You are the best judge of your pain
Pain is a personal experience. Everyone is unique in how he or she handles it. Some people cry out from a minor injury, while others in extreme pain say nothing. Your environment influences chronic pain. It involves more than tissue damage and physical disability. It can be affected by anything including your job, your family and where you live.
Back and neck pain occurs in all age groups. A surprising number of individuals ages 20 to 30 incur back or neck pain. This may be because previously active people start to work at sedentary jobs; their muscles lose some of their tone and flexibility and they become more injury prone.
The greatest number of injuries occurs in individuals ages 30 to 40, when people continue to do their normal activities and as the aging process begins to show. An individual’s spine normally deteriorates slowly and almost inconspicuously with age. Most of an individual’s muscular pain is due to injury even before he or she experiences back or neck pain due to the aging process.
Mind Versus Body
The division of mind and body is a false one and nowhere is it more ineffective than in dealing with chronic pain. Chronic pain involves the mind, body and spirit. If you deny the pain and press on; or if you engage regularly in activities that increase the pain, you only aggravate your condition. Even if the consequences are not immediate, they do accumulate. Pretending nothing is wrong is not a solution for your pain. For example, your son or daughter wants to go to the movies. You know that sitting through the picture will increase your pain. You take an extra cushion and sit in the back row so that you can stand occasionally. Your pain probably will increase, but you feel it is worth it, and your child is thrilled. The decision is yours and is under your control.