Chronic pain is never easy to overcome, and that process can become even more complicated if you’re also dealing with a chronic illness. In fact, the two conditions are often intertwined, as recent research has found that people with multimorbidity (defined as more than one chronic illness) are much more likely to experience chronic pain compared to people who don’t experience a chronic illness.

According to the recent data, for patients with two or three chronic conditions, the likelihood of dealing with chronic pain was 53.8 percent. In individuals with four or more chronic illnesses, that likelihood jumped to 75%. And while there is no specific reason as to why this link exists, medical experts have a number of theories for the connection. For starters, when a patient has multiple long-term health conditions, it can be harder for a medical team to address all issues. Medications for one condition can render other types of medications useless or dangerous, or treating one aspect of their health can cause issues for another condition.

So what is a person with chronic illness and chronic pain supposed to do? In most instances, it pays to connect with a pain management professional.

Combating Chronic Illness And Chronic Pain

If you’re dealing with chronic illness and chronic pain, all you probably want to do is curl up in bed and let the discomfort pass. The problem with that strategy is that long-term rest isn’t typically your best treatment option. Instead of rest and reduced activity, gentle exercise and increased activity are usually a better solution. Activity helps to ensure healthy fluid movement throughout your body, strengthen muscles, loosen joints and it can even change the chemical structure in your brain to drown out signals of pain and discomfort. Controlled activity truly is a wonder for patients with chronic illness and chronic pain.

So too is weight loss. Research has consistently shown that there exists a relationship between chronic illness, pain and obesity, and it doesn’t take much weight loss to see the results. One study found that if a person is 50 percent or greater over their recommended weight, losing as little as 10 percent of their body weight may be enough to see a significant decrease in pain.

It’s clear that increased activity and weight loss through diet and exercise can help mitigate symptoms of chronic illnesses and chronic pain, but those treatments aren’t just something you can easily do, especially with pain and illness complicating the equation. Again, that’s why it’s so important to partner with a pain management specialist. They’ll be able to help develop a care plan that slowly builds up your tolerance and endurance without overloading you from the start. Our goal is the help foster healthy habits, and if you don’t take time to slowly and gently increase activity and dietary changes, it’s unlikely these habits will stick on a long-term basis.

There is also the mental side of chronic illness and chronic pain that often gets overlooked. We understand how mentally draining these conditions can be and how they affect your ability to seek out the physical treatments that can provide relief. Sometimes cognitive treatments are just as important if not more important than treatments to address physical pain, and this multi-faceted treatment approach is oftentimes best overseen by a professional. You’ve got enough on your plate without trying to treat the physical, mental and emotion effects of your chronic pain and illness on your own, so let us help.

So if you are fighting pain and illness on many fronts, reach out to a professional for assistance. Slowly but surely, we’ll help find a solution and increase your quality of life. For more information or for help with your chronic issue, reach out to Dr. Cohn’s office today.