What happens when it is not visible?

Pain is a timeless entity. The Greeks spoke about this and so have the Indians. If you get hurt, you do first aid. Everyone sees your bruise, they feel sorry for you and you even get a “ get well soon card”. What happens when it is not visible? Does it not hurt? Say hello to chronic pain. Invisible, secretive, unending. Never leaves you alone. It has had many definitions. Although most definitions do try to cover most aspects we fail to imbibe the frustration that tags along.

As we go on with our daily activities it becomes difficult when we are faced with something that cannot be seen, explained, or understood. This debilitating and incessant pain can affect our lives. Loss of work efficiency, inability to do what you like, an impending sense of weariness not to mention the loss of social life and big bills thanks to the pills that you need to pop in.

The issue with our dear chronic pain is that it is very personal. Everyone has their own story. It becomes problematic not just because it lasts for almost all your life it also exists for the people in your life. It affects your job, disrupts routine, relationships, and family. The frustration sometimes is not just the pain but also coping with it, not able to get rid of it and the inability of anyone to understand it, sometimes even by doctors.

So, how do we break it down? How do we understand it? Chronic pain is like Rubik’s cube. It takes time to solve and get the perfect combination but it eventually happens. Being aware of its existence is a precursor to solving this mystery. There are a lot of facets to chronic pain. It is an amalgamation of genetics, gender, age, comorbidities, environment, mental wellness, injuries that are both old and new, pains due to repetitive stress, malnutrition to name a few. It is interesting to know that chronic pain is just one of the many manifestations of how our body reacts. It is almost to say it is a new age symptom of a very old issue.

To solve any puzzle we need tools like awareness, endurance, knowledge, and most of all patience. This blog explores and discovers methods to help us get through it. Awareness and knowing one's condition is itself therapeutic. All we need to do is use this to empower ourselves to handle chronic pain.