, arthritis, rheumatism, just to name a couple others.

In many situations, it is hard to decide – even for medical experts – what the root trigger of low back pain is. It could be some thing as easy as poor posture!

Chronic Lower Back Pain – Muscle Strain

But, much more usually than not, chronic lower back pain is caused by a soft tissue muscle strain. These can be notoriously hard to recover from – thus the chronic lower back discomfort.

Research has shown that muscle strain can lead to eventual total imbalance of the spine and its structure… which in turn leads to a relentless strain on the muscle groups, ligaments, skeletal frame (bones), as well as discs, causing the low back to be even far more vulnerable to further injuries.

Whatever is causing the chronic lower back discomfort can ultimately lead to other difficulties as we compensate for our injuries. For example, if you have strained a muscle you will much more than likely begin to carry yourself differently to stay away from the pain. In performing so, you end up more than using muscles groups that weren’t sore to begin with, and end up with far more pain in new locations.

Stress and depression can also cause chronic lumbar discomfort. An individual’s state of mind can have a effective impact on the height of your pain as properly as no matter whether or not it outcomes in lengthy lasting, chronic lower back pain. People that suffer from depression, are under a huge amount of anxiety, or are normally unhappy will frequently encounter symptoms and seek lower back discomfort relief.

Are you scared yet? You really should be, I undoubtedly am! Chronic lower back pain is absolutely nothing to fool about with.

Chronic Lower Back Pain Prevention…

If you are wholesome now, get started on a everyday regimen of back and abdominal exercises. These really should consist of both stretches and strengthening. Don’t forget your abdominal muscles! They support support your back far more than you may picture. And yes, if you are overweight, you require to alter that.

These preventative kind exercises can be carried out in only a few minutes a day, but can quickly save you a lifetime of discomfort and suffering. According to CNN.com “Far more than 50 million Americans deal with chronic discomfort, at a price of much more than billion annually.” It is 1 of the leading causes of missed function! Chronic Lower Back Discomfort Recovery…

If you are already injured…

As always, it is very best to check with your doctor to be certain of the cause, but it is most likely a muscle strain. In that case, take an anti-inflammatory medication (a systemic enzyme) and apply ice for the first 48 hours. Stay away from the prescription and OTC medications, they all have nicely documented side effects that can literally kill you!

Our bodies naturally create anti-inflammatory enzymes. As we age and/or when we are injured, we need to have to enhance our systemic enzymes. As discomfort killers and anti-inflammatory medication, they work better than anything you are most likely to be taking OTC and they have no identified side effects!

Next, apply heat to get the blood flowing into the region. If there is somebody that can give you a massage that is a fantastic selection. A massage will not only get the blood flowing, but will support to release our body’s natural pain killing endorphins.

Whilst injured, though the desire will be to rest, existing study shows that inactivity will weaken the muscles and make the issue worse. You require to remain active…Begin with some – gentle – stretches and gradually (as your back gets better) work your way into muscle strengthening routines. The great news is…You don’t need to live with chronic lower back discomfort.

As soon as you grow to be aware of some of the causes of chronic lower back discomfort, you can commence working on the answer. Whether it is just producing easy lifestyle adjustments or demands medical attention, you can find the help you want.

There are parts of a person’s personality that are static through the passage of time and others that can fluctuate. If you are Introverted, chances are, to some degree, you will always be introverted. Yet I wonder how chronic pain over time changes us outwardly and internally. Constant pain changes a person. Medications change a person. Until you find you are no longer who you were. Some of these changes are from the coping process. We do what we need to, behave as we need to and act as we need to in order to function in the outside world. From this we develop a façade of wellbeing to distance others and ourselves from our pain.

So how does personality affect how we cope with chronic pain?

The Big Five Personality- how we respond to stressors can depend on our personality type. The Big Five looks at Openness, Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Extroversion and Consciousness. People who are high on N (High scorers tend to be nervous, insecure, worry a lot whereas low scorers are more calm, relaxed and secure) tend not to cope well and choose ineffective coping strategies. They engage in a lot of self blame, have difficulty with problem solving, practice more avoidance when stressed. Perhaps it is their high level of emotional responses that hinder their ability to choose healthy coping strategies for the right situations. Those high on the E scale of things however, tend to be quite effective copers, perhaps because they use a variety of coping strategies. How a person rates on the Big Five can effect how they will choose to cope with stressors. For example someone low on E, would rather retreat, avoid and self blame. Someone low on O might have difficulties finding effective coping strategies and less inclined to try them. The fact is if we use negative coping strategies and have problems with problem solving it could easily lead to hopelessness and depression.

Therefore, if our personality inclination is maladaptive to our reality of living with chronic pain, then we must consciously think about our habitual reactions in order to consciously find a way to adapt. ‘To the extent that a chronic illness challenges core beliefs, integrating the illness experience into their pre-existing beliefs should promote psychological adjustment. Cognitive processing has been used as the phrase to define cognitive activities that help people view undesirable events in personally meaningful ways and find ways of understanding the negative aspects of the experience, and ultimately reach a state of acceptance. Attempts to find meaning or benefit in a negative experience are ways patients may be able to accept the losses they experience. Focusing on the positive implications of the illness or finding personal significance of a situation are two ways of finding meaning in the illness. When considering meaning-making coping, one must distinguish coping activities that help individuals to find redeeming features in an event from the successful outcome of these attempts.’ (http://pagerankstudio.com/Blog/2010/10/psychosocial-coping-with-chronic-illness/)

We may be inclined to avoid the problem, engage in wishful thinking, disengage and retreat, instead of actively engaging in the world using several coping strategies.

I am an INTP using MBTI (Carl Jung, Katharine C. Briggs, and Isabel Briggs Myers) and that reflects me perfectly, or it used to, or that is me on the inside. I am reserved, private, prefer my own company or a few friends, prefer deep conversations, philosophy, abstract theories, living in my head, am not very emotional and all together too rational. That is me on the inside. It is how I interpret the world and even how I interpret my illness. I think about pain, about the price I pay surviving it and the coping process itself, rather than allow myself to connect emotionally to the experience. Therefore, one way I cope is to distance myself emotionally from the pain. My façade of well being is one that is radically different from who I am on the inside, yet it developed as a defense mechanism to laugh off my pain to others so they would be unable to see the emotional price chronic pain costs me. Again, what coping strategies we develop based on our instinctual personality traits, can be beneficial or negative in coping with chronic pain. For example, by laughing off and minimizing my pain I get the benefit of distancing myself emotionally from the pain and not worrying others, or getting negative remarks from others, yet at the same time this façade makes it extremely difficult to express my pain and emotional impact honestly. Due to the rational vs. emotional nature of my personality I somehow view expressions of emotion either inappropriate, embarrassing or a weakness. So with the MBTI factors of thinking vs. feeling and introverted vs. extroverted play a role in the instinctive defense mechanisms we choose when coping. Someone more extroverted and high in feeling might feel free to express their emotions but feel overwhelmed by them, anxious more prone to finding some sort of external release to vent emotional tension.

So what can happen to our personality when coping with chronic pain?

A) The Pain Haze- one thing that happens when you are in acute pain is your ability to interact with others and your environment becomes severely limited. You are in survival mode. For example, if someone where to have broken every bone in their body I would not expect them to have an informed conversation with a priest about Nietzsche. Other people will literally see you shut down, your personality becoming dimmed and your awareness hindered. Loved ones will say they do not even recognize you, you become a completely different person. This is essentially a zombie shut down mode, where none of your personality shines through.

B) There are a few psychological disorders than can develop which then influence your personality and your worldview- Basically facets of your personality help people deal in different ways to stressors. With chronic pain, a constant stressor that then affects all aspects of your life, your defined, habitual responses kick in. However, few of us have the skills and coping mechanisms that enable is to deal with this long term stressor, as a result certain emotional issues develop. This can start off by bringing out the more negative personality traits in your existing personality. “Scientists believe that chronic pain often leads to chemical and structural changes in the brain triggering mood swings and even personality changes. The changes are often manifested in the form of depression or anxiety. The psychological changes also induce feeling that the original pain “hurts” worse.” (http://www.maysandschnapp.com/services_pain-depression-anxiety.html). What psychological issues that arise may have something to do with your innate personality.

1) Depression: This is a very common occurrence in some form when suffering from chronic pain. Beginning slowly with insomnia, fatigue and irritability. Because some mild depression signs may be seen as normal aggravations from dealing with pain it may be difficult to catch in ourselves or know when to seek additional treatment. When depression worsens there comes the sense of worthlessness, hopelessness, guilt and suicidal ideation.

2) Anxiety: may be just increased worry about work and loved ones to irrational fears. Perhaps you might not even realize that a racing heart and trembling can be signs of anxiety.

3) Panic disorders: “Symptoms often include feelings of shortness of breath or smothering, which may lead to hyperventilation resulting in dizziness, tingling of the hands, feet and lips and sometimes even fainting. It is also common to experience a racing heart, chest or abdominal pain and sensations of imminent death or impending doom. Patients can easily confuse these symptoms with heart attacks or strokes, and they often end up in the emergency room only to be told “nothing is wrong.” Panic attacks usually last 15 to 30 minutes and in severe cases may occur several times a day.” (http://www.maysandschnapp.com/services_pain-depression-anxiety.html)

The natural inclination is to say ‘I have a pain problem, not a mental problem’. Unfortunately, when coping you have both, because methods of coping may be maladaptive and the emotional toll of pain affects our personality. Simple as that.

“How can anyone with a significant degree of chronic pain only be affected physically? Pain makes you feel tired, mentally fuddled, irritable and often depressed. It affects you mentally and emotionally as well as physically. Many of the effects come into play quite quickly. If a family member changes from relaxed and easy-going, to irritable and worried by continued pain, how many weeks will pass before family relationships begin to change? Similarly, an employer who had confidence in a promising employee does not take too long to change his or her attitude to one who constantly looks tired and strained.” (http://pagerankstudio.com/Blog/2010/10/psychosocial-coping-with-chronic-illness/)

Therefore, chronic pain literally changes your personality to others because of the difficulties in coping. Others may begin to see you as someone that is always tired, frazzled, confused and absentminded. Or conversely they may see you as fidgety, nervous and high strung. You begin to define yourself that way and soon your habitual personality traits shift.  Most facets of our personality are not fixed and other traits while fixed over time change in intensity.

C) The external perceived behaviors: People are not defined solely on who they think they are, but how others perceive them by their behaviors. Others would describe me as; engaged, chatty, nervous, humorous, talk about anything and everything, absentminded, flighty, almost hypo-mantic and most definitely the goofy one. Because that is how I act, partly because part of my facade is to laugh and goof off and partly because that is what I have become… more charismatic and engaged, than introverted and reserved. The pain drives me to distraction and I get all shaky, fidgety with energy, chatty and emphatic. That is not to say this change is or that I do not like how I am now, just that it is profound how endless pain, coping methods and meds mix together to create a different person. Because people see me that way, they interact with me that way, and it is who I am. Yet, on the inside, I still feel like the person I was. I am, to a degree, the person I was when I am alone. In the end I have to wonder what is the illness and what is me?

D) Life view: That is not to say all personality shifts lead to mental and emotional problems. Not so at all. “For example, people who have a serious illness may report that as a result they have found a new appreciation for life or that they place greater value on relationships. Patients may also develop an explanation for the illness that is more benign (e.g., attributing it to God’s will). While cognitive processing theory constructs have been applied to adjustment to losses such as bereavement (e.g., Davis et al. 1998), these constructs have received relatively little attention from researchers examining coping with chronic illness.” (http://pagerankstudio.com/Blog/2010/10/psychosocial-coping-with-chronic-illness). The very fact that we must make so many sacrifices for our health can lead to appreciating all the things we can do. Certainly as we learn to develop positive coping strategies we learn to live a more fulfilling life that considers all our needs, instead of being driven towards a goal and ignoring all other considerations. Coping with a chronic illness makes us look deeper into ourselves than perhaps we ever would have before, which then leads to more sympathy and understanding of others. Therefore, some of our coping strategies enrich our lives and have very positive results.

One thing that cannot be denied is that pain affects our personality in the long run, just as when we are learning to cope our personality affects how we react to pain. Still, it is odd to think that our outward personality can be so fundamentally different from our inward one. And I am left thinking who the am I now? My core self has changed beyond recognition. If you took away all the medication would I be different? If you took away all the pain would I return to who I was? Does years of coping, different ways to deal with pain in the world, different facades, change a person’s personality fundamentally, more so than life would normally? One thing is for certain, the pain would have crippled me or killed me had I not changed the ways I did, but then it became less of a coping strategy and abruptly a personality change. It is bizarre. And I am neither of these personalities and both. Maybe pain just makes us all crazy in a way, changes us in unforeseen ways, some positive and some negative. Otherwise how would we survive it? We would not. I have lost the career I wanted, I will never have children, I have made so many compromises for my health, given up so many goals, dreams, desires… pain takes and takes and takes some more. The center does not hold, it cannot hold. And we cope and we change and hopefully we survive.

Resources:

http://psyclab1.psych.ubc.ca/~adlab/webupload/File/pdfs with pswd/Delongis___Holtzman_2005.PDF

http://pagerankstudio.com/Blog/2010/10/psychosocial-coping-with-chronic-illness

http://www.maysandschnapp.com/services_pain-depression-anxiety.html

http://www.4therapy.com/consumer/conditions/article/7282/489/I+Have+Chronic+Pain,+Why+Do+I+Need+a+Pain+Psychologist?

http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/info/

See also:

Chronic Pain: A Philosophical Discussion

Chronic Pain: The Coping Process

Chronic Pain: The Facade of Wellbeing　

Pain is relative. This is our bodies telling us that some thing isn’t appropriate somewhere in our body and we want to take notice. 1 of the worse issues you can do is ignore it.

Often it comes as stabbing, other times as throbbing it can be aching, pinching, pulling, and pounding, in whatever form it comes it is never enjoyable. When it is at its greatest, discomfort is simply a warning bell or whistle saying appear at me. At its worse, it’s incapacitating. You are deprived of eating, sleeping, moving or functioning as a typical human becoming. You can’t even maintain track of your thoughts. The only thing filling your mind is pain.

The concept and degree of discomfort fluctuates from patient to patient. You could have two persons with the exact same illness, exact same symptoms and have varying degrees of pain. Pain degrees hold a various view from person to individual. There are those that can’t tolerate any pain, even at its mildest form and those that can withstand an immense, abundant, horrendous deal of discomfort and each describe the pain with the same adjectives. Therefore, pain is relative for every person.

Discomfort these days has grow to be a slave master to those of us that live with it. It’s like a tether around your neck. It tells you when you can come and go, how far, when you can sleep, when you can wake, it tells you when you can get pleasure from time with your friends and loved ones and most of all chronic discomfort changes you in a way that you might not even recognize. Discomfort adjustments you emotionally as properly as physically. Feelings of isolation and loneliness are not uncommon.

The emotional modifications of discomfort are the hardest to deal with. The change to your lifestyle is enormous when you have chronic pain driving each single decision you make every single day of your life. The apprehension of performing every little thing possible not to generate the discomfort causes unmentionable anxiety. When the pain does come, you are impatiently anxious longing for it to leave.

Acute and chronic are the two faces of discomfort. Discomfort is defined by the International Association for the Study of Discomfort as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional expertise connected with actual or prospective tissue damage or described in terms of such harm”.

For the most part acute pain results from injury to tissues. This discomfort comes on suddenly, for example, soon after an injury or surgery. The injury or surgery comes along with anxiety and emotional anxiety. Acute discomfort has the benefit of being able to be stopped by way of remedy. Physicians can diagnose the trigger of the pain and treat the cause to halt the pain. A timeframe limits the pain and it will stop. The severity of the discomfort is also limited, as the tissue heals, the pain will stop.

Chronic pain is a various sort. The illness itself is representative of chronic pain. The degree of discomfort is affected by factors such as environment and psychological factors. Chronic pain endures throughout an extended period of time and is resistant to the most highly effectual medical remedies. The chronic pain causes severe issues, physical and emotionally for patients. An important role in of chronic discomfort is the attempt to manage it.

Living with an attempting to manage the discomfort to live your life as typically as feasible is the ultimate objective for any person that experiences discomfort. Acute pain you know there is an end in sight and you can simply adjust your life around this time period. For chronic discomfort, you must discover a way to live your life to the fullest by managing this discomfort. If you don’t, emotionally and physically you will constantly be at a crossroads for every thing you touch and that touches you. This includes your relationships with others and their relationship with you. Try to recall there was a time prior to discomfort and the feelings that were there. With discomfort management, you may not get all those feelings back. Even so, you will get as close as contemporary medicine can get you.

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