Back or neck pain may sound like something simple and easy to deal with, but when the pain stays on chronically, you will find it to be, literally, a pain in the neck. Millions of people around the world are in misery because of chronic pain in the neck and back.
The excruciating agony is not only annoying, it also affects a person’s ability to go through normal tasks of life by the restricted mobility. Chronic neck and back pain typically comes about from accidents or injuries, developmental disorders, congenital disorders, some medical conditions, or even stress. Not only does chronic pain in the neck and back affect daily activities, relationships may also be adversely affected, as loved ones struggle to understand the patient’s conditions, and yet struggle with the extra mile that they will have to put up with. Meanwhile, the person suffering from the pain may wind up suffering strong emotions of anxiety and even depression as they fight a battle they are not sure how to win.
Interestingly, research has shown that people suffering from life-threatening conditions such as AIDS and cancer can typically respond in two ways: acceptance and maintaining a positive outlook, or denial and a constant refrain of complaints and the loss of the will to live. Studies have shown that the former tend to outlive the latter, and, interestingly, those with the positive outlook also tend to experience less pain and symptoms.
This gives us a valuable insight into treating chronic neck and back pain. A lot of the time, those who suffer from this condition have trouble getting into a positive mindset. This is understandable, as the condition not only comes with pain but also limits the range of motion, making it nearly impossible to do the simplest of tasks. Sometimes it even compromises your capability to earn a living, and even affects relationships with a spouse, and even with family and friends. With stress being a trigger of more pain, letting stress get hold of you means that the pain levels will possibly increase, giving you a vicious cycle you cannot seem to break.
New research has looked into the treatment of chronic neck and back pain with different angles, with the multi-disciplinary approach rising in popularity in recent years. Pain has been confirmed not only to be a physiological sensation, which can be treated solely with drugs, but also a sensory as well as emotional experience. This means that treating pain must involve also dealing with the psychological issues it results in. As complex being, human beings experience pain with a link to how we feel and what we think. This is why two individuals might have the same condition at the exact level of severity, yet one of them may improve while the other deteriorates, as affected by their frames of mind.
This is where cognitive behavioral therapy comes in for chronic neck and back pain. Instead of simply prescribing drugs for the pain, the patient is trained to change the way he thinks about his condition, making it possible to change his behaviour. This is targeted towards reducing stress, which is believed to decrease or even eliminate pain, also improving the quality of his life. Actually, cognitive behavioral therapy is already used to treat many other conditions, and the very basic foundation for it is that how a person views things inadvertently affects what he feels on the physical level. As such, developing the right mindset about life and pain will certainly make improvements in chronic neck and back pain.
So if you have chronic neck and back pain, what kind of things should you focus your mind on? The most important thing you need to understand that your identity does not lie on what you are able to do. Many of the burdens of people who cannot work from the pain stem from an identity based on accomplishments. When you realize that you are valued for who you are and not for what you can do, you may be freed to relax and rest, without pressuring yourself to get up off the bed and work the pain away. The pain may not necessarily go away immediately, but as you let go of the stressful pressure, you will most likely find a certain relief. From then on, you will likely find it easier to find things to be thankful about, improving the overall quality of your daily existence.
