What if you were in terrible pain, but doctors in Missouri could not find what was wrong with you, or they were unable to do much about your condition? More than 100 million people in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain, some of them badly enough that they are disabled for Social Security Disability purposes.
Unlike acute pain, which alerts the victim to injury, there does not appear to be any function for chronic pain, except perhaps to make the patient miserable. Though many people are able to manage their pain through medication or other treatment, many people’s chronic pain does not improve from conventional medicine.
Living with pain day in and day out can have a debilitating effect on your life. For those who cannot find relief, depression, fatigue and reduced quality of life are common. Divorce, addiction and suicide are all sometimes traced to chronic pain.
Perhaps only someone who lives with chronic pain knows the shadow it can cast on the world, and how extreme treatments may become tempting. An article in the Portland Press Herald shares the story of a woman with a rare genetic disorder that causes her severe foot pain.
After years of trying different treatments, or simply attempting to live with the pain, the woman decided to give up her feet altogether through amputation.
Chronic pain can arise after an injury, operation or illness, or simply appear with no clear explanation. No matter its source, pain can make working impossible, which would make SSD benefits a possible financial lifeline.
