by Anthony Megna

Created on: June 02, 2008   Last Updated: May 24, 2012

Chronic pain is a serious medical issue!

Chronic pain entered my life in my twenties. It was very light at first, and the pain usually began in my neck and traveled down into my upper left back. It would come and go, and I just shrugged it off as an old football injury. But as I got older, it got worse. I am now in my fifties and am on disability. In my late forties, I couldn't take the pain anymore, had just got laid off from my job, and decided to go to the doctor and find out what the hell is wrong with me.

I took all the tests, and found out that I suffer from a mixture of spinal stenosis, degenerative discs, and spondyliosis. There are other complicated medical terms, but basically this was my pain issue. I went to a pain specialist and went through steroid injections to build up this area. It would work for a couple of weeks or so, then I would be back to my old painful self. Surgery is an option, but the risks are great and I could come out worse. At least I can walk now. Does this sound like a mental issue? I think not.

I am now on 100 milligrams of Fentanyl in a patch form. Stick this patch on your back and the medication enters through your skin. It is quite effective, and I change the patch every two days. That is round-the-clock pain treatment, but sometimes that is not enough. For my breakthrough pain, I have 15 milligrams of Oxycodone.

I don't know about you, but to me this sounds like a medical issue. I have the facts to prove it. I wish I didn't, but I do. This is not fun. Right now, the combination I am on has enabled me to at least live a somewhat normal life, but the pain will always be with me unless some miracle cure comes along.

I am sure there are cases where there are some sort of psychosomatic issues with patients who complain about chronic pain, but I am not one of them. This is a new frontier in medicine, as we know very little about what really causes the pain and what overall effects the body suffers from. The human body can manufacture it's own pain drug, but that is for brief instances. Actually, it is quite fascinating when you study this area.

I try to exercise as much as I can, even though it can hurt every once in a while. But if I don't move, I will freeze up. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, but the meds do help. They are actually miracle drugs, and I would be really screwed without them.

Chronic pain is an area where a lot of research is going on now. I hope new and different treatments come out soon, as I will be the first in line.

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