No matter if you’ve lived with chronic lower back pain for 1 year or 10, there are certain experiences that most lower back pain sufferers have in common.
The type of pain and the location of your lower back pain will help your doctor form a treatment plan.
See Lumbar Spine Anatomy and Pain
Here are four experiences that help sum up living with chronic lower back pain—and we hope you’ll share this list with your friends and family so they can better understand your condition.
Unfortunately, chronic lower back pain doesn’t keep to your schedule—so you’re often jarred awake by your pain during the middle of the night. Not only is this a frustrating experience, but it can also make your pain worse. That is, your chronic lower back pain
Certain nights are better than others—but one of your biggest desires is for a few nights of uninterrupted sleep.
See Sleep Aids for People with Chronic Pain
This next experience can feel embarrassing. After a few hours of sitting around a table with friends, you find that you can’t stand up—at least not right away. Going from a prolonged sitting position to a standing position can cause excruciating pain, and you often need a few minutes to loosen up your muscles before you can leave a chair.
Back Muscles and Low Back Pain
You’re sometimes worried that people think you can’t stand up because you’re lazy or out of shape. But the fact of the matter is that you struggle to stand up because of a condition that is beyond your control.
Watch Causes of Lower Back Pain Video
Your friends and family might mean well, but they can be all too eager to proclaim that you’ve been cured. In fact, it seems like every time they catch you smiling or laughing they assume that you no longer struggle with chronic lower back pain.
Types of Back Pain: Acute Pain, Chronic Pain, and Neuropathic Pain
But you know that the truth is some days are simply better than others. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it, but on Monday you might feel mostly pain free—and on Tuesday you can barely get out of bed. Also, you don’t allow your pain to dictate your mood—so a smile doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re pain free.
Depression and Chronic Back Pain
Sometimes it feels like you spend more time at the doctor’s office than in your own home. You’ve seen all kinds of specialists—surgeons, physiatrists, physical therapists—and you’re on a first name basis with most of them at this point.
See Specialists Who Treat Back Pain
You’re not a hypochondriac, and you certainly don’t like spending time at the doctor’s. But between diagnosing and treating your chronic lower back pain, doctor’s visits are simply a consistent part of your life.
See Diagnosing Lower Back Pain
I hope all of the experiences described above will help your friends and family better understand the reality of living with chronic lower back pain.
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