Pain - dealing with chronic pain

Chronic pain is pain that lasts for days, weeks, or even months. Originally, what started as a signal that you had hurt yourself became a signal that refused to go away. 

Why do you develop chronic pain, and what can you do about it? 

Perhaps one way to explain this is with a personal example. I injured my shoulder while doing a pull-up.

My trainer pushed me to do things I was not capable of. Ignorant and egoistic, I went along. My tendon snapped. But of course, I am a hero, so I ignored the pain. 

Slowly, my injury turned chronic. My shoulder got worse. It became stiff to the point where I could no longer lift my hand. 

There are many reasons for chronic pain. One important one happens when you ignore or partially deal with an injury. Like in my case. 

On the odd occasion that I did try to deal with it, I was given all kinds of advice. It is a rotor muscle tear. It is a frozen shoulder. None of this meant very much to me. So obviously, I kept ignoring it.

The correct diagnosis of the cause of your pain and prompt action might easily be the best way to prevent chronic pain.

It is surprising just how often we misdiagnose an ailment. 

Leaving the pain to persist would rank as the second worst thing you can do. 

In my case, the pain spread beyond the originally injured area. The logic was simple. My body recognized that a part of my shoulder was injured. It compensated for other parts of my upper body, causing additional strain. 

Now, I had added insult to injury. 

It was only when I got the right diagnosis and the right intervention that, within two weeks, both my injury and the resultant pain disappeared. 

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