Chronic Pain: My Healing Journey through complementary alternative medicine
For those of you who live with chronic pain, and for those of you who don’t, here’s my experience and perspective.
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Important note about my stories and experiences and perceptions… Everyone's experience is different. The same two people sitting in the same room with the same temperature, etc having the same conversation with each other are going to have two very different perspectives and experiences from each other even though they are in the same experience and environment. Every single person views their life and experiences based on their history of experiences and perception. So, in other words, my story is not your story, nor should my story be compared to your story. I’m also giving brief snapshots in time that are based on my ever-changing perspective. I’m not the same person today as I was yesterday. As I obtain new information and have new experiences, I alter my perspective and actions based on that new information. My goal in sharing my stories, experiences and perspectives comes from a pure desire to connect, help someone else who might be struggling with something similar feel less alone, and hopefully share my knowledge and resources. With Love & Kindness, your New Beginnings Nurse
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I have struggled with chronic pain for more years than I ever thought at the age of thirty-eight. I definitely never thought I would be writing about my chronic pain journey and all the ups and downs and struggles. But here we are. I don’t know the true source or cause of my perceived pain, but we’ll start with a little dive into our pain history, well back pain history specifically. Yesterday was a hard day navigating Rocky’s care, but my chronic pain took hold and that is what is speaking to me to write about today.
I don’t specifically know when my chronic back pain began or what the original source was, but we’ll talk about what I do know. I’m TALL. I’m above average height for a woman; 6 feet 1.25 inches. Matter of fact I was 5 feet 9 inches tall by the time I was in the fourth grade. I remember periods of time where I wasn’t physically able to walk because of how painful the growth spurts were. I remember at age eleven my mom took me to Sizzler (my request) for my birthday and she took my birth certificate because at the time “kids under 12 eat for $0.99” but due to my height no one believed my age. Also, I loved Sizzler and I’m pretty sure I ate significantly more than even adults were capable of, but I mean, come on; Sizzler all you can eat bar with all you can eat soft serve and toppings!? Of course that’s where I wanted to celebrate all the things through food. And I digress…point being I have been tall for basically ever haha.
Chronic Pain Defined: Pain that lasts more than several months (variously defined as 3 to 6 months, but longer than “normal healing”) (Chronic Pain: What You Need To Know, 2023)
My Pain History
As all stories seem to begin, my pain didn’t start out being consistently chronic. I remember the accident best I can being almost twenty years later. I was living in Southern California and driving to work early in the morning. I worked for the Humane Society at the time and knew less frequented back roads to get to work without traffic. On this particular day I had also been driving my Aunt’s car as I didn’t have one of my own at the time. There was a car in front of me and at least one car behind me in the lane that we were driving on a four-lane highway. We were about to go through an intersection when the light turned yellow. As soon as the light turned yellow, the car in front of me SLAMMED on their breaks. The car in front of me stopped so quickly that when their car finally stopped completely, they were part way in the intersection; in other words, we had the safe ability to pass through the intersection before the light would’ve turned red. I was thankfully at a safe distance from that car in front of me that allowed me to stop with enough distance between me and the car in front of me. However, the cars behind me did not have that ability. The first car slammed into the back of my car, and then not realizing there was a second car, I felt an additional impact that pushed the car behind me up under my car and then pushed me forward into the car stopped in front of me.
After the accident I had a lot of pain all over but definitely in my lower back. I didn’t end up going to the ER mostly because that felt stressful at my age at the time. I spent so much of my youth in hospital and getting procedures (a story for another time) that I’ve had an increasing tendency to avoid traditional healthcare options maybe because I’m burnt out? Is that possible? Which is ironic considering I changed careers from Finance and Management Consulting to become a Registered Nurse. And I digress…I made an appointment at an urgent care clinic (I didn’t have a PCP at the time), and they started me on physical therapy. Since teenage years, and due to my genetics/red hair, I was made aware that pharmaceutical pain management is not a good option for me. I tend to require very high amounts of pain medication to be effective (including a higher tolerance for general anesthesia according to my past anesthesiologists and waking up in the middle of procedures); therefore, opiates aren’t a good solution because I would require increased amounts and as we know, they can be highly addictive regardless of the long list of side effects.
After the accident there’s maybe only one or two different events that I can specifically remember where I may have further injured my back, but my guess is that many of my current issues stemmed from that original accident. It’s also a little hard to remember when my pain became “chronic,” but my chronic pain has gotten progressively worse since changing careers to become a Registered Nurse. Since the accident the periods of chronic pain have escalated to the point where I haven’t had a completely pain-free day in years, that I can remember. It feels so deflating to change your career of almost fifteen years, and after five years at the bedside, the pain was so debilitating that I was having difficulty just walking.
Complementary Alternative Therapies
Chronic pain eats away at you in many different ways, can affect your relationships, and in general affects your will to live. I know that sounds extreme, but that is reality for many chronic pain sufferers. So, what can you do if you’re living with chronic pain? Here are some tips I’ve learned that have helped me manage my pain over the years:
Talk to your providers about your diagnoses and cause of your chronic pain. What are your options? GET A SECOND OPINION. I know the health care landscape can be exhausting, but if you have the opportunity, try and get a second opinion about your pain management and course.
Pain management: Medication and pharmacological treatments aren’t your only tools to fight the pain!
Complementary providers: “A growing body of evidence suggests that some complementary approaches, such as acupuncture, hypnosis, massage, mindfulness meditation, music-based interventions, spinal manipulation, tai chi, qigong, and yoga, may help to manage some painful conditions.” (Chronic Pain: What You Need To Know, 2023)
Massage: “Therapeutic massage may relieve pain by way of several mechanisms, including relaxing painful muscles, tendons, and joints; relieving stress and anxiety; and possibly helping to “close the pain gate” by stimulating competing nerve fibers and impeding pain messages to and from the brain.” (Therapeutic Massage for Pain Relief, 2016)
Meditation (Guided or Individual): “mindfulness meditation improves pain and depression symptoms and quality of life” (Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, 2017)
Reiki/Energy Healing: “For patients with chronic health conditions, Reiki has been found to be more effective than placebo for reducing pain, anxiety, and depression, and for improving self-esteem and quality of life.” (Reiki Is Better Than Placebo and Has Broad Potential as a Complementary Health Therapy, 2017)
Acupuncture: “acupuncture has a clinically relevant, persistent effect on chronic pain that is not completely explained by placebo effects. Referral for a course of acupuncture treatment is therefore a reasonable option for a patient with chronic pain.” (Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Update of an Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis, 2017)
You are not alone!
Again, you are not alone; I’ve tried SO MANY complementary and alternative medicine options throughout the course of my pain management journey. So what has worked best for me? A combination of the above, yoga/stretching, and yes, I also obtain Reiki treatments. For regular pain management maintenance, when I have the ability although infrequent, I try to schedule a chiropractic appointment, followed by a 60-90 minute therapeutic massage, followed by a 45-min or longer Reiki treatment. I try to do all three at least 1x/month. I’ve also completed physical therapy and my most recent provider specialized in pilates, and although I’m unable to purchase a personal pilates reformer, it was suggested that I try a rower machine. I love our rower! I do have some modifications as well as a back brace that I use per advice, but it gets me moving when I’m not able to get outside and I thoroughly enjoy the workouts. I do still live with chronic pain, but I’m feeling better and like it’s more manageable in recent months with my consistency of regular complementary alternative therapies. Today is better than yesterday, and for that I will always be grateful. The hard days do still come (literally yesterday), and sometimes they come more frequently than I would like, but that is when I reassess my self-care. Am I taking the best care of myself that I have the ability to do? The eternal question in my pain management journey…
Trust your gut and follow your heart! If you’re looking for a New Beginning on your health journey, today is a great day to start! Most importantly, you’re not alone, and at the very least, please reach out to me, your New Beginnings Nurse, your friends/family, your medical providers, your mental health providers, and/or anyone you feel comfortable with! There’s always a New Beginning around the corner that can be life changing and improve your quality of life!
With Love & Kindness, your New Beginnings Nurse
References
Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Update of an Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis. (2017,
December 30). Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1526590017307800
Chronic Pain: What You Need To Know. (2023, January). National Center for Complementary
and Integrative Health. Retrieved March 18, 2023, from https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/chronic-pain-what-you-need-to-know
Chronic Pain: What You Need To Know. (2023, January). National Center for Complementary
and Integrative Health. Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/chronic-pain-what-you-need-to-know
Mindfulness Meditation for Chronic Pain: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. (2017, December
30). Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://academic.oup.com/abm/article/51/2/199/4564147
Reiki Is Better Than Placebo and Has Broad Potential as a Complementary Health Therapy. (2017,
December 30). Retrieved March 24, 2023, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2156587217728644
Therapeutic massage for pain relief. (2016, July 1). Harvard Health. Retrieved March 24, 2023,
from https://www.health.harvard.edu/alternative-and-integrative-health/therapeutic-massage-for-pain-relief
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