Chronic Pain—When the Fix Hurts Worse Than the Pain
Posted: Thursday, February 21, 2008
by Sandra E. Graham
My Books and Articles
Statistics have shown that over 30 million Americans suffer from back pain at some time or other in their lives and that equates to a lot of sleepless nights and grouchy spouses. Unrequited pain can be the forerunner to numerous other problems; most especially when it relates to the back.
Whether upper or lower back pain, these symptoms have been known to cause knee problems, hip problems, ankle problems, shoulders, elbows, wrists-basically every joint in the body can be effected by the pain stemming from a person's back. Then there are the headaches, sleepless nights, and even depression. Yes, chronic pain can also cause feelings of depression. When the pain never ends and doesn't allow you to do the things you did before-play with your children or grandchildren or just enjoy an evening stroll with your husband or wife; you begin to feel helpless and hopeless.
But, there you are, many years too late for us old-timers and too much trouble to practice for the new-timers-who, when no one is looking just grab up that box full of shock absorbers and hustle it over to the eye-ball level shelf and toss it up there. Not all back pain is caused from injury, however-that is just the added bonus. Some back problems begin in our youth, but don't make themselves truly pronounced until our later years when every joint screams in unison. One such ailment is called deterioration or degeneration of the discs that separate the vertebra of the spine. Or it could be bone spurs brought on by over-zealous calcium deposits. Then there is the old faithful-osteoporosis-an all around disintegration of the bones themselves and not limited to the joints alone. Injury comes so much easier to these poor fellows.
When that initial twinge of pain doesn't go away in a week or two; depending on your stamina or how much aversion you feel toward spending several hours in a doctor's office squirming in a chair no way no how made for comfort-bad back not withstanding-you finally seek some type of relief from a medical professional. Your primary care giver will invariably send you out for a CT scan or an MRI which will seek out the culprit and tell him where to go from there-and trust me, there is always somewhere else you will have to go.
Several days later the mail delivers a letter; the results of your test and you need to see your doctor. After explaining in absolutely no humanly understandable terms, the letter makes it known that there is an abnormality in your CT scan or MRI. Have a nice day.
With film in hand, or not-newer technologies make a few key strokes the extent of bringing your innards into view ten miles away in the specialist's office-most likely a neurosurgeon. Suddenly you realize you have been holding your breath while he hums and haws and frowns at what he sees on his computer. Finally you breathe just short of passing out. Suddenly he whirls to face you on his little stool on wheels and you can't stop yourself from jumping. Ok. What we have here is degenerating disc disease of the L5 lumbar. You look at the doctor as though he is from the planet Zicronon and he has just lost the only friend he could possibly have made on planet earth.
When you regain your composure and your voice, you ask him what that means to you and what he intends to do about it. Well, there are options. First we will send you for three weeks of physical therapy. Exercise can work wonders for a disc that is crumbling as we speak????
Three weeks later you are back in his office with the same pain, same place-almost seems like the same time. Another four weeks of therapy is prescribed with a fifteen minute session of fifty pound traction. If the word traction frightens you, well it should. It frightened me, but the pain it caused was much worse than the fright. Fifteen minutes of having your body pulled apart at the middle is fourteen minutes and fifty five seconds too long! You lose all sense of shame as you cry and beg to be turned loose. But this isn't some kind of torture chamber here, they are here to help you and they aren't heartless. They let you out early and don't fasten you down quite so tight the next time, so you make it a few more seconds before breaking down.
Another four weeks later, you're back with the neurosurgeon and he says, well, let's try pain management. How does that sound? Oh, great. You smile. You can surely handle a few talks and maybe a slide show or two on how to just manage your pain.' The Pain Management Clinic is so booked up, that you can't get an appointment for three months. So you just relax and enjoy the reprieve of no doctors and no pills for three whole months. But of course, Murphy's Law and all that, you start having bad pains in your hip. You have trouble walking. But at least, it seems to take your mind away from the pain in your back. Your primary care doctor can take care of this for you. A small shot in the left hip and the next day you are feeling must better as far as your hip is concerned.
Your hip is feeling great and your back seems to be in some form of remission-all false senses of security. Suddenly your knee has trouble holding up your weight. You don't feel any fatter, but you find yourself grabbing for something to hold onto when that knee just politely tries to bend back the wrong direction. The pain has gone from bad to worse-your whole body is filling you with a sense of betrayal. When did you turn sixty and where did all these aches and pains come from?
Now you are in the office of the local osteopathic surgeon. He has x-rayed your knee and sees no bone problems-must be coming from your back. We'll put a little shot in that knee and that should get rid of the inflammation and thus the pain. Ok. You're too old to cry but that little shot he talked about is not the one the nurse brought into the room and had to back in the door to get the needle all the way into the room too. He was right though, by the following day, the pain was much better, at least in your knee.
Finally you have made it to pain management'. Your problems have just begun. First they start you on a regiment of pills starting with three a day and working your way up to twelve pills a day (if you survive the first few days with no side effects). Speaking of side effects, there are too many to mention and too scary to dwell on. You finally stop the pills after the first four or five days when you start running into walls because your head is spinning and you can't sleep at night. The pain is still with you, but then again, these pills were only for the pain going down your leg (they're more of a muscle relaxer than a pain reliever) and not for your back. And of course, you have been told up front that they can't say they can cure you; they only hope to make your pain more bearable and thereby make your life easier all around.
For the back pain the pain specialist prescribes an injection directly into the spine. He's one of the best at what he does. His nurse and several other patients tell you this. The injection won't hurt a bit-a piece of cake. Well, what is one person's piece of cake may be another person's fried liver. Not all patients can tolerate the pain of having two needles going simultaneously directly into the most sensitive of nerves running from the back the full length of the leg. For this patient the procedure was unbearable and thus could not be completed. All in all, the pills didn't work, the needles didn't work and we're back to square one and still in pain. They talk of implanting wires inside along the length of the spine that would be connected to a small power box implanted in the hip.
Don't call me, I'll call you.
If you are a chronic pain sufferer, do extensive research before committing yourself to any type of surgery or therapy. The longer you can hold off from some of these very questionable techniques that are out there now, there will be newer and better ones in the future. Even our small town has one doctor that can perform a new type of disc replacement surgery that is supposed to be state of the art. I'm holding out for that if it comes to dire necessity.
Good luck and God Bless and may all your pains be little ones.
Sandra E. Graham, author, Amos Jakey and Nicolina, published by American Book Publishing. Visit my website: http://www.sandragraham-articles-books.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)hi sandra, wonderfully written article. my partner suffers from back, knee, and herniated disc problems, and some days, i have to walk down the stairs sideways because my knees won't hold me, but we keep on going, as you do. our bodies like to show us who's boss once i a while, i think. okay, already, we get the point! thanks for sharing, best regards, sue thomSue, you are such a gracious audience. It is people like you who make writing and baring our inner-most thoughts for all to see worth the trouble. Thanks for always being there to appreciate what we do. SEG
sandra, as always, your article is filled with as much content as humor...which i adore. (yes, i'm skipping the caps...just a kick i'm on...) anyway, just wanted to offer this thought ~ as a person who's dealt with back pain as well as some other 'unknown' chronic pain of late, i can relate to what you're saying. and here's what is working for me (because i refuse to take the dreaded meds/therapies the docs carelessly recommend)~ i use meditation and visualization to release the pain. i know it sounds weird, but after 9 months of excruciating pain i just decided to give it up to god. and there you have it...i could go on about this, but not here. maybe read the article i wrote about 'getting past the pain...". it kind of covers my perspective. thanks for your much-valued input. you're wonderful!Thanks for the comment, Camille. And no, I don't think any of it sounds weird. Sometimes laughter can be the best medicine and I know for a fact that giving everything---praise or complaint---up to God can make your life's ups-and-downs much more bearable. I have been doing just that for many years now and my 'praises' far out weigh my 'complaints'. I do admit, though, that I have never tried meditation or visualization, but I would be much more receptive to that than knives and needles. I will read your article and thank you so much for the suggestions. SEG
Excellently written, felt as though you have been with me on my visits. Developed arthritis at ten. In those days not much was know about childhold arthritis, it was a disease of the elderly. Later I fell and fractured my spine, was told I would never walk again, but being a single parent, I had not choice and I'm still walking today. A good day is when I control the pain, a bad one is when the pain controls me.....have more good than bad. Recently, back began to hurt due to a sprang muscle. Actually had to go to doctor, the pain was so bad. Got muscle relaxants and pain pills. Took meds, as prescribed, with food. About a week later, I developed stomach cramps. Cramps so severe I was crying. Seems that cramps were one of the "may cause" of the pain medication. Next time, I will continue with Motrin or some other OTC medication. In this case, as your articale said, the fix hurt worse than the pain.Thank you, Michelle. I'm sorry to hear you too have so much pain. It some times seems as though we are more 'guinea pig' than patient when we go doctors for our suffering. My own doctor often gives me samples that end up making me more sick than I already was. But I guess that is something we have to live with in the name of 'progress'. And there are the medications that once you start taking them, you can never stop. Have a good week; I'll keep you in my prayers. SEG
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