Chronic Pain and Weigth Gain

October 20, 2008

Over the past few weeks I have suffered from some significant neck pain. Apparently there is some nerve involvement at the C5-6 vertebrae at the base of my neck. In addition to the pain I have had numbness in my right arm and hand. There are a number of benefits to me and my practice from my experience. First, I have now had a taste of what many of my clients live with daily for years with no end in sight. I have a better understanding of their lives and the issues they must deal with.

In my practice I am constantly met with clients that continue to gain weight after suffering injuries that cause them chronic pain in their necks and/or backs. It is common for defence expert doctors to give opinions that much of my clients' problems would be lessened if only they lost weight. They often suggest that the weight gain is unrelated to the injuries suffered in the accident.

Typically the response to this is that the client is much less active and therefore the weight gain is related to the injuries and results from the injuries. This is clearly true. But while that is true, I have often found myself wondering why they continue to eat the way they do and secretly agreeing that some weight loss might help my client feel somewhat better. Almost subconsciously I question why they don't make the effort to lose some weight if it will lessen their pain, even slightly.

No longer. One of the things I have found over the past few weeks is that with the constant pain I was unable to carry on with my normal physical activities. I just couldn't do it. Oh, perhaps physically I could have worked through the pain. As those defence experts often say there is a difference between pain and causing further damage. If working through the pain won't cause any further damage, those defence doctors will say, the client should simply carry on with their lives and learn to live with the pain.

I now see why that is just a lot of bunk. While on the physical level it may be true, being able to "live with the pain" is easier said than done emotionally. It is important to know that I enjoy physical activity. I have always participated in various sports. I have run marathons, I have been playing hockey for over 45 years. I downhill ski, bowl, play baseball, love throwing a football, water ski, do some strength exercises. I take the stairs rather than the elevator even to the third and sometimes fourth floors. I love being active.

The pain took the joy of activity away. Even though I have forced myself to do some activity despite the pain, I have not enjoyed it. I found myself sitting watching television and eating. My main physical satisfaction came from eating "feel good" foods that are typtically very high in fat, calories and low in nutritional value. The weight started piling on. This was not a conscious choice. It was only after a few weeks that I had this insight into my behaviour. I then decided that I would no longer eat to feel better. It didn't work. When the pain and numbness got to me emotionally I reverted to eating. I have gained over 10 pounds.

Fortunately for me, my pain is now dissipating quickly. Over the past week or so I have started to get much better. When the pain started to lessen my spirits lifted. I could see an end, the opening at the end of that long dark tunnel. I was able emotionally to start getting more active, reduce my pain medications and begin a return to my normal lifestyle.

What is most important to me is the psychological/emotional impact of the pain and numbness I experienced. For a brief period of time I did not see an end to it. There were options given to my be various doctors and healthcare workers that I could try if it did not resolve so at least I had some hope. But I tried to put myself into my clients' shoes. What if this had gone on for many months without significant improvement? What if had gone on for two or three years and emotionally I had to deal with living that way for the rest of my life? Could I have gained the discipline emotionally to deal with the eating habits or would I have continued to take that little bit of enjoyment by eating junk food each day? I suspect I would be one of those that continued to have weight issues.

I guess the moral of this story, from my perspective, is that I will no longer subconsciously judge anyone that has a significant weight gain after an accident leaves them in chronic pain. I will have a great deal more understanding of the struggle they have and I will know that it was in fact caused by the injuries suffered in the accident.

If you suffer from chronic neck and/or back pain, you might want to watch the video seminar entitled ABC's of Chronic Pain by Dr. Howard Jacobs, a doctor in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that has specialized for over 15 years in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic head, neck and back pain.

Please feel free to post your comments and questions

**Note: Blog postings are subject to a screening process, they may not appear right away.**