This study explains that, “In addition to the physical health consequences, chronic musculoskeletal pain can have a profound negative impact on an individual's emotional and social well-being.” The concept of living well while living with chronic pain can sound impossible, but you can thrive despite chronic pain.
Regardless of its source, chronic pain can disrupt nearly all aspects of someone's life – beyond physical pain, it can impede their ability to work and participate in social and other activities like they used to, impact their relationships and cause feelings of isolation, frustration and anxiety.
Tips on coping with chronic pain
Eating well, getting plenty of sleep and engaging in approved physical activity are all positive ways for you to handle your stress and pain. Talk to yourself constructively. Positive thinking is a powerful tool.
It can affect your ability to function at home and work. You may find it difficult to participate in social activities and hobbies, which could lead to decreased self-esteem. It is also common for people with chronic pain to have sleep disturbances, fatigue, trouble concentrating, decreased appetite, and mood changes.
Research published last month in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report estimated that more than 51 million people – more than 20% of US adults – have chronic pain and 17 million – almost 7% of adults – have high-impact chronic pain.
Is there a cure for chronic pain? Currently, there is no cure for chronic pain, other than to identify and treat its cause. For example, treating arthritis can sometimes stop joint pain. Many people with chronic pain don't know its cause and can't find a cure.
Adults reporting poor general health and adults with a disability experienced an exceptionally high prevalence of chronic pain (67.6% and 52.4%, respectively) and high-impact chronic pain (48.7% and 32.0%, respectively).
Chronic pain can become so debilitating, that it may no longer be possible to work or continue with school. This major life change can be experienced as a deep and painful loss and can bring about difficult feelings such as grief, sadness, shame, worthlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness.
Scientists have discovered that in chronic pain patients, the region of their brain with regulates emotions is constantly active, even when other regions are more active. This can wear out this area of the brain and mean that it is not functioning optimally, because it's not getting the rest it needs.
Acetaminophen is generally a safe option to try first for many types of pain, including chronic pain. Ask your health care provider for guidance about other medications to avoid while taking acetaminophen. Acetaminophen is not as effective as NSAIDs for the treatment of knee and hip pain related to osteoarthritis.
The Numerical Rating Pain Scale is a simple pain scale that grades pain levels from 0 (No pain), 1,2, and 3 (Mild), 4,5, and 6 (Moderate), 7,8, and 9 (Severe) to 10 (Worst Pain Possible).
If you are suffering from the effects of chronic pain you may qualify for disability benefits. In order to be eligible for SS disability benefits with chronic pain syndrome it must be expected to last for one year and you must have medical evidence.
The percentage of adults who had chronic pain in the past 3 months increased with age and was higher among those aged 45–64 (25.8%) and 65 and over (30.8%) compared with those aged 18–29 (8.5%) and 30–44 (14.6%) (Figure 2).
Chronic pain is far from just aching bones and sore muscles. It's a whole-body condition that takes a toll on your emotions and moods and can lead to significant mental health issues.
If your pain is so bad that you're unable to get up, can't think straight or are crying out in severe pain (and none of your usual pain management approaches are working) you should go to the ER to get help.
Researchers have developed a type of treatment called pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) to help the brain “unlearn” this kind of pain. PRT teaches people to perceive pain signals sent to the brain as less threatening.
People who reported having arthritis or chronic pain were more likely to have several mental health conditions, including severe anxiety, severe depression, bipolar and PTSD.
Chronic pain changes our brain and nervous system over time. It learns to continue producing pain messages and changes it's neural pathways to do so, even when these pain messages are no longer serving a purpose.
The main factors that affect risk are: age; sex; socio-economic status; levels of anxiety, depression, sleep and physical activity; and body mass index11. For reasons that have yet to be worked out, persistent pain is more likely to be reported by people identifying as women than by those identifying as men.
Though aging may increase chronic pain, proper treatment allows older adults to continue living active, fulfilling lives.
The body is not designed to withstand being in a prolonged state of stress; being stuck in a 'fight or flight' mode puts a lot of strain on the body. The body is overworked and this causes fatigue.
Because of the complex relationship between the brain, the nervous system and the body's hormones, chronic pain requires a multidisciplinary treatment approach. It's not like having infection, where you take antibiotics and it's gone. Chronic pain is complex and there isn't one treatment or one pill that will cure it.
Nationally, 22.1% of adults with chronic pain used a prescription opioid in the past 3 months (Figure 1). Women with chronic pain were more likely to have used a prescription opioid in the past 3 months (24.3%) than men with chronic pain (19.4%).
About 1 in 10 (10.4%) of people with chronic pain in 2019 recovered and were pain free in 2020.