Despite What Your Doctor Says, Your Chronic Pain Isn’t All in Your Head
If we had to make a list of ailments that are neglected the most by Canada’s various healthcare systems, chronic pain would likely be at the top of the list.
The issue of chronic pain has been heavily politicized in this country, not least because of the concerns surrounding opioid painkillers, and it’s gotten to the point where a lot of doctors just simply won’t take on chronic pain patients.
To be fair, their pain is hard to treat, tough to diagnose, and prescribing medications that offer effective pain relief for patients can result in doctors being investigated, or in extreme cases, having their licenses revoked.
That being said, it’s no wonder that many doctors are hesitant to help chronic pain patients.
At the same time, many doctors tend not to believe patients who claim to have chronic pain, especially if they don’t have some sort of wound or other visible issues to which the pain can be attributed.
Sadly, in these situations, one of the most common responses from doctors is that the pain is all in the patient’s head, and there’s actually nothing wrong with them.
Even our founder, Dr. Dheshnie, who suffers from chronic pain herself, has had a doctor tell her this.
And to top it all off, many of the most effective treatments for chronic pain are very expensive, and often, they’re not covered by our healthcare systems, so patients are forced to pay out of pocket or go without chronic pain treatment if they can’t afford it.
Now, if Canadians with chronic pain only made up some tiny minority, then it would be easier to understand this state of affairs, but the truth is, a huge chunk of Canada’s population has chronic pain.
According to a survey from Angus Reid, one out of every three Canadian adults is dealing with pain that’s lasted more than three months, and one in five is living with “significant chronic pain”.
As you can see from the graph below, the survey goes on to paint quite a depressing picture of chronic pain patients in Canada, with 64 per cent of respondents who experience ongoing pain saying, “if they could afford to pay for more of the available treatments offered, their discomfort and quality of life would be improved.”
Moreover, 37 per cent of respondents with severe pain say they’ve had difficulty accessing prescription pain medication “because of their doctor’s or the healthcare system’s concerns about addiction and abuse”.
What’s more, 83 per cent of respondents who experience “significant ongoing pain” say it “prevents them from doing regular activities,” more than half say it exacerbates their anxiety and depression, and 23 per cent say they’ve experienced the feeling that “life isn’t worth living.”
As you can see from these statistics, if you’re struggling to get proper treatment for your chronic pain in Canada, you’re not alone.
And there can’t possibly be this many people imagining their chronic pain or lying to doctors to get narcotics, which shows just how absurd it is to believe that the claims of chronic pain patients can’t be trusted.
That being said, despite what your doctor might say, more than likely, your chronic pain is not all in your head.
So, if you suffer from chronic pain, and you’re struggling to get proper treatment, then you’re going to want to keep reading.
Because in this article, we’re going to go into even more detail on chronic pain, explore some of the experiences of our founder, Dr. Dheshnie, and talk about something that can help you to escape the cycle of chronic pain by taking your health into your own hands.
What Is Chronic Pain?
I know it might seem silly to define chronic pain in an article geared toward chronic pain sufferers, but there is a significant amount of confusion as to what actually constitutes chronic pain, so it’s important that we define it.
Chronic pain is defined as any pain that persists for longer than three months.
It’s often characterized as a persistent or recurrent pain that can be difficult to treat, and manage, and can have a significant impact on a person’s quality of life, physical function, and emotional well-being.
Chronic pain can result from a variety of causes, including injury, illness, nerve damage, and inflammation, and it can affect any part of the body.
Some common types of chronic pain include back pain, headaches, neuropathic pain, and fibromyalgia.
What Does It Mean to Have Chronic Pain?
Aside from the definition of chronic pain, it’s important to point out that once you’ve experienced persistent pain for three months or more, in the medical field, your ailment is now considered to be pathological, which means you have a disease.
Unfortunately, due to doctors’ lack of understanding of chronic pain, typically, this is not how things are explained to patients.
More importantly, we see a lot of discussion about the effect of lifestyle changes, for instance, on other diseases, but when it comes to pain, and how to manage it in the long term, it’s not really discussed.
But as with any disease, whether it’s hypertension, diabetes, or something else entirely, often there’s no way to get rid of 100 per cent of your pain, and this is something that every chronic pain patient should know.
At the same time, it’s just as important for people with chronic pain to understand that if they want to manage their pain, there are many things they can do, even if their doctor is not willing to help.
But we’ll get into that a bit more in a minute.
Dr. Dheshnie’s Chronic Pain
As we already mentioned, our founder, Dr. Dheshnie Thangavelu, suffers from chronic pain herself.
After sustaining several occupational injuries, getting hurt in a car wreck, and being diagnosed with hypermobility syndrome, she’s been dealing with chronic pain for more than a decade.
That being said, unlike most doctors, and even pain “specialists” in this country, Dr. Dheshnie knows what it’s like to live with chronic pain, and she’s experienced firsthand how bad things are for chronic pain patients in Canada.
For example, a few years ago, Dr. Dheshnie was forced to see a specific doctor as a requirement for her disability insurance, and this anecdote offers a poignant reminder of the complete lack of understanding and compassion for patients with chronic pain.
The doctor whom she had to see was located in Burnaby, B.C., which was about 45 minutes away by car.
At the time, having to drive this distance was excruciating for Dr. Dheshnie, but there was literally no other option available, so she had no choice but to drive there anyway.
Not only was she in severe pain the whole time she was driving, but she was also experiencing numbness in three of her limbs, to the point where she had to stop by the side of the road multiple times because she couldn’t feel her right foot.
And after going through all this, the doctor she saw was still unable to help her with her pain.
Not long after this incident, Dr. Dheshnie became so frustrated that she eventually decided to stop seeing these doctors and so-called pain specialists and just do her own thing instead.
If you’d like to learn more about Dr. Dheshnie’s experiences with chronic pain, you can check out our article, Suffering from Chronic Pain or Know Someone Who Is? Here’s What You Need to Know.
Taking Your Health Into Your Own Hands
Luckily for Dr. Dheshnie, she’s quite well-equipped to deal with these issues without anyone’s help.
But unfortunately, there are many Canadians in similar situations who don’t have a medical degree and are basically left to their own devices.
That being said, if there’s one thing Dr. Dheshnie has learned over the years, it’s that if you have chronic pain, you’re probably going to have to take your health into your own hands.
Because the reality is doctors in this country are not qualified to treat patients with chronic pain.
The truth is doctors do not learn about chronic pain in medical school, and the only time they’ll even hear about it is if they choose to do a residency as an anesthesiologist like Dr. Dheshnie did.
If you study sports medicine, some courses will cover chronic pain, but those degrees aren’t even recognized in Canada.
So, truth be told, anesthesiologists are the only physicians in this country who are qualified to treat chronic pain, and oftentimes, they’re not even the ones running the pain clinics.
Simultaneously, the way healthcare is structured in Canada, doctors are pressured to see as many patients as possible, and so they’re usually only willing to give each patient ten minutes of their time per visit, which isn’t anywhere near the amount of time it would take to help someone with chronic pain.
Dr. Dheshnie’s Pain Mindset Bootcamp
After years of intense research, looking into every possible chronic pain treatment, and trying many of them out on herself, Dr. Dheshnie has been able to significantly reduce her pain, proving that it’s totally possible to take care of these things yourself.
However, Dr. Dheshnie is well aware of how daunting this can be, especially for those who haven’t gone to medical school, and with that in mind, she’s decided to share what she’s learned with fellow chronic pain sufferers through her Pain Mindset Bootcamp.
This bootcamp will cover everything chronic pain patients need to know to take their health into their own hands, including:
- How mastering your emotions can reduce your pain
- How to reduce pain by regulating your nervous system
- Traditional treatments, including medications, massage, and physiotherapy
- Non-traditional treatments, such as acupuncture, Botox, cupping, and sound healing
For more details on Dr. Dheshnie’s Pain Mindset Bootcamp, please contact us.
Are you looking for a doctor who actually understands your chronic pain? Contact us to book a free consultation or schedule your treatment today.