Chronic back pain causes are often misunderstood by both doctors and patients alike. This is because most purely structural back pain can be the result of many processes, but most often heals on its own or with proper treatment. So why doesn’t chronic discomfort follow this expected pattern?
Chronic pain conditions are a completely different matter. These long lasting and recurrent symptoms go on and on for months, years or even whole lifetimes. Chronic back pain is a nightmare to endure and can turn life into a perpetual cycle of misery, frustration, disappointment and suffering. Chronic pain is the greatest failure of the modern medical system. Patients are, almost without exception, mishandled and mistreated, leading many to suffer needlessly, endlessly and without hope. Many even turn to suicide to escape their eternal ordeals of torment.
This discussion explores the reasons why back pain might become a chronic health issue.
Anatomical Chronic Back Pain Causes
There are some physical reasons for long lasting back pain to occur. Severe injuries can leave substantial damage in their wake. Sometimes, the damage is too extensive to fully repair. These conditions are rare, but they do occur. If this is your reality, my heart goes out to you. Never give up. There are new technologies developing daily that might be the answer to your pain question.
Remember too that many invasive treatments for back injury are actually the true perpetuators of pain, rather than the initial injury itself. I see this often in cases of emergency spinal fusion and other drastic procedures.
Certain degenerative processes and diseases can also set the stage for chronic pain to exist. Once again, these circumstances are rare and do not account for more than a small percentage of all patients with extreme chronic back pain. Most typical degenerative concerns are known to be mostly asymptomatic or only produce mild grade symptoms on occasion.
Structurally-induced pain responds well to appropriate physical treatment. Maybe one back pain treatment might work better than another, but within a few tries, the care provider should be able to cure your physical pain successfully. If this is not your reality, then your pain may not not physically induced. This is far more typical than the average patient might think.
Psychosomatic Chronic Back Pain Causes
Medicine is a trusted science. If doctors tell us that our pain is due to (fill in your diagnosis), we tend to believe them. After all, they are doctors.
Psychosomatic back pain carries a heavy stigma and is greatly misunderstood. Most people associate psychological phenomenon with mental problems and personality disorders. The reality is exactly the opposite. Psychosomatic pain is universal with the only variable factors being severity, location and duration of the symptoms. Ever had a headache or upset stomach from stress? I rest my case here.
Some patients do not take time to learn or question. They follow blindly like sheep to the slaughter. It is crucial to learn why the clinical picture of your pain may not correspond to the symptoms expected from your diagnosis.
Insurance companies, and society in general, think of physical problems as a normal part of life, while psychological conditions are considered abnormal, unacceptable and most of all, denied for coverage, compassion or treatment. Like it or not, some long-term pain syndromes are the direct result of a psychological process. The mind can create the pain, perpetuate the pain or end the pain. I have seen this occur countless times, including all three in my own chronic lumbar back pain experience.
Real Causes of Chronic Back Pain
In closing, here are some possible things to consider about the nature of your back ache. These may not apply to all, but certainly do have validity for many of you reading. I hope they provide something for you to think about and discuss next time you meet with your doctor:
Yes, you injured your back. Yes, it hurt. Yes, it got better. Somehow the pain remains even though the injury has healed. The injury may have acted as a trigger for the psychosomatic pain to begin. However, no one told you the truth of this scenario.
Yes, you have a (insert diagnosis here…for example herniated disc, arthritis, etc). Yes, it leaves anatomical evidence that it exists. No, it does not cause pain. It is normal. We all have these abnormalities to one degree or another. No one told you the truth of this scenario.
Yes, your pain has been blamed on (insert diagnosis here). Yes, you tried all the treatments with no success. Yes, you still have pain. You continue to try more treatments and are ready to have back surgery to finally fix your failing spine. However, your spine is basically normal. No one ever told you the truth of this scenario.
You are one of the unfortunate few who have been truly permanently damaged by disease or injury, or the treatments for said disease or injury. You have pain which the body can not resolve on its own. It is sad, but it does happen in extreme scenarios.
These are the most common chronic back pain causes. You may have been led down the wrong path and are now having a hard time turning around to go the right way. It is not your fault. However,you may still be able to find relief. Learn the facts for yourself. Apply those facts to your own pain condition. I am sure you will finally see through the smoke and mirrors used by many in the back pain industry to perpetuate treatment.
You can be pain-free. All you might have to do is stop believing the myths and start learning the truth. Start by understanding the chronic back pain causes which really do affect you.
