September is Pain Awareness Month. Living with chronic pain is hard because you don’t have as much energy to do basic tasks as someone without pain does, and it affects everything you do. People without chronic pain often do not truly understand the impact pain has on your life and sometimes think we can cure ourselves by eating healthier and exercising more. Friends and family sometimes think they understand your pain because they see you often or live with you, but it doesn’t matter how well you know someone, you will never truly understand pain you have experienced. People with chronic pain sometimes feel alone and misunderstood because it can be difficult to convince people that your pain is real when it’s not easy to see. Sometimes it can feel like no one gets it because most people in your life don’t live with chronic pain and don’t fully comprehend what pain takes from you. People can sympathize with your pain and still have misunderstandings because it’s very hard to understand what it’s like if you have never been in that situation. What do I wish people understood about living with chronic pain? In this post, I am sharing a few things that I wish people without chronic pain understood.
It’s more than just physical– When you live with chronic pain, sometimes people think that pain only affects you physically because it does cause physical pain and you don’t need to live with chronic pain to know that. Chronic pain causes a lot of physical pain, but it’s more than just the physical side of pain, and it can also affect your mental health. People in pain are more likely to become depressed than someone without pain because chronic pain negatively impacts your life in so many ways. We talk a lot about the physical side of chronic pain, but what you don’t hear a lot of people talking about is how much it affects your mental health. Endometriosis pain causes a lot of debilitating physical pain, but sometimes it’s not the pain that gets you down; it’s the fatigue. Many people in pain struggle with fatigue, but it’s not the kind of tired you can sleep off, and a lot of the time, napping does not improve your energy levels. It feels like you have an extremely heavy weight over your entire body, and walking to the bathroom can feel like a chore because pain can drain your entire body. Pain is not just physical, and it can affect your mental health and energy levels.
My pain decides what I am able to do that day- People with chronic pain, often have less energy throughout the day because pain drains you. I try to exercise five days a week and go to church weekly, but whether I am able to do those things depends on my pain levels. My church attendance is not as consistent as I would like it to be because sometimes my pain prevents me from being able to leave my home. I can’t go to church for an hour on bad days because getting out of bed is a struggle, and it would cause my symptoms to worsen by forcing myself to go somewhere I didn’t have to be. I am grateful that my church hasn’t stopped streaming services because sometimes I have to watch the services while sitting in bed due to high pain levels. Most months, I am only well about half of the month because people with endometriosis can start to experience pain a week or more before we actually get our period. My pain decides what I am able to do that day, and sometimes I am not able to be as productive as I would like.
Pain changes you- When you live with constant pain, it changes you sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. Some people in pain become angrier, some may develop more compassion toward others, and some people may become passionate about educating others and become advocates. Everyone responds differently to pain because it changes you, and you are not the person you were before living with chronic pain. My opinions on pain management have changed, and before chronic pain, I would not have supported opioids for everyday use, but now I understand that sometimes it’s your only choice for being able to have a life. Pain gives you a different perspective on life and changes your opinions about pain because you now better understand what it is like.
People in pain become experts at masking pain- I have been living with some kind of chronic pain for several years now and have become an expert at hiding my pain. It doesn’t matter how many blog posts I write about chronic pain; people in life sometimes still struggle to see my pain because I am too good at masking pain to spare the feeling of others. I have gone to many family functions and have cried with a room full of people, and no one has noticed because I know where to sit in a room that’s dark enough and people won’t notice tears. People in pain become experts at masking their pain, and the longer you live with pain, the better you get at hiding it. Most of my pain is invisible, and I don’t generally show visible signs of pain because some people want to take it all away and can’t handle it. It can be difficult for people without chronic pain to understand the impacts of it because people in pain are very good at downplaying and masking their symptoms.
I am not being lazy for resting- On a good pain day, I usually will be sitting at my computer all day working on my blog because you never know what tomorrow is going to hold, and you have to take advantage of the days you are feeling well. Some days I have a very productive week and get so much content out, while others I feel like I am at war with my body and getting nothing done. People in pain sometimes feel bad about taking rest days on a random Tuesday because they fear people will think they are being lazy. I am not being lazy for taking rest days I hadn’t planned for, and I am doing what is necessary to improve my pain. Rest days are not an option for people in pain, and sometimes our bodies force us to rest.
It can be very hard to make plans- Pain is often unpredictable, and it can be very difficult for people in pain to make plans with their friends months in advance. High pain levels sometimes are the reason someone cancels at the last minute, and it’s not because we are trying to get out of it or don’t want to hang out with you. Sometimes we are forced to stay home and focus on self-care because if we do too much, it could cause us to become sicker.
Living with chronic pain is hard because sometimes increased pain levels can leave you bed-bound for days. Pain is not like pushing through a tough workout, and you can’t force yourself to do things on bad days because it could worsen your symptoms. You have to listen to your body while living with pain because it’s the only way you will keep your pain levels low and have some good days. Medication can help improve pain levels, and many people with chronic pain take some kind of medication, but it doesn’t take away your pain and only gets it to a level you can function. I am grateful that I have a good support system that believes my pain and has never questioned my pain, but I sometimes do wonder if people truly believe my pain is real or if they are just not saying anything. Living with pain is exhausting because it drains you physically and emotionally. You have to constantly advocate for yourself because a lot of the time, people don’t understand why you canceled at the last minute. What do you wish people understood about chronic pain? If you liked this post, please leave a comment below and share it with your friends.
Subscribe And Never A Miss A Post
My Rockin Disabled Life 