Posted on Oct 20, 2021
SSG Intelligence Analyst
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Having dealt with a pretty severe back injury over the last year and a half with little to no relief after two surgeries, how do you mentally/emotionally cope with the pain knowing it will likely never go away?
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I find the hardest physical things I can do without making my pain or injury worse…and I do the hell out of them. I try to enjoy what my body can still do.
SFC Casey O'Mally
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Mind over matter... I don't mind so it don't matter.

That is rather glib, but it DOES work to an extent. We notice what we pay attention to. The more you focus on your pain, the more the pain will draw your focus.

A few months back I was shot in the shoulder at point blank range. It hurt like the Dickens, but I felt the impact (which broke my collarbone) not the rending flesh. I seriously didn't even know it was an actual bullet (I thought it must have been a bean bag round or something like that because of the impact) until my hand came away bloody. The pain almost immediately subsided as I realized I needed to get to a nearby house and have them call 911. And it stayed away while I worked through ensuring the scene was safe, self aid, police report, and notifying my employer. Once I had taken care of my responsibilities and I heard the ambulance coming so I could "surrender" to the injury, the pain got a lot worse real quick.

Once I was in the hospital, the pain was never all that bad as long as I was occupying myself with other things. When I thought about the pain it got worse.

Obviously, we should rarely just ignore pain, and even when we do, we can't ignore it for ever. But finding other things to focus on goes a great way to mentally dealing with the physical pain.
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TSgt Laboratory Supervisor
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Edited 9 mo ago
When I hurt my back really bad a few years ago from falling, it was super tough, both on my body and in my head. Some days I tried to keep my spirits up, looking for anything good happening, but sometimes, it just felt like too much.

I reached a point where just trying to stay positive wasn't enough, so I thought I'd try Physiotherapy to see if it could help with the pain and maybe make me feel better about it all. I got help from a physio named MOHAMMAD FASIHIRAMANDI. He showed me exercises just for my kind of back problem. But it wasn't just about moving better. He taught me how to understand what my body could do and what it couldn't, which actually made me feel more in control of my pain. That really helped me feel better overall. For more details about their services check this link - https://www.physioflow.ca/
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