How to Live with Chronic Back Pain

Living with chronic back pain is sometimes difficult and always challenging. I was hit from behind in 1999. I was delivering an SUV to a car dealership, and had slowed down to take the exit, when a small pickup hit me at about 65 miles per hour. My vehicle was forced into the car in front of me, that car hit the next car and so forth. The seat broke backwards, and from that time on I have lived with back pain.

I had ended up with damaged disks in my lower back and neck. At first I did not think I had been hurt badly, but after some time, my back would "go out" as I put it. I would move the wrong way and be in excruciating pain. I was unable to do the simplest things, such as tying my shoes.

I finally went to my doctor and was soon sent to have an MRI done. The damage turned out to be a tear in the outer part of one of the disks between two vertebra. At that time the only treatment I got was pain meds and bed rest.

I was able to go back to work after a while, but son the pain forced me back to bed rest. Eventually I got to the point where I could no longer work, and after jumping through hoops which included various Pain Management procedures, I ended up on disability.

I never know what my day will be like until I wake up. I have gone from taking a vitamin every day to taking seven different medications to deal with the chronic pain. Pain pills, muscle relaxers, pills to keep my stomach from being affected by the pain meds, pills to fight the constipation from the pain meds. I was barely 40 when this started, and by 50 felt like an old man.

You learn to pace yourself; I have to remember not to sit for very long. I have a timer I run on my computer to tell me to get up and move. You need to learn what you can and cannot do.

Periodically I get asked by my doctors if I am feeling depressed. Depression is a possibility when you have a chronic condition. I will admit to feelings of anger from time to time. Anger that my body has betrayed me, and that I can't do what I once did. If you get depressed or have problems dealing with having chronic back pain, seek help. Anti-depressants are not necessarily a bad thing.

You also need to learn to ask for help form people around you. This s a problem I have. My wife also has a chronic condition, which makes it even harder for me to ask her to do things that I can't do sometimes. Fortunately for us, usually one of us is doing better than the other. So I have had to learn to swallow my pride and ask her for help.

The main thing to do with chronic back pain is to understand that you can survive it. There are procedures that may help. Give them an honest chance. You can get devices to help you do things without making your back hurt worse. A reacher is a very handy tool. This is a device that you can use to pick things up off the floor without bending. You can find one at Wal-Mart or Target, or most drug stores.

Also, there are support groups out there. Find them, and talk to other people that are going through the same thing.

Support and a positive attitude is the key to dealing with any chronic condition. If anyone reading this needs to talk to someone who is in the same boat, please feel free to contact me. You are not alone.