Accepting chronic pain

[SleepingJeans]

Probably something that has been posted ten thousand times on here.

Im about 5 years in to chronic pain in my cervical spine. Done the usual rigmarole of physios, osteos, mris, xrays, pilates, every day exercises etc and it contijues to get worse.

I can't carry even the smallest lightest bag or I'll be in agony. Yesterday at work I stood for a presentation for half an hour and knock on pain has ne struggling to get out of bed.

It nakes me so sad and angry and I know im being so mych more short tempered with my family because of it. I used to live such an adventurous life and Was so energetic and positive. Now i cant even take a bag with a pack of rice cakes in to the local park without pain.

Has anyone tried hypnotherapy or things like that? I know I have to accept it but I am 32. I can't bear to think what it will be like when im 50.

The GP can refer you to a specialist pain clinic. I’ve no idea what the waiting times are like in different areas, my area was 18+ months pre covid, so I’m still waiting. I’ve had hypnosis for anxiety, but I have to say it wasn’t effective at all, just very, very expensive, so I have doubts it would work on pain. Have you tried acupuncture? Studies have shown that to be quite effective, and my DF found it helped. He had a couple of spinal surgeries so was in agony for a long time and tried acupuncture.
Its miserable being in constant pain 😞

If you haven't had any physical explanation show up on scans or be helped by physio etc, you could look into neuroplastic pain. That's what long-term back and hip pain ended up being for me.

Basically it means that you probably once had an injury which has healed, but the pain pathways in your brain have become stuck, like they're trained to still feel pain even though your tissue has healed. Doesn't mean 'it's all in your head' - it's very real! But it does mean that it can be reversed.

What made me think that could be what is going on for you is when you said it hurts every time you carry a bag. It's unlikely you'd have an injury than could still cause that after 5 years - more likely your nervous system has trained itself to trigger pain when you do these certain activities.

I don't want to give you a big lecture here explaining it all but I really urge you to look it up! There are apps like Curable and BackUnbroken that can help you work through treatment. Please look into it and have an open mind - I know it sounds a bit airy-fairy but I promise it's a real thing. It might be the answer for you, good luck! ❤️

Thank you. I was told I had arthritis but then ive read a lot about it saying that arthritis doesnt necessarily cause pain.

I have heard about Curable and neuroplastic pain. I actually saw a physio for a long time who worked on this basis. His approach didnt work though. I also havent had a significant injury to my knowledge. Does that make a difference?

I see things differently. I broke my back in 4 places. Curable and mindfulness only deal with the pain, don't deal with the core issue.
i've had steroid injections and now awaiting 2 sessions of burning nerve endings, which may give up to 3 years relief.

Have they done all they should for you?

I never had an injury either, and you don't have to for it to be neuroplastic. A lot of the info does talk about injury pain becoming chronic, but it's definitely not the only trigger. It can also be the case that you have a physical And a neuroplastic component.

Apparently a lot of scans of spines of people who Don't have any pain show signs of injury/deterioration but they don't report any pain, so the relationship between structural and neurological components of pain can be very strange.

If you've tried everything else and it's not working it could be worth looking into. Unfortunately with chronic pain it seems that there isn't always one magical treatment or exercise that'll fully fix it if you just figure it out, it seems you need to combine physical and mental approaches to get the best results. Fear of pain can cause more pain, so getting past the fear can be a good step to improving the actual pain!

Things that might be helpful:

• The Way Out by Alan Gordon.
• The Boulder back study might give you hope.
• The Pain Reprocessing Therapy Book