Specializing in chronic pain treatment was definitely not the road that I ever thought I was going to do after graduating from PT school. It’s not something they teach you well, in school (at least about 10+ years ago), and it’s a bit of a rude awakening when you meet you first patient with chronic pain. I didn’t know what to do with this patient, what to say to them, and I couldn’t find what was structurally wrong with them. Like many practitioners, I’m sad to say that I wrote those patients off. How I wish I could turn back time and help those patients I like I should have!
About 6 years ago, I started looking deeper in to the world of chronic pain treatments and realized there was a science behind chronic pain that we weren’t taught in school. That there are specific reasons why patients without structural issues could have long standing pain, the connection between the brain and the body, and better ways to help people. Since then, I’ve learned and seen that pain is not a signal from your body, but rather, the sum of many variables, and pain is essentially an output from your brain. I’ve seen people change their lives by changing those variables, and achieve goals they had long given up on, and return them back to a life they thought was impossible to live again.
Over the years, my patients have gotten more and more complex, and each person has presented with their own specific goals, and brought their own unique challenges and barriers. I’ve made my share of mistakes, but over the years, have learned how to help people navigate their pain, and have had the chance to help many find the path back to the lives they want to lead.
Although each patient has been unique, here are some common challenges of the people that I’ve helped:
- You have a team of medical people helping you, but each person seems to be telling you something a little different, and you now have a slew of diagnoses as long as your arm.
- You have tried time and time again to start that exercise program your doctor told you to do; but each time you start, you have to deal with that flare up and set back. How do you feel better with exercise when exercise is what makes you hurt?
- The fear and anxiety around your pain has been slowly growing with each flare up. Now, when the pain comes on, you are not sure if when/if you’ll be able to get back to your baseline.
- The tension between your loved ones and people closest to you continue to rise. They don’t understand what you’re going through, and you’re tired trying to make them understand.
- The frustration at your situation, and life, can be overwhelming. You feel it when you can’t complete your to do list because the pain is just too much. Or you feel like you feel that you can’t even just do normal household chores because if you try, you’re in bed for 2 days. Or you feel that you can’t be the mother, wife, daughter, friend, or grandparent you feel that you should be.