Reduce Risk of Chronic Pain Development After Injury or Surgery

An escalating number of people are unexpectedly developing chronic pain following injury or routine surgery. In general, the current approach to health care is focused on efficiency and many surgeries are performed on an outpatient basis. As a result, much of the recovery process is left to the patient.

Individuals struggle to manage post-injury or surgery recovery on their own and often miss or ignore the signs of potential chronic pain development. Risk factor screening for surgery is mainly focused on biological health risks such as risk for anesthesia or allergies, and other risk factors are often missed.

Factors that influence injury and surgery recovery:

1. Your view of pain

Whether you are deeply concerned about the presence of pain or try to ignore it, your attitude towards pain influences how you respond to it and influences the response of your nervous system.

2. How your family and culture view pain

The messages you received about pain in your childhood influence your response as an adult. How did your parents or family members respond when you got hurt? Did you receive a lot of attention and care or were you told not to cry and to brush it off and keep going?

3. Past experiences

An individual’s injury or trauma history influences how your body responds to your current injury or surgery. A past trauma injury can heighten your body’s response to another injury and sound alarm bells. Two people can experience the same injury and have very different responses within their bodies.

4. Your occupation

Your work can increase your risk of developing chronic pain in a number of ways. Stress levels, physical demands, ability to modify work tasks, number of hours worked per day and week, time provided for recovery, and many other factors influence the healing process.

5. Your support system

The amount of available support during your injury or surgery recovery, as well as your view on asking others for help, can increase your risk of developing chronic pain or serve as a protective factor. Do you have a tendency to put the needs of other before yourself? Do you prefer to keep health matters private? Do you pride yourself on being independent? These tendencies and more may heighten your risk.

These are just a few of the factors that impact your recovery from injury or surgery and influence the duration, quality, and intensity of your pain experience. Your prevention strategy should include a complete risk factor screening, a pain management plan, collaboration between the members of your health team, a support plan, and a customized approach to meet your needs. Book an appointment with Tonia Anderson Psychology for help building a customized pain management and recovery program.