How Chronic Pain Affects Your Overall Health

When you’re in pain, you are not able to fully be yourself. Dealing with the effects of chronic, ongoing pain can take a difficult toll on you emotionally, but it can also have physical effects. Find out how your pain could be affecting other areas of your life, and how treating it can improve your overall sense of wellness.

The Long-Term Effects of Chronic Pain

Everyone feels pain from time to time. For some, however, it can be unrelenting. This is when chronic pain also has the potential to become chronic stress.

When your body is chronically stressed as a reaction to ongoing pain, a variety of physical side effects and symptoms can present themselves. According to the American Institute of Stress, these can include, but are not limited to:

• Dry mouth, difficulty swallowing
• Pain in the neck, back, and muscle spasms
• Forgetfulness, confusion, difficulty retaining new information
• Dizziness and fainting
• Chest pain, elevated heart rate
• Changes in appetite

Systems of the body that can be affected negatively by ongoing stress due to chronic pain include the gastrointestinal system, reproductive system, respiratory system, endocrine system, nervous system, cardiovascular system and musculoskeletal system. Effectively, almost every part of your body can be damaged by the stress of your ongoing, unmanaged pain.

Reclaiming Your Health by Controlling Chronic Pain

No two chronic pain journeys are the same, because no two patients are the same. This is why it’s vital to work with pain management professionals who understand the importance of individualized attention and treatment. Together, you and the expert care team can come up with a care plan designed to minimize pain, give you the tools you need to manage it and the ability to take your life back.

If chronic pain and the stress it brings have diminished your quality of life, there is hope. Call or contact Caliber Pain™ today to learn more about the cutting-edge interventions, whole-patient approach to wellness and to schedule a consultation appointment. More freedom, less pain and a better quality of life could be just around the corner at NYC’s leading practice specializing in pain management.