Chronic pain certainly isn’t fun to live with, but some people think that if they can grit their teeth and bear it, that’s the worst they’ll have to deal with. Unfortunately, chronic pain can impact us in other ways that aren’t so obvious, and it can lead to a number of other problems if the pain condition isn’t carefully treated. In today’s blog, we explore some of the ways that untreated chronic pain can affect a person.

How Untreated Chronic Pain Can Affect A Person

There are countless ways that untreated chronic pain can affect a person, but here’s a look at five major issues that can develop if you don’t confront your condition head on:

1. Depression – Chronic pain and depression have been closely linked. Pain can have a significant impact on the brain, and if it goes on long enough, it can actually lead to depression and depressive symptoms. It can also be hard to recognize depression when you’re simultaneously dealing with an unresolved pain condition. These two conditions can be cyclical in nature, and it can be hard to break free from the cycle.

2. Anxiety – Untreated chronic pain can also leave you feeling more anxious. If you’re constantly worried about whether you’ll have a flareup or if chronic pain is going to force you to cancel plans, you can begin to develop anxiety. Eventually, even though anxiety is rooted in your chronic pain condition, it can spill over into all aspects of your life and compound the problem. Fortunately, targeting the chronic pain condition oftentimes helps to resolve these feelings of anxiousness.

3. Heightened Pain Perception – Some people think that ignoring chronic pain sensations can help them build a greater pain tolerance, but oftentimes you’re actually training your brain to do the opposite. If your brain is constantly interpreting pain signals, and you’re not doing anything to help calm these signals, your brain can become hyper-aware of these nerve sensations and either become oversensitive to pain signals or start misinterpreting nerve relays as pain signals. You may actually become more sensitive to pain signals by trying to ignore them.

4. Stress – You may also find yourself more easily stressed when living with untreated chronic pain. Every activity becomes more stressful when you’re attempting to do it while in pain. Work becomes more stressful. Family life becomes more stressful. Even activities that are supposed to be enjoyable become more stressful when pain is present.

5. Irritable – Finally, you may not notice it, but your friends and family members may have noticed that you seem to have become more irritable as a result of your untreated chronic pain condition. Again, pain can have a severe impact on our mental health, and we may not even realize it’s happening. If you notice that you’re becoming quicker to anger or you’re more irritable, know that it’s not just because you’re getting older, it’s because you’re dealing with untreated chronic pain.

The good news is that by treating chronic pain, you can work to address all of the issues listed above. If you want to take the first step in overcoming your chronic pain condition and any side effects it’s causing, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today at (952) 738-4580.