Chronic Pain: The Sunburn Analogy | Rising Sun Chiropratic + Weight Loss?
Close your eyes and pretend it’s a bright sunny day, it’s hot and you are outside enjoying the sun…but you forgot to put sunscreen on and after waking up from a nap you’ve realized that you’ve gotten a bit too much sun. What do we do? Normally you’d put on sunscreen, a t-shirt, hat, or umbrella and get out of the sunshine but, what if you didn’t? What if every day for the next month you stayed in the sun, each day getting a little more sunburned? After 30 days would you look back and blame the first day? Wondering why you aren’t healing from the sunburn or would realize that you’ve been getting a little more burnt every day and your body just can’t heal? Seems silly right? You’d never get more and more sunburned, would you?
Chronic pain can be your sunburn, never giving it a chance to heal, going back into the fire day after day. It will only lead to more problems.
Is your chronic pain a sunburn?
What if every day you were provoking your injury, not intentionally but not giving it the chance to heal, never letting it have enough time to get out of the fire? Lifting a little too heavy, not resting when you needed to, living in a very stressed state, not doing exercises or being active. There are many triggers that keep you in pain. We see chronic pain in our office every day and use a wide variety of tools to treat it but most of the time you already have the most powerful tool, your choices.
How do you live a life AND reduce your pain?
At Rising Sun Chiropratic + Weight Loss in St. Peter, we believe in empowering patients to take control of their pain. This begins with a thorough understanding of your individual pain patterns. Diving into your triggers is the first layer and it can get complicated in complicated cases. If you have multiple areas of injury this list can be used for each region. I know it can seem like a lot but when you take the time to work through these questions, you can start recognizing a pattern. Those patterns help us to guide through injury and recovery.
Self-Study Guide & Checklist for Understanding Chronic Pain
- Pain Characteristics Location: Where exactly do I experience pain? (Use a body diagram to pinpoint locations)
Does my pain stay in the same place, or does it move around? If so, where does it typically go?
Does my pain ever radiate or spread to other areas? If so, where?
Intensity: Use a pain scale (0-10) to rate your current pain level.
How does the intensity of your pain change throughout the day? (e.g., morning, afternoon, evening)
Do you experience any periods of pain-free time? If so, how long do these periods usually last?
- Pain Triggers & Activity and Movement: List activities that make your pain worse (e.g., bending, lifting, twisting, walking, climbing stairs)
Do specific movements cause pain? (e.g., reaching overhead, looking up)
How does your pain respond to different levels of activity? (e.g., prolonged sitting, standing)
Resistance: Does your pain worsen with muscle tension or when you resist movement?
Overdoing It: What happens when you push yourself too hard? (e.g., increased pain, fatigue, limited range of motion) Do you experience any “rebound” pain after periods of rest or inactivity?
- Sleep & Rest Sleep Quality: How would you describe your sleep quality? (e.g., difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, frequent awakenings) Do you wake up during the night due to pain? Sleep Position: Does your sleep position affect your pain? Rest vs. Sleep: Does resting (e.g., lying down) during the day help or worsen your pain?
- Psychological & Environmental Factors Emotions: List emotions that seem to trigger or worsen your pain (e.g., stress, anxiety, anger, sadness) How do you typically cope with these emotions? Social Interactions: Do interactions with others affect your pain levels? (e.g., stressful conversations, social gatherings) Environment: Do specific environmental factors affect your pain? (e.g., temperature, humidity, noise, light)
- Diet & Lifestyle Diet: List foods that seem to worsen or improve your pain. Do you follow any specific dietary restrictions or guidelines? Have you considered trying an anti-inflammatory diet? Hydration: How much water do you typically drink each day? Do you experience any symptoms of dehydration? Substance Use: Do you consume alcohol, caffeine, or tobacco? If so, how often and in what amounts.
- Therapies & Treatments Current Therapies: List all current therapies or treatments you are using (e.g., physical therapy, massage, medications) Treatment Response: How effective have these treatments been in managing your pain? Have you experienced any side effects? Are there any treatments that you have tried in the past that were not helpful? Did you try different doctors in the same field? (ie different PT or Chiro, we can be very different) Treatment Adherence: Are there any barriers that prevent you from consistently following your treatment plan?
I have my list, now what?
Once you have answered the questions above we need to make an action plan. What can I change, what should I avoid, what should I stay away from and what can I stay doing that helps me?
Making changes to the list starts with you diving into and picking out the things that you can comfortably change. If you see 3-5 modifiable things, start there. Give each change 2-3 weeks before adding more and don’t rush to change too much at 1 time. Part of the power behind this process is the knowledge you gain. If you have too many new things it’s hard to pin down the variable that is making your change.
Having a hard time?
Contact Rising Sun Chiropratic + Weight Loss in St. Peter
Dr. Seth Nelson and our team at Rising Sun Chiropratic + Weight Loss in St. Peter specialize in helping individuals break free from the cycle of chronic pain. We offer a comprehensive approach to pain management, combining chiropractic care with personalized lifestyle guidance.
Schedule a consultation today to discuss your unique challenges and discover how we can help you live a pain-free life.