The Consequences of Chronic Pain

Chronic pain causes an ongoing “terrible triad” of pain, sleep loss, and depression.  There is another vicious cycle that challenges many people with chronic pain.  When a person is in pain, even gentle exercise may make the pain worse.  So, he stops exercising.  Without exercise, muscles weaken and joints and ligaments stiffen, leading to more pain.  The increased pain makes it even harder to exercise.  The result of this cycle is loss of mobility.

If mobility is lost for an extended time, people with chronic pain can develop a number of other problems, such as:

• Less stamina and endurance for every day activities.
• Increased pain due to tense, shortened nerve fibers.
• Osteoporosis.
• Poor posture.
• Weight gain.
• Poor balance leading to a greater risk of falling.
• Bad digestion and irritable bowel problems.
• Poor wound healing.

That’s bad, right?  But, there’s more.  When chronic pain continues untreated (or under-treated), the person is at risk for:

• Insomnia.
• Atrophy of the brain at twice the normal rate.
• Hormone imbalances.
• Sexual dysfunction.
• Incontinence.
• A weakened immune system, putting the person at risk for infection.
• And, of course, needless suffering.

You can see why it is so important for the healthcare team to find an effective way to control a client’s chronic pain.