<p>But what IS “mental”? Is depression and anxiety “mental”?. Is it not painful? Why the stigma about something being called “mental”?</p>
<p>I just noticed the date of the original post–September! To the OP: I hope you’ve been making progress over the past six months. Back issues are really tough.</p>
<p>Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabot Zinn (not sure about the spelling of his name) is a good reference for alternative ways of living with chronic pain. It was recommended to me when I was diagnosed with a progressive chronic health condition. It does encourage imagery, meditation & other techniques which have had good results on many people, including in a chronic pain reduction clinic.</p>
<p>Good luck to all who suffer from chronic pain and other chronic health issues. It’s tough to know what it’s like until you’ve walked in those shoes.</p>
<p>chronic pain for 3-4 years + now. Since 9th grade after fracturing the spine, then hospitalized this year when the shooting pains spiked into the skull. best way to relieve pain is to accept the pain. then all the other benefits from acupuncture, physical therapy, etc will feel that much better once pain is not such an issue in your life. not saying the pain isnt severe, but it doesn’t have to be an issue that controls your life. :)</p>
<p>March 2, 2010 Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) significantly improves subacute and chronic low back pain both in the short term and during 1 year compared with advice alone and is highly cost-effective, new research suggests.</p>
<p>Published online February 26 in The Lancet, investigators found that disability scores as measured by the Roland Morris questionnaire a measure of back pain disability improved by 2.4 points at the end of 12 months in the “bespoke” CBT (Back Skills Training [BeST]) group compared with 1.1 points among control patients.</p>
<p>The CBT intervention used in this study was specifically designed to address risk factors leading to disability from back pain. Change from baseline to 12 months in the modified Von Korff disability score was 13.8% in the intervention group vs 5.4% in controls, whereas change in the modified Von Korff pain score at the same endpoint was 13.4% in the CBT group and 6.4% in controls.</p>
<p>Per quality-adjusted life-year, the cost of the BeST strategy totaled £1786 less than half that of competing interventions, such as acupuncture, the investigators note.</p>
<p>“Effective treatments that result in sustained improvements in low back pain are elusive,” the study authors note, “and this trial shows that a bespoke cognitive behavioral intervention package, BeST, is effective in managing subacute and chronic low back pain in primary care.”</p>
<p>I have found in my experience that chronic pain is a dynamic situation. At times, it is low grade, highly responsive to non “medical” interventions, many of which have already been discussed.</p>
<p>Other times I will have a “flare up,” an acute worsening or re-injury where the pain is extremely severe and debillitating. At those times, medical intervention may be necessary. </p>
<p>I agree with the poster above-after a long enough period of pain, you do to some extent become accepting of it unless you are in an acute flare up when it is impossible to block it out without adding medical intervention to the box of other tools.</p>
<p>call your doctor and ask for a referral to a local pain clinic.</p>