My Support Forums - View Single Post - An Open Letter To Those That Treat Chronic Pain Sufferers ...

Chrain · Dec 03, 2018 at 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pfrog

Dear Practitioner(s):

I know that y'all are the "professionals", however, the very next one of you that tells me to be more active or to get more exercise is likely to get the ever living @#$%! slapped right out of you!

If you only knew how discompassionate this advice is and how utterly stupid you sound when you say it to me ... Maybe I need to tell you exactly that the next time you offer this advice.

Do you actually think that I enjoy not being able to do the things I love and used to be able to do (nature walks, vigorous hikes, fishing, etc.), or just how badly I grieve the loss of them because it simply hurts too much to engage in them anymore?

I've learned to manage my usual pain levels (3-5 on a daily basis), but even just 20-30 minutes of light to moderate activity sends my pain levels spiking anywhere from a 7-9 to right off your effing "what's your number" pain chart, not to mention totally knocking me out for a day or two afterwards!

So eff your "be more active and get more exercise" advice, thank you very much!

It saddens me to know that even those we pay to "help" us cannot even begin to fathom what it is like to live with chronic pain as they, themselves, do not suffer with it.

With all that being said, nobody's going to get slapped, nor do I wish this kind of pain on anyone so they could understand what it's like to live with it.

I just needed to ventilate is all ... Thanks for listening!

Practitioner here,
First off I equally despise the 0-10 scale, however we are pretty much forced to use it. We are asked to objectify a very subjective experience and there isn't many alternatives that are considered acceptable.

In terms of the need for exercise. It is true that is beneficial and will help. I Definitely understand your frustration with the difficulty exercising. It's not an uncommon problem. However I will commonly stress the importance of exercise because it is important and not just for pain reasons. Where I think some practioners go wrong is that they have unrealistic expectations of exercise and demonstrate a lack of empathy on why it may be so difficult.
I only mention it because most likely the practioner working with you has you best interest in mind, they just need to improve their approach.
Thanks for your feedback
Chrain