Pain & Coping With Pain

Why?do we need to have the capacity to cope with pain when there seem to be so many qualified doctors and para-medics stating that they are experts in pain-management!?

The very fact that there is a 'specialty' called 'pain management' (still in its infancy really), is by itself an indication that they in the profession of medicine, have also struggled with the problem of managing pain! It matters very little as to whether they call pain as just pain or dub it as chronic pain!

Terminology abounds in this world for the creation of more jobs and earning capacities! Nothing wrong with that as long as the experts can deliver! This is what I think the World's Expert Consultants quote as being paramount?isn't it? Whatever be the level of ones qualification and expertise, if they cannot deliver then they are not?fit-for-purpose! Even our governments use that,?don't they ask for 'cuts in staff' and facilities, for not being able to deliver on their promises?with every new management!?

Jokes apart,?“Importantly however", please do bear in mind the important action on feeling?'Pain',?that,?"Your First Point Of Contact Should Be Your Doctor”, I cannot stress this enough, please!?

Only after, that is, when your doctors have treated you and stated that it is not Life-Threatening” &, allowed you to “Live Your Life on Your Own” and?discharged you,?should you consider the alternatives!?

Invariably, by now, you will be dubbed as a Patient with Chronic Pain! Believe me, you will get enough indications of this from your medics and those around you that you should toddle off!

An absolute?Awareness?of the fact, equally applicable, whether you are, the patient, the doctor or the para-medic, that pain is not unidimensional!

Never ever, 'Pain?always', has a physical and a mental component to it as a bare minimum! Apart from the body-mind component, the overall ambience?around the person suffering from pain, the patient himself or herself, also has an important influence in the equation here?

An?Awareness?of this important factor in the "pain-equation" is important for the?medical profession to be?aware of as well! This Awareness, fortunately is slowly?creeping into the profession! Still only as a?semblance of this?Awareness?though as yet, in some places in the world,?rather than as a properly coordinated pain management facility!?

“The body-mind complement, along with the familial?ambience, the social ambience, the professional ambience, the?locational ambience including the ambience of the entire?patient care pathway has an absolute effect and influence on the patient!?Specially a patient trying to balance life as a chronic patient”!?

Even the waiting for care which?practically every patient has to put up with due to delays in diagnosis, delays in medical appointments, delays in medical?therapy delays in getting appointments…All, just the interminable delays in care most times?have a serious effect on the patients!?

Even the change of “your doctor” for instance when the patient has to see yet another new doctor, followed by yet another specialist, followed by yet another expert; all new faces, all new questions, all new attitudes,?all for the?patient's "same old complaint", the original complaint!?

All these have a terrible influence on the patient both mentally and physically as well!?

The responses and the effects of the medications, the treatment, varies?from one patient to another! This is an absolute fact which the?medical?profession is quite well aware of, and yet, they compare one patient to another; they tell a patient that he or she is being difficult, as their response is different from that of another!?

Whatever can the pitiable, medically?naive?patient do to cope with what seems to be and perhaps always is the case, when faced?with these unfair situations??

I, as a clinically aware patient, have found this absolutely surprising when I have faced the very?same attitudes of the doctors on so many?occasions myself? This, despite the medical personnel being aware of my medical status as a Clinical Scientist!

If I did not have the “Capacity to Cope” with all “these happenings”, one with the physical injury and then with the mental trauma, PTSD being caused, by now, I would have been an “absolute depressed case” with no hope at all in getting on with life!

Coping is an essential way of getting on with life, both for the patient and so also for the medical personnel as well! And not just?“us” but, even more so for the caring partners and?familial members!?

These, in reality face a greater problem than even the patient as the patient has at least, the semblance of care through the medical teams, while the familial?carers have no one to support & help them to cope and get on with their own respective lives as well!

"The Power to Heal is within all of us"

Pain management, on your own, along with your medications, can be self-managed to a certain extent?by yourself, of which you are the best judge!??

Of course, you must seek urgent medical help if you have an accident or an injury!

Do visit your medical specialist or perhaps your General Practitioner or the "Emergency Department". Remember, if your pain gets aggravated, please, your first point of contact as always, should be your Doctor!

My intention here, as a long-term patient of more than 30 years of continuous, severe debilitating pain, and as a qualified Clinical Scientist, is to write about how I,?live & cope with my Pain! I?have coped with my Pain since a very, very?long?time, for so long that now, I would probably miss Pain if I was Pain free!?

Humour, a Zest for LIFE, a sense of responsibility, along with all the Love and Support from Family, Friends, Strangers, Hobbies, Work, and of course Doctors and Medicines are all a part of life, accept it & enjoy it!

My medical colleagues and others have always been surprised as to how I could manage to even?stay awake with so many powerful narcotics-based medications which I have had to "take day in day out" for so many decades!?

But work I did! My absolute determination to fulfil my duties & obligations to my Family, Patients and Friends helped me to manage my familial responsibilities, social responsibilities, being there for another, despite the stark reality of a Life with Pain; staring me in my face, all the time!

Emotional well-being is linked to increased capability in the management of one’s pain! Pain and the inability i.e. to be able to cope with pain can lead to other Health, Practical, Real Life difficulties and problems.

It is very easy to get subsumed in your own cocoon of Pain. It is for you to break free from the confines of your own mental cocoon and fly free!

You know, there is an?“Anomalous Condition” where a person does not feel any kind of pain at all! Some may feel that this person who feels no pain at all, is a very lucky person. No, this person with “Congenital Analgesia” or “Asymbolia” (there are a few forms of this and similar conditions!) suffers more in life than one who can suffer pain!

People with this condition can harm themselves without even realising that they have been hurt. An onlooker or companion who, on noticing blood or such signs is mostly the one who realises that his friend has had an accident or an injury!

Pain which is a warning from?your brain to you, as an indicator of an injury or a problem in a person, is not present in these people!

There are places in our World, populated with small groups of such people who are all?afflicted with this condition! Imagine their plight, you would not want that!

No Pain Without Gain::No Gain Without Pain?or?should it be the other way!!!??

Who cares, Pain is not important and is most certainly not going to Stop ME should be the take in life for those with?continual pain! This is my approach and this should be your approach as well, to Pain!

Enjoy Life, Life is for Living! There is humour in abundance around us yet we take Life and ourselves so very seriously that we forget to live Life! We are forever subsumed in ourselves! Wondering as to?whether one is?looking good, attractive, sexy and so on and on leading to?anxieties which are by?themselves limiting most in living their lives to the full!

Why, whatever for??Don't you know that you are good?looking??Don't you know that you are very,?very attractive! Why are you ever in doubt? Do you not have the confidence to face the world the way you are?

I mean, if you have made yourself capable of being one with the world around you, why ever do you want to let your confidence in yourself slip away from you??

Have fun in your life, pain or no pain, fulfil all your obligations to yourself, your loved ones, your?profession, your society and to your world! Having been born, you just need to make the most of yourself and, be there for anyone who needs you more!?

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My Family has always been with me, loving, supporting and encouraging me on to achieve my goals and dreams, which are many!!!

I have had a number of?major, vehicular and other silly accidents as well; followed by the inevitable serious?surgeries, one?too many! Surgeries covering my upper, Cervical and my lower Lumbar spine. Numerous minimally invasive procedures and major surgical procedures, Cervical Prosthetic Fixation, Multilevel Lumbar Discectomy, Facetectomies and Laminectomies, Fusion,?Nerve Root Blocks, Facet Blocks, Steroid Injections, Greater Occipital Nerve blocks?followed by?nerve-root ablation,?Physiotherapy sessions, including water based therapies, TENS “Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation, Shiatsu, Acupuncture, Ayurvedic Oil Bath & Massages, Mental Psychological Therapies, Reiki and so on and on!

I had lost the use of one of my legs, a?few years later this was followed by a loss of my upper limb, my arm and hand. I could not walk and had to use crutches!?

“Despite the crutches and difficulty in walking, pain or no pain, much later on, I took up the challenge of raising “Funds for Cancer”; my Alma Mater from many years ago, so to say was the “Cancer Research Centre”!?

Thanks to my sincere & true, Faithful Friends and Family, I managed to raise about ￡6,348.75 by walking 10,000 steps per day, for a month!?

This was along with, again one too many, surgeries for my eyes as well, I have implants in both my eyes. And then, I had lost all my vision in my affected eye briefly! A?spontaneous affliction, a serious retinal detachment! This was restored thankfully, only due to the prompt intervention and help, the skills of my medical colleagues, I can see well now, when there was only darkness before!

I was in my office, in?my hospital when all of a sudden, the medical image that I was looking at on my monitor vanished, it was as if my imaging monitor had lost its power and blanked out! I realised very soon as to what had happened to my eye, and walked over to the eye hospital just across the road and was seen within just a few minutes by a consultant in Accident & Emergency and operated on as an emergency!?

My colleague later stated that I was lucky that I worked so close to the eye hospital, if I had delayed by just a few more minutes I would have lost my eye totally! This was about 19 years ago, if I remember right. This has not stopped me as well.

The Skills of my Surgical and Medical colleagues, my Love of Work in Healthcare and the Love of my Family & Friends helped me to get on with Life.

Hobbies, Music and Art as Therapy have helped me immeasurably. My lifelong hobbies became my therapeutic friends.

I can never thank them enough!

However, do bear in my mind that if I had given up my belief in myself & faith in my capacity to get on in Life whatever be the hurdle or problem then,?despite all the help as referred to earlier, none of these would not have help me at all!

The reason I am stating this is that you, as a patient, you have to take control of yourself and your illness; and ensure that your illness does not control you, ever! You should be the one who should be in control of your illness!

My Back Pain, which has been with me since my first accident, falling from a tree (!!!) as an youngster and many more time after(!!!) , followed by a few?more?accidents, four?major vehicular accidents, the first one being thrown over the handle bars of my motorbike, then, absolutely launched itself since a major car accident in 1985, another car accident and then a bus accident a few years later, has not stopped me from achieving what I have in Life nor has it stopped me from Living Life the way I have wanted to live!

I have mentioned all these just to mention that Life is normal, we all go through times perceived as difficult or nice, just a perception lost in time! Believe me, every hurdle in life seems ominous at the time, but of course! However, having?passed these hurdles one by one, in retrospect, you start wondering if it really was such an ominous hurdle at all!

I jokingly respond to the dear ones concerned?for?my wellbeing, to their?worried queries about my back, asking me as to how my pain is? I smile at them?stating 'Oh my pain', it is just there, Behind me!?

My back pain, it follows me around faithfully like a shadow, even in?darkness,?without ever a?complaint!

I may complain but not my Back, it just tells me that it is there but never complains however!! We are companions for Life!

I have still, worked full time since, through all the accidents, topical and oral medicines, spinal injections, injections at the base of my skull, a number of?major & minor?surgical interventions.

I was a runner-up in an NHS Badminton Tournament 9 months after my first major spinal surgery! My colleague, the spinal surgeon who operated on me, had categorically stated?“forget all about sports”. He?knew that I was a keen sportsman, but his prognosis was not encouraging, as he expected me to be disabled by at least 25% and that continuous pain would stop me from all my sports as well!

I have since, coached my children and other youngsters from clubs in sports such as, badminton, swimming, squash and cricket! I have travelled all around the World to various?hospitals, organisations and universities giving lectures and presentations on invitation, and lectured to students, doctors, engineers, IT professionals and scientists in the UK and abroad.

Focus, Concentration, Coping are all products of my Yoga and Meditation Techniques. I was fortunate enough to have had the good sense to learn about these from My Mentor Dr. Rao, an unassuming personality, at an Institute of Yoga called “Kaivalyadhama” opposite the Arabian Sea in Bombay (now Mumbai). Dr. Rao, was a very small built man but with an Enormous Presence, so much so that I can still see him standing and talking to me, in his whites with his arms folded in front of him and his ever-present beautiful smile lighting his face! My gratitude and regard for him has stood the Test of Time and Pain and, will always be with me Pain as well it seems! He was a major influence in my Life! This was way back, in the early 1970’s

I am just hoping sincerely, that I can motivate YOU in doing Well?as Well.

That is the least that I can do, if I am to achieve something in Life and Thank All those who have Mentored me in Life & Work, Guided me and those who have allowed me this opportunity to Live Life!

There are so many Positive, Therapeutic Hooks in Life which we can hook on to, in order to make ourselves better, achieve more for ourselves, our families and our friends and for Society! Let us use these positives?please.

Be Aware that, while you are taking care of yourself, you are also doing so to help another one in need! This mindset, keeps you going on in Life!

As you know, as we hear, with?monotonous regularity that,?“Life is Boring, Difficult, Depressing” and all that, so much so that even we feel like giving up?on?Life!!!!??

Enjoy Life, every minute, sorry every fraction of a second, for the moment Pico as a fraction of time should?suffice, I need to look up Google for the smaller fractional unit (thank you for your patience, appreciate it!).

You need to Enjoy Life so that You Can, which I am sure of, Will Help Others to Enjoy theirs as well!!! My professional Life is that of being there for another ..

Pain is a fact of Life, let us face it, accept it!?However, if you want to defeat Pain, learn to cope with it, cope with it better, “Cope with It You Can”!

There is so much more in Life to enjoy let us make the most of Life really. You know, it is akin to stating that you should accept, adopt and the adapt your pain to work with you in making your life enjoyable!

Respect pain as an essential fact, an indication to seek medical advice, and then once the necessary medical support stops, ignore it, forever!

You are the Master Controlling Your Life Not Pain, do NOT Become a Slave to Your PAIN! Never ever allow your Pain to control you, you should control your pain!

I say this, and perhaps have a right to say this as you will?appreciate it, I have lived with Pain as well, more with Pain than without Pain, ever since I can remember really. Pain free periods being the rarity and now with an ambient pain level of high pain as the norm! Pain beyond the ambient level of 6, on an arbitrary scale of 1 to 10, moderate to severe to unbearable pain, just points?6 to 10! Interesting isn’t it, an arbitrary method of rating pain! Interesting, as this rating is so specific to an individual with his or her level of tolerance, acceptance of what pain for what it is!

I questioned my doctors jokingly enquiring?as to whether I should now, re-establish, recalibrate my scaling factor and, consider my ambient pain level of?6 as 0 so that I can increase my, pain definition factor from just the 4?existing levels “6 to 10″ scale?to be between 1 to 10 whereby offering an expanded resolution of pain level!!! This would both amuse and confuse the person treating me no end!!! Arbitrary Calibration indeed!!!

I mean, think about it, how else would one know that one has pain, only if one has had no pain-filled periods or has had pain-free periods isn’t it? To know the difference or to know what pain is, it is an unfortunate fact of life that you need?to have suffered and known PAIN!

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Akin to Plato’s definition of Knowledge “To Have Knowledge Of An Incident You Need to Have Witnessed the Incident Yourself!

Good Pain and Bad Pain!

How can we ever differentiate one from the other, they are identical twins! A bit like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde!?

Good Pain being an Indicator of a problem in the body and Bad Pain, perhaps would be the chronicity of continual?Pain!?Never forget that Pain is yet another indicator that you yourself are ALIVE!?

Make the most of your Life with Pain as pain is, and will be your companion for life, as chronic pain! A companion who tells you?that you are alive and, that you, together with your pain, can and will make the most of your life and the lives of those who care for you!

Make light of pain to make the pain lighter!?

In the National Language of India, Hindi, “Safar” means journey or travel. It is pronounced similar to the “Suffer” as in English! Isn’t this funny as well, when you mix the two languages English & Hindi together (a norm in India!) it conveys the same, positive message?“Safar with Suffer” i.e.” Journey On –?Get On With Life, with and through the Pain you have”.

My own experiences have aptly demonstrated this to me, it has been a?Journey “In A World Of Pain” though, however, with Many More, Happier Memories Than The Ones With Pain!!!!

Humour is an essential part of the coping with pain process, it is very easy to slip into depression without realising it. Pain and depression snowball rapidly if not tackled early on, especially depression!

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I Choose to Ignore Pain! My breakfast, lunch and dinner was medicines, so what? More often than not I am unable to eat, I still stay active and move around the house and or outside, movement is essential. Do not stay in one position for more than 30 minutes, move your legs, your body and or just stand up and sit down again, but move about!!!

Believe me, I have been on oral medication for nearly 30 years. The Side Effects of the, Powerful Narcotic-based Opiates "a veritable cocktail of Fentanyl, Morphine, Tramadol, Codeine, Cocodamol, Gabapentin, Pregabalin, Pethidine to just mention a few", Steroids, Analgesics Anti-inflammatories and supporting medicines are far worse than the pain itself in the long run, if one were to think rationally and positively!

Reversing the side effects, the iatrogeny of “Pain & Medicine” combined, is worse, more difficult than reversing the effects of “Just Pain”!

And, I was on these for decades really; however, I could and did manage to work and live my Life.

Yes, I did stop all direct, patient based activities but stayed supporting the process from behind the scenes, so to say!

Jokingly or otherwise, please stay away from Doctors and Medications, you are just filling?the coffers of the medics and the pharmaceutical companies! But of course, they do come in useful at times though!?Don't they?

The important,?crucial?message being that, we should teach ourselves to forget/ignore Pain in order to Enjoy and Share Our Lives With Those Whom We Love and get on with Life usefully!

Also, do bear in mind, there are many who you will come across, who are kind and well-meaning, who come out with statements such, I know Pain as well!

Well-Meaning Statements such as: I have had back pain, toothache, headaches, I have children and felt the pain of childbirth and so on. These comments are in no way undermining your pain, they are just empathising with you!

Also, statements such as I have had surgeries and medications all through and so on; how is your pain different to what I have gone through??

These types of statements & or questions, though well meaning, hopefully (just kidding!), can also "seem hurtful" at the time!?

Just think of it yourself, with a sense of humour, surgeries for example, could mean anything! You may have had implants inserted in you and, yours may have been an open,?three-hour surgical process while the speaker’s surgery could have been a minimally?invasive procedure, with a local anaesthetic and may have?lasted just a few minutes and this is like comparing an elephant to an ant, though a surgery it?still is!

Just listen to these statements, accept them for what they are, well-meaning; never allow yourself to be disturbed or upset by these comments or statements.?

Just accept of these as steps to move forward, hurdles to cross and then, as an additional, new, useful lesson to add to your knowledge bank, "Gyan" i.e. Knowledge!

Learning in Life follows a positive or negative but, closed loop control system with "helpful" feedback to help you! Never to undermine you!

A Homeostatic Process to maintain a balanced ambience within your Body to keep you healthy & fit!

Positive, think positive!

Hope we can Journey Together and that we can make a positive difference to One another, to help cope with Our?Pain!

Just to add some more spice to Life when one is down in Life we do have to also live with Humanity, good and different!

Due to the fact that I to work away from another department in Healthcare, I had to face & cross hurdles such as, petty actions, alleged wrongs, colleagues ignoring me, ostracising me, undermining me, destroying my job prospects maliciously, destroying my credibility, professional & personal … oh there are many who will have had their “sad pleasures”.

Fair enough, they are just human as well! I wish them well!

As if these were not enough, I had to then, cross to further hurdles “2 Heart Attacks” one followed by the next within a span of 4 weeks!

It was like taking one step forwards but being back a couple .... move forward I have & will for as long as I live, being useful to others, especially those in need!

This is a powerful motive to overcome Pain of course and even harder hurdles as well!

Crossed those Hurdles as well! Live Life I will! Staying True to my Family, Friends & my Profession by being there for others, I will!

That there are many conventional & alternative forms of treatment + management + Coping Alternatives today, is but a given!

I will try and continue on writing these in the Pages to come ... please bear with me!

In the meanwhile, please Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Stay Well & Stay HAPPY guys?....

#Pain #Cure # Power to Heal #Within You #Coping #Positive Thinking # Motivation #Humour #Alternative Medicine #Meditation #HolisticHealth #SelfCare

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