ChronicOnes

Pain. Everyone, sooner or later, will experience its haunting presence. Each of us will be a victim of this terrible pursuer. It is part of the human condition.

Pain has no prejudice. People of every age, ethnicity, gender, occupation, orientation, and ability will experience pain. For you, it may be only for a moment, or it may last a season. For some of us, pain is chronic and rears its ugly head again and again. Thus, the title. Pain may seem like it will last forever. Even with modern medical advancements, being pain free is more of a dream, a hope maybe, but it seems fleeting in the face of old age.

Pain is real. It hurts. It makes us intolerant and impatient. We get jealous of others who enjoy living pain free. Even angry. But pain will ultimately find us all. No one escapes the planet without an encounter. No amount of denial or ignoring will make this phenomenon diminish its relentless barrage upon unsuspecting people.

Medical missionary Dr. Albert Schweitzer wrote, “Pain is a more terrible lord of mankind than even death itself.” Pain is a universal disorder and is multidimensional. Pain can be emotional, physical, mental, or psychosomatic. With any manifestation of pain, real or imagined, the result is always the same—suffering.

If language is the common link between body and mind, then our continuous interaction with pain is apparent. We have a tendency to ascribe physical pain to irritating, stressful, everyday situations. This includes the following: “That makes me sick to my stomach,” “It’s enough to give you an ulcer,” “Hip out of joint,” “One big headache,” “Worried sick,” “Breaking my heart,” and more. For me, it is specifically, “A pain in the neck.”

I injured my neck in the late 80s doing too much heavy lifting. Landscaping with large rocks and sculptured boulders extracted its toll. Consequently, in the early 90s, surgery was required to repair a herniated disc. Because of the injury, deterioration has continued to aggravate the nerves decades later, leaving me with intense headaches in the back of my skull and pain that radiates down my shoulders.

Pain travels, sometimes at Mach speed and with extra luggage. Often it feels like I have been hit in the head with a two-by-four or a baseball bat—or a nine iron, so you golfers can relate. I have a plethora of special pillows, electronic units, pills, gadgets, exercises, ice packs, and heating pads. Add to that various medical practitioners who offer numerous treatments with varying prognoses.

“I eel your pain.” Were you expecting the maxim “I feel your pain”? Dr. Carol A. Warfield, Professor of Anesthesiology at Harvard Medical School, said, “The Egyptians used to take electric eels out of the Nile and lay them over the wounds of patients.” Maybe we can learn treatments from the ancient world and bring them into the modern.

Ever hear of a TENS UNIT? This device sends electrical stimulation into the nerves and muscles through external adhesive pads, a popular treatment for neck, shoulder, and lower back pain—and just about anywhere else one may hurt. Basically, I have an internal unit in my neck implanted by a pain management physician, Dr. Lokesh Ningegowda, who has treated me with ongoing respect and tender care. He is a good man. This Spinal Cord Stimulator sends vibrational signals through a transmitter, which my brain interprets as pleasure rather than throbbing hurt.

If you or I could create, or just imagine for that matter, a pain-o-meter, it would recognize three types of pain. There is just regular pain like when you injure a finger or a toe doing something—may I say?—stupid. The meter would register regular pain to the far left.

Then there is short- to long-term pain. This type of pain doesn’t go away so quickly. You may have to stop activity for a while, even see a doctor or a team of physicians as you are referred from one specialist to another. Here the meter would spike, showing true north.

But then there is the ace of pain: chronic pain. Its intensity and duration trump the rest. This type of pain takes up residence. Mild to intense, the pain lasts and lasts, weeks on end. Months are stitched together to form an anthology.

On the meter, chronic pain leans to the far right, into the zone highlighted in red. Much like when your car overheats, pain can stop you in your tracks.

Chronic pain affects nearly 116 million Americans. Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) exceeds $100 billion annually. There are more Americans receiving disability payments than the total population of Greece.

You may never know if someone is in pain unless you really get close and stay around for a while. For example, looking at a rose, we are distracted by the hues, the leaves, and the aroma. Look closer. Get to know it—really know it. Touch it. What do you discover? Soft petals, rich color, a strong stem, and an unforgettable scent? Amid the beauty and fragrance are thorns. It’s the same with us who experience chronic pain.

Most of us who live with this ongoing disruption do not intentionally broadcast our tales of woe. Sometimes it’s unavoidable; pain leaks out. Usually we grin and bear it because who really wants to know how we are?

We, the “chronic ones,” have learned that few seem to care enough to listen about why and where we hurt. This is the society in which we live—superficial. Pain is an unpleasant topic.

If people do recognize our pain, they might feel obligated to respond. But that might require emotional investment, and that’s usually too pricey. So we may implement social isolation or we put on a brave face. We stuff pain in order to fit in with the pleasant crowd.