Welcome back to my blog, Reforming Rob, and thank you for spending time with me today! In this post, I’m going to discuss chronic pain, and share my personal journey with it as well as all I have learned about actions we can take to mitigate or alleviate our chronic pain symptoms.
Your Doctor Plays A Critical Role
This blog is about self-reliance in regard to our health, but I do not advocate for avoiding professional medical care. Quite the opposite, I encourage fellow pain sufferers to seek for the best care they can find (and afford). I do, however, know the intolerable frustration and disappointment of becoming trapped on what I call a medical merry-go-round. One truth I have learned and feel compelled to share is this: there is no 100% medical solution to our chronic pain. There is no pill, shot, infusion, or therapy that will eliminate our pain on its own.
YOU Are Your Own Health Care Executive!
We are compelled to WORK, to learn as much as we can about how to properly take care of ourselves, and then take an active role, even the PRIMARY role as our own caregiver to get to a place where we begin to feel some relief and long-term positive effects. You have the biggest role in managing and relieving your chronic pain.
The John Hopkins Medicine Website defines chronic pain as “long standing pain that persists beyond the usual recovery period or occurs along with a chronic health condition, such as arthritis. Chronic pain may be “on” and “off” or continuous. It may affect people to the point that they can’t work, eat properly, take part in physical activity, or enjoy life.”
Pain Extinguishes Life's Goodness
Having been a chronic pain sufferer for over two decades I’m confident to add to this definition my own two cents: “It sucks!” I mean that in every sense of the slang referring to something being bad, but I also mean it literally, in that chronic pain sucks all the fun, pleasure, light-heartedness, contentment, joy, satisfaction, and even love out of life. A sufferer carries a burden with them, and even the most stoic among us can and will be broken down over time. Those of you suffering from chronic pain of any kind, you have my full sympathy and empathy, but also my commitment to share anything and everything I know that works to help alleviate pain. I know firsthand and share your deep frustration in seeking for answers or help of any kind. If this blog doesn’t accomplish anything beyond helping ONE person find some relief from their chronic pain, I will view it as a huge success!
Don't Do It!
Please allow me to share a little personal wisdom picked up through experience. All things considered, this may be the biggest contribution I have to make in this video. What NOT to do…that’s my starting point. Do not ignore your pain. If you tell yourself “pain is your friend”, or “I’m stronger than this pain”, or in some other way bully your pain into the background, it is going to come back to you as an explosive event. You may get away with the tough guy or gal approach for a while, even for years, but at some point that pressure cooker is going to fail. There are other ways to ignore your pain, like gobbling ibuprofen like candy. Pain relievers have their place, and I buy them by the large value size still, but don’t rely on them as your sole approach to alleviate your pain. That route will terminate just as explosively as the tough act will.
Well great, Rob, so don’t ignore the pain. Don’t trick yourself with pain meds. Okay, so what do we DO?
Do It!
I’m going to assume you’ve had a discussion with your doctor. If you haven’t, that needs to be on your priority task list. Blood work, physical exam, etc. are a part of the solution here.
Another critical action is to walk a path to a philosophical paradigm shift for some of us. Admittedly, until recently, the phrase “mind, body, spirit” conjured up images in my brain of strange looking people in robes marching all around in Sedona Arizona with burning sticks and crystals in tow. That’s a phrase for those odd new agers. Well, I haven’t traded in my jeans for a robe just yet, but through experience I have realized and learned that mind, body, and spirit are absolutely connected to each other. What we do spiritually matters to us physically and mentally, with the inverse of all three equally true. Allow me to share an example with you.
My experience with pain, although ever present, also correlates with my emotional and mental state. Sadness, stress, anxiety, over excitement, being on the receiving side of cruelty, etc. absolutely elevate my conscious pain level. A physical or verbal expression of love or kindness reduces my conscious pain level. When I am being unkind or mistreating people around me, or otherwise NOT being the man God expects me to be, my pain is increased. Mind, body, spirit. They are each exactly 1/3 of what I know as “me”. Inseparable. Interdependent. Whatever word works for you that means three parts of one whole.
The next DO action is….get to work. Michel de Montaigne, a 16th century French philosopher said, “there never were, in the world, two opinions alike, no more than two hairs, or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.” In Rob-speak, there are no two of us alike. The way that is best for me to take care of my mind, body, and spirit is going to be different than the way you take care of yours. Copy and paste won’t work here! Your assigned work is to design your own plan for health physically, mentally, and spiritually. Physical wellness should include a fitness routine, regulations on what you eat and drink, knowing and staying within your own limits. Mental and spiritual health should include rest, reflection, gratitude, stimulation, education, etc. Do your work. Write your plan down. Track your progress regularly.
Write Your Plan, Track Your Progress
In summary, DO NOT ignore your pain, and DO NOT rely on masking your pain. DO see your trusted medical professional. DO seek to understand the connection between mind, body, and spirit, and how that relates to you individually. DO your own work: reflect, study, analyze, you know yourself better than anyone, keep it honest. DO have a wellness plan specific to your physical, mental, and spiritual health, and write it down. DO have performance checks regularly scheduled.
On this blog I’ve shared my own plans and intend to share regular reports on how things are going. I invite you to do the same. Share your experiences in the comments below, or email me directly, and my hope is that over time we will be able to include more of your experiences in these posts.
Thank you again for spending time with me!
Until next time...
PEACE!
Comentarios