Which one for Pain?

Quote: Do you understand Chronic Pain?

Chronic Migraines ~ What’s with the Facial Pain?

This article was most interesting to me as many of my migraine pain areas are in portions of my face, where sight is impaired, and the pain is excruciating. 

Trigeminal Nerves

If you look at the entire nervous system, only about 20% of the input to the brain comes from the spinal column! The other 80% comes from twelve sets of cranial nerves. Here is where it gets tricky. 70% of that 80% comes from the trigeminal nerve. The trigeminal nerve is important because it provides nerve stimulation to some very important parts of the head and face, such as:

• The muscles that move the jaw
• The lining of the sinuses
• The temporal mandibular (TM) joints
• The teeth
• The muscle that tenses the ear drum
• The joint that connects the teeth to the jaws
• The control of the blood flow to the anterior (front) of the brain.
• The tongue
• The ear canal

Take a good look at this list…how many of you have complaints of ear problems? Toothaches? Sinus problems? Migraines? Jaw Pain? How many of you have been to multiple doctors and been told that ” nothing ” was wrong?

The trigeminal nerve has three branches

Quote: Every day with Chronic Pain

Accepting your chronic illness — Charlotte Amy Louise

What is a chronic illness? A chronic illness is defined as a medical condition that is “continuing or occurring again and again for a long time” – often with no cure. Coming to terms with any medical diagnosis is challenging, no matter your age or where you’re from; having to learn new terminology and how […]

Accepting your chronic illness — Charlotte Amy Louise

Welcome – Connecting With Everyone Struggling With All Invisible Illnesses

“Living in Stigma” connects with everyone coping with chronic pain, mental illness, and all invisible illnesses.

Launching my blog in 2007, “Living in Stigma” the goal was to share my life experiences with mental illness with others, and aspire to receive feedback from those also struggling with their own depressive illnesses. I felt as if I was living in stigma with my own major depression.

Many forms of mental illness comprise Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Personality Disorders, PTSD, Eating Disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, and much more.

While I struggle with both mental illness and chronic migraines, along with news articles, social media, research, and my valued blog readers’ comments and opinions, it’s a reality that invisible illnesses such as fibromyalgia, lupus, headaches, recurring back and leg pain, cancer and so many more are also a vast portion of invisible illness stigma. 

Study shows: Chronic Pain showing in adults with Anxiety or Depression

In a survey of adults with anxiety or a mood disorder like depression or bipolar disorder, about half reported experiencing chronic pain, according to researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. The findings are published online in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

“The dual burden of chronic physical conditions and mood and anxiety disorders is a significant and growing problem,” said Silvia Martins, MD, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health, and senior author.

The research examined survey data to analyze associations between DSM-IV-diagnosed mood and anxiety disorders and self-reported chronic physical conditions among 5,037 adults in São Paulo, Brazil. Participants were also interviewed in person.

Among individuals with a mood disorder, chronic pain was the most common, reported by 50 percent, followed by respiratory diseases at 33 percent, cardiovascular disease at 10 percent, arthritis reported by 9 percent, and diabetes by 7 percent.

Anxiety disorders were also common for those with chronic pain disorder at 45 percent, and respiratory at 30 percent, as well as arthritis and cardiovascular disease, each 11 percent.

Individuals with two or more chronic diseases had increased odds of a mood or anxiety disorder. Hypertension was associated with both disorders at 23 percent.

“These results shed new light on the public health impact of the dual burden of physical and mental illness,” said Dr. Martins. “Chronic disease coupled with a psychiatric disorder is a pressing issue that health providers should consider when designing preventive interventions and treatment services — especially the heavy mental health burden experienced by those with two or more chronic diseases.”

Article source: ScienceDaily.com

Image: cherished79.com

 

Quote – Fighting a battle with chronic pain

Chronic Pain? Explaining the Spoon Theory

I had never heard of “spoons” and the connection with chronic pain and frankly a bit confused.  Noticing how many fibromyalgia sufferers use the term “spoonies“, I realized how it represented the reduced amount of energy for each daily task resulting from chronic pain due to an invisible illness.

Image: pinterest.com (hubpages.stri.re)

Invisible Illness Awareness

I think this is one of the more creative infographics describing living with chronic pain and invisible illnesses. 

Saved from

earthritiscare.com via Pinterest.com

Questioning pain

Chronic Pain slows you down

Does your hair ever hurt?

Fibromyalgia ~ This image just about says it all

There’s even a misunderstanding with the chronic pain people endure due to fibromyalgia, some people don’t see it as a disability.

Be kind, don’t judge.