Those of us who suffer from chronic pain know what it is like to wake up each morning and wonder what kind of day we will have. 

Will it be a good day or a bad one? 

Will we be able to do everything we need to do, or will the pain keep us from carrying out our daily tasks? 

Living with such uncertainty is incredibly challenging. It is so challenging, in fact, that it can have strong physiological effects on our bodies. 

The Physiological Effects of Chronic Pain Include: 

  • Difficulty sleeping 
  • Changes in mood, such as depression or irritability 
  • Stiffness and a loss of flexibility from lack of movement 
  • Pain in the muscles or joints 
  • Anxiety 
  • Fatigue 

Recognize any of those? 

How Do These Chronic Pain Symptoms Impact Our Daily Lives?  

Each of us has daily tasks and commitments that we are responsible for. When we are suffering from the physiological effects of chronic pain, it can make it far more difficult to take care of those responsibilities and tasks. 

Nobody wants to go to work when they have only had a couple of hours of sleep. Too many chronic pain sufferers know what it feels like to toss and turn all night, struggling to find a sleep position that doesn’t aggravate the pain they have been dealing with all day. 

Sometimes even just the act of lying down can hurt, because our muscles or joints have become stiff and tense. We all need movement to stay flexible, yet movement can be limited for those who experience chronic pain. It can feel like a catch-22 sometimes. 

 

Changes in Mood

One of the biggest physiological effects of chronic pain is a change in mood. It is easy to feel depressed when you are suffering in silence and trying to put on a brave face for the outside world. Many of us don’t want to bother our loved ones by complaining, so we try to just soldier through. It makes our inner world lonely when those around us cannot truly understand what we are dealing with on a daily basis. 

In a 2014 study published in the Journal of Pain Research, researchers discovered just how overwhelming chronic pain can be to us physiologically. Nearly half of the 1,000 chronic pain sufferers they studied said that they had at some point struggled with depression. Another 1 in 4 reported the same for anxiety. 

It is not hard to understand why mood disorders often go hand-in-hand with chronic pain. After all, it is difficult to smile when every task is impaired by debilitating pain. Every movement might be met with punishment, as though you were a prisoner in your own body. 

There is good news, though. You no longer have to suffer alone. You no longer have to suffer in silence. You no longer have to suffer, period. 

 

What MidSouth Pain Treatment Center Can Do to Help

At MidSouth Pain Treatment Center, we understand chronic pain, and we have the skills necessary to address it. We never make a blanket diagnosis with any of our patients. We realize that there are many different types of chronic pain and that it is important for our skilled providers to use their expertise to address your specific needs. We treat each of our patients with individuality and customized service. 

Did you know that MidSouth Pain Treatment Center is recognized by the Memphis Business Journal as a Top Surgery Center? We truly mean it when we tell our patients, “You don’t have to live with your pain.” 

We have a variety of treatment options to directly address your individual chronic pain management needs. They include, but are not limited to: 

Here, we realize that once your chronic pain has prompted you to reach out for help, that pain is already unbearable. That is why we do our absolute best to schedule you as soon as possible. We cannot stand the thought of our patients being in pain. This is why, in addition to making ourselves available for last-minute appointments, we also have clinics across the Mid–South, in both Tennessee and Mississippi. When you need us, we are there for you. 

If you relate to any of the physiological effects discussed above, then it is time for you to make one of the most important phone calls you will ever make. 

Find a Midsouth Pain Treatment Center branch near you in Tennessee and Mississipi by calling us at (866) 707-1942 to get a treatment plan in place so that chronic pain no longer defines your days.