The Pain Of Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

According to The World Health Organisation (1999), defined pain as an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage. Pain is traditionally described as acute or chronic pain. The prevalence of chronic pain (CP) is higher than of acute of pain, as it affects 7.8 million people of all ages in the UK (Chronic Pain Policy Coalition., 2006). The current leading cause of mortality that is accounting for 60% of all deaths is due to chronic diseases and is also a problem as causes an increasing burden on the health care service (World Health Organisation., 2007). CP can affect a person’s quality of life if managed poorly, statistics shows that 25% of people lose their job and 22% leads to depression. (Chronic Pain Policy Coalition.,

The current study was designed to explore whether people with chronic musculoskeletal pain show interpretation bias favoring pain-related interpretations of ambiguous real-world images with both possible pain-related and non-pain related interpretations. The results did not support the hypothesis that chronic musculoskeletal pain participants, compared to healthy control participants, would interpret ambiguous real-world images in pain-related ways. No significant effects were found for written responses or endorsement of statements.

As a Northwestern University professor of Anesthesiology, Honorio T. Benzon, defines chronic pain is “a demoralizing state that confronts individuals not only with the distress created by the symptoms but also with many other ongoing difficulties that compromise all aspects of their lives” (Benzon). Therefore, chronic pain is rooted in a variety of neurologic functions, integrated from the brain that affects the individual internally and externally. According to David B. Reuben MD, a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine,

Chronic Pain is described as a long lasting pain that people experience beyond a normal healing time (Hasenbring, Rusu & Turk, 2012). This time is usually up to three or six months prior to an incident (Hasenbring, Rusu & Turk, 2012). Chronic back pain can include common diagnosis of muscle spasms, back strain, or myofasical syndrome (Weiner & Nordin, 2010). There are three different types of chronic back pain; simple musculoskeletal back pain, spinal nerve root pain and serious spinal pathology (Jackson & Simpson, 2006). (Hasenbring, 2012)

Pain is a fundamental and inevitable form of human suffering, the experience which is unique to every individual.

The NANDA (North American Nurses Diagnosis) definition of pain is “The state in which an individual experiences and reports the presence of severe discomfort or an uncomfortable sensation. A highly subjective state in which a variety of unpleasant sensations and a wide range of distressing factors may be experienced by the sufferer.” (Gradishar, Muzio, Filipski, & Klopp, 2012).According to the Merriam-Webster collegiate Dictionary (2014), the word pain has three definitions. The first is the “physical feeling caused by disease, injury, or something that hurts the body. The mental or emotional suffering/ as well as someone or something that causes trouble or makes you feel angry.” (Merriam-Webster, 2014).

Within the Veteran population there are fifty to seventy percent affected with chronic pain (Krein et al., 2010), with an annualized prevalence increase in the diagnosis of low back pain (LBP) of 4.8% per year; larger than diabetes 4.4%, hypertension 4.1% and depression 3.8% (Sinnott & Wagner, 2009). In the primary healthcare setting, Veterans commonly present with acute or an exacerbation of chronic LBP. The Veterans returning from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom Veterans cite pain specifically LBP as their most frequent complaint (Gironda, Clark, Massengale, & Walker, 2006).

Chronic pain related to nerve compression as evidence by verbal reports of pain, changes in facial expression of pain, and anxiousness (Wilkinson, 2017, pg. 600).

Chronic bodily pain occurs for a number of reasons, such as nerve damage from a vehicle accident, steroid-induced bone pain from cancer treatment, and many other health problems. This kind of pain is defined as discomfort that lasts more than 12 weeks. It often makes daily activities challenging and significantly less enjoyable, potentially resulting in sadness and depression because you never feel “right.”

After a car accident last year, I live in chronic pain from my back and neck on an everyday basis. I also suffer from depression that adds on to the pain that I feel. The pain that I felt was very typical these past two weeks. I have my good days and my bad days. The days that I have physical therapy, I usually hurt worse than the days that I don’t have it. I cope with the pain by taking medications and doing yoga. Nevertheless, some days I cannot get out of bed because of my back pain. These are really hard days; however, these days are becoming fewer. My family history when it comes to pain is unhealthy. A vast amount of my family members are addicted to pain medication. My family does not deal with emotions every well and most of them

“An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage due to surgery… thus pain is what the person says it is, and exists when the person experiencing the pain says it does.”

‘Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage’ (International association for the study of pain 2014). Pain can be made up of complex and subjective experiences. The experience of pain is highly personal and private, and can not be directly observed or measured from one person to the next (Mac Lellan 2006). According to the agency for health care policy and research 1992, an individuals self-report of pain is the most reliable indicator of its presence. This is also supported by Mc Caffery’s definition in 1972, when he said ‘Pain is whatever the experiencing patient says it is, existing whenever he says it does’.

I enjoyed this article, probably because I have a personal connection with chronic pain and the difficulty of pain management. Both my husband and my father have chronic pain. My father has a slew of health problems, including peripheral neuropathy and he is overcome by his pain. He cannot release the hold the pain has on him emotionally and will not listen to reason, because in his words “no one understands”, taking on the role of the victim. On the other hand, my husband who has a dreadful case of arthritis brought on by Lyme’s disease, which he contracted through a tick 30 years ago; refuses to relinquish his power over to the pain. He has had both knees replaced and one shoulder replaced twice, yet he still keeps going. Granted they

I will first begin informing you about the psychological reality of chronic pain by explaining what chronic pain, how it begins, and who is affected by it. This will help the reader understand some background information that will comprehend how it affects individuals. Next, I will present how prevalent chronic pain is and how it effects society, this will help to explain why this is concern should no longer be ignored. I will then begin discussing the most common psychological effect of chronic pain, a lower quality of life. This will begin the discussion of how medical complications effect how one perceives things and then overall mental well-being. This will then Segway into discussing how the mental stress of medical concerns, and a concern

This paper is going to talk about how to deal with chronic pain. First of all, this paper will explain what chronic pain means by providing the foremost chronic pain encountered in life such as low back, joints, or other kinds. Next, this paper will cover why it is important to address conditions related to chronic pain, and will explore methods and strategies showing how to cope with continuing pain. Finally, this paper will share some predictable outcomes and a conclusion.