I always thought my body could do anything.
At 28, I would routinely run four miles at a stretch.
At 32, I gave birth to my first child.
A few hours later, I felt an extreme tightening in my lower back.
During the next couple of weeks, the pain worsened, depending on my activity.
My butt and thighs ached after I pushed my 7-month-old daughter in her stroller.
And my entire left legfrom my thigh to big toeburned whenever I tried to close those new patio doors.
I finally saw a doctor, who recommended physical therapy.
Although I was pretty fit and only in my early 30s, it took me five months to recover.
Then one night about two years later, my husband and I got into an argument.
I stormed out of the house, slamming the front door behind me.
I had trouble turning my head, and my left arm became weak.
Later, I developed a fiery sensation in the middle of my back, beneath my left shoulder blade.
I could barely push a grocery cart without triggering a deep ache through my left leg.
Even sleep didn’t come easily: Rolling over felt like a knife slicing across my back.
Worst of all, I could no longer hold my two toddlers on my lap without throbbing pain.
Yet I still don’t have a satisfying explanation for it.
Unfortunately, most doctors and patients aren’t aware of how urgently treatment is needed.
One of the mysteries experts are trying to unravel is why some people suffer indefinitely.
I didn’t have a single pain-free day for a solid year.
Studies show that 5 to 10 percent of people who are injured develop chronic pain.
Simply being a woman can leave you more vulnerable.
To compare ordinary acute pain to chronic pain, think about the last time you stubbed your toe.
Your blood pressure increased, and your heart raced.
Your injured tissue may produce inflammatory chemicals, which promote healing but can also sensitize nerve cells bodywide.
(This reaction partly explains why taking a warm shower when you have a sunburn is especially painful.)
In addition, the brain itself can become overly sensitive.
Something that’s always painfullike getting a shotcauses more pain, and longer than usual.
All the while, Dr. Woolf says, “there may be no detectable physical abnormality.”
Along with the physical agony, pain can lead to depression.
But there’s also a biological explanation.
“They may be depleted when pain becomes chronic,” she says.
Of course, not everyone with chronic pain becomes depressed.
But for those coping with both depression and pain, some new findings offer hope.
“These people have the same amount of pain but suffer less,” he says.
Being active can also prevent pain from becoming disabling.
But sitting on the sidelines only prolongs pain.
If you’re inactive for a long period of time, you lose endurance, flexibility and strength.
The result: additional pain due to out-of-shape muscles.
To help people deal with their fears of reinjury, some experts are using a technique called exposure.
“We start at a lower level of activity and build up 10 to 20 percent each day.
Patients see that they can do more, and they acquire a sense of mastery.”
The technique doesn’t cure painbut it can help reduce it.
The decrease is equivalent to the gray matter volume lost in 10 to 20 years of aging.
A possible explanation: Nerve cells are dying in these brain regions.
(Gambling is considered an emotional task.)
They performed poorly compared with healthy participants.
Although the drug might not be able to replace lost brain cells, it may help decrease suffering.
(See “Hurting?”
Recent brain-imaging research reveals that focusing on the discomfort enhances the pain signal that goes to your brain.
But if you’re distracted, the signal will be dampened.
“Attention is like a spotlight,” Arizona State’s Zautra says.
Your mood also plays a role in your experience of pain.
As I write this, now nearly six years after my first injury, I’m not in pain.
Still, I refuse to let fear control my every movement.
My brain seems to appreciate the distraction, and often relief soon follows.
