How Chronic Pain Can Affect You

Chronic pain affects people in many ways. Not only does pain make you uncomfortable physically, over time pain can start to affect you emotionally and psychologically as well. Many chronic pain sufferers also experience depression, anxiety and sleep disturbances.

Many patients report that they feel ashamed or embarrassed about how they are feeling. It is very important to communicate all of your symptoms to your pain management physician. Feeling depressed, anxious, or stressed can actually make your pain worse or harder to control. There are treatments and therapies available to assist you with these issues. At Kentucky Pain Management Services we have counselors available to talk to you about how you are coping with your chronic pain condition.

Chronic pain patients can often cope better with their anxiety or depression when they can discuss it with someone who understands. Realizing that such feelings are common among those suffering from ongoing pain can also help.

Because there is such a large percentage of patients with depression and anxiety among chronic pain patients, we like for our patients to be evaluated at least once yearly.