How Does Chronic Pain Affect You?

Having chronic pain hurts more than just your physical body. A slipped disc in your back will affect more than just your back. You have to adjust your lifestyle to accommodate the pain. There are several different aspects to your life that are affected by chronic pain. An effective pain management plan will take these aspects into consideration.

The Physical Effects

Chronic pain can wreak havoc on your body. It can affect your sleep patterns. Chronic pain will keep you up at night. You can’t get comfortable. You wake up often because you’re hurting. You end up feeling fatigued throughout the day.

This fatigue in turn will affect your ability to concentrate. Simple tasks aren’t that simple anymore. You’ll find yourself withdrawing from activities that you normally enjoy, but you can’t participate in them anymore because you’re either too tired or it hurts too much to do.

Chronic pain not only affects your sleep patterns, but it affects your appetite, as well. Research has discovered that the neurons that signal a sense of being full can be activated by chronic pain. In other words, you hurt so much that your body thinks it’s full. Loss of appetite can be serious if it’s prolonged. You can experience dangerous weight loss, not to mention you’re losing out on an energy source that will exacerbate your fatigue.

In addition to interrupted sleep and loss of appetite, chronic pain can lower your immune system. With a weakened immunes system, you’ll find yourself susceptible to other illnesses such as viral infections. These additional illnesses will worsen the effects of chronic pain that you are already experiencing.

The Psychological Effects

All of these physical effects that you are feeling will in turn create psychological effects such as depression, anxiety, moodiness, or fear. Negative emotions will affect your relationships. You may feel frustration because you don’t feel up to spending time with loved ones. Chronic pain can also cause you to feel isolated and lonely because of the decrease in your social interaction. When you can’t participate in your normal activities, you may feel dejected. Your sense of self-worth takes a hit, as well. This is especially true if your job performance suffers because of pain. It’s hard to feel good about yourself when you can’t even complete daily tasks such as cleaning your house.

Pain Affects Your Whole Life

Pain doesn’t just affect the body part experiencing the pain. It affects your whole being. Chronic pain is a drain on you physically, emotionally, and socially. Chronic pain isn’t an isolated symptom.

Chronic Pain Can Be Managed

You may think that the picture of chronic pain that has been painted looks bleak and hopeless. It doesn’t have to be so. Chronic pain can be managed. If you’re experiencing chronic pain, talk to your healthcare provided. An effective pain management plan can be implemented that will alleviate this pain so that your quality of life can be restored.

An effective pain management plan will take all of the effects that have been mentioned into consideration. Yes, pain management will address the actual pain, but it will also address the effects, as well. It will address the physical, psychological, and social effects of chronic pain.

Getting It All Back

An effective pain management plan will restore what has been lost. You will get a good night’s rest. When you wake up in the morning, you’ll have a healthy appetite. You’ll embrace the day ready to spend it in the ways that you enjoy. You’ll want to spend it with the people that you care about.

Proper pain management will give you back the life you had before the chronic pain took it away. That is the goal of pain management: controlling the pain so that you can live life the way you choose to. Chronic pain can have adverse effects on your life, but this doesn’t have to be your reality. Choose a pain management plan that takes your quality of life into consideration. Get the help that you need because of your chronic pain, and make sure that the help you do get addresses all of the ways in which chronic pain has hindered your life. Manage your chronic pain, and don’t let it manage you.