4 Steps to Taking Control of Chronic Pain [Guest post from Patrick Young of Able USA]

/ Inspire Santé/
4 Steps to Taking Control of Chronic Pain [Guest post from Patrick Young of Able USA]

Many thanks to Patrick Young of Able USA for writing this guest post. Check out their website and great resources at www.ableUSA.info.

Being diagnosed with a condition that causes chronic pain can be a scary thing, especially with new guidelines that recommend avoiding or limiting the use of opiate pain medications. How are you going to manage pain so you can keep living life? Without great medical treatments for chronic pain, you may feel like this question looms large.

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Pain changes you: building your new identity from habits

/ Inspire Santé/
Pain changes you: building your new identity from habits

Then came doctor appointments and physical therapy appointments, and soon, I was out of my wheelchair and walking again. But as the months wore on, my husband ultimately had to take a job out-of-state.  I was doing better, but I found myself completely lost. Who was I now?

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Facing down "normal" pain after years of chronic pain

/ Inspire Santé/
Facing down "normal" pain after years of chronic pain

It's so hard to accept any bad days after suffering so many bad years. I think that, as my pain continues to recede in my rearview mirror, that will become less challenging. With time, I expect that I'll even come to appreciate the occasional "down day" with some minor ailment. But for now, I'm desperate to enjoy my still-fresh health.

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A plea to providers: This is why biopsychosocial treatment of chronic pain works [Guest post by Devra Sheldon]

/ Inspire Santé/
A plea to providers: This is why biopsychosocial treatment of chronic pain works [Guest post by Devra Sheldon]

Healthcare providers may be aware of the presence of yellow flags in a patient’s history, such as a major accident, depression, catastrophization, or prior trauma or abuse (to name a few), but not consider it related to the patient’s clinical presentation of pain. But it is. Prior pain experience shapes pain perception.

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"It's worth it." - Board Member Monique Costello Shares Her Personal Pain Story

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"It's worth it." - Board Member Monique Costello Shares Her Personal Pain Story

I went from doctor to therapist looking for answers and nobody had them for me. It was devastating to say the least. Normal life had ended on some levels; I was a physically active individual who went from playing beach volleyball to not even being able to wash my own hair some days. I had two therapists, a chiropractor and a back doctor all managing my ‘recovery’ and I wasn’t getting any better, at all.

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My pain changed me, and I'm working to be OK with that.

/ Inspire Santé/
My pain changed me, and I'm working to be OK with that.

I thought I could “start fresh,” making a clean break with my pain-riddled life and beginning the pain-free chapter.  But my reflection since my pain faded away have taught me that there are no clean breaks.  Our lives are fluid, and our experiences color us.  So today, I’ll admit that my pain changed me.  And I’m working to be OK with that.

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Dealing with the disconnect between being "healthy" and "pain-free"

/ Inspire Santé/
Dealing with the disconnect between being "healthy" and "pain-free"

I walked out the door of the clinic that day proud and nervous.  Was I really better?  She assured me that I was.  My doctor and husband and family and girlfriends assured me that I was.  So, I figured I’d take this “healthy” thing for a spin.

If health is a state of existing in perfect comfort and contentment, it was short lived.

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Demystifying "supported independence" as a treatment goal

/ Inspire Santé/
Demystifying "supported independence" as a treatment goal

When I stopped seeing my PT regularly, I tried to avoid coming back in for visits.  I wanted to feel like I was actually healthy, and not relying so heavily on her help.  This sounds silly now, but at the time, I hadn’t gone more than a couple of weeks without PT for years.  But after seeing my health through this goofy construct for a few months, I began to understand that a much better goal is a state of “supported independence.”

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Pelvic pain & no panties in a Polar Vortex

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Pelvic pain & no panties in a Polar Vortex

My last post ended with my arrival in Chicago.  After a two-day, cross-country drive from New Mexico, our UHaul pulled into town.  We arrived in the midst of the 2014 Polar Vortex, the coldest winter that Chicago had seen in 30 years.  My pain was so severe that I couldn’t wear pants or underwear, and the thick sheet of ice covering most of the city didn’t make it any easier to walk normally or navigate a wheelchair.

My husband and I unpacked our UHaul as the snow poured down, and then, surrounded by boxes, we sat on the floor of our apartment (above someone’s garage) and sipped hot chocolate.  What had we done?

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