Persisting pain can be isolating.
It can feel like a dark place at times that you aren’t really sure how to navigate your way out of. It pervades every part of life. It becomes the thing that you have to evaluate in every decision that you make.
Do I go shopping? Will a car trip make me worse? Will trying to get the shopping out of the trolley and onto the conveyer quick enough for the Aldi checkout person bring me unstuck? How will I go packing it all myself? Would Coles be any easier? My pain feels a bit worse now just thinking about it….. I’ll shop online.
Perhaps none of us mind getting out of the shopping. But what about if it is your daughter’s performance at school assembly next week? Will you be OK next week to go? What about sitting on hard plastic chairs in a cold school hall? What if you have to park a long way away and walk up all those steps into the hall? It was bad for 2 days after the last school assembly. Should you limit what you are doing this weekend to make sure you don’t do anything that might stir you up? Do you find yourself anxious now about next week and worrying about whether your pain will let you get there?
It is easy to become very focused on every movement and activity and whether that has potential to aggravate pain. The problem with second guessing every activity and being hyper-vigilant about every movement is that ultimately it leads to less activity. You get a bit more de-conditioned, a little less flexible, a little more stiff, a little more worried that you will do something that increases pain, a bit more tuned in to listening for any hint of pain. You participate in less. You miss out. The pain comes on a bit earlier next time for those reasons…and the cycle goes around.
Something has to change. Certainly not an easy thing to do – but it requires a conscious decision and subsequent action. It requires both a physical and mental approach.