> If you are not seriously ill, like having cancer or a broken bone, why do you take painkillers?
Define seriously ill, I have a spinal condition, it's not going to kill me in the next ten minutes but it causes constant pain some days meaning I'm more functional with painkillers than without.
The sooner we figure out how to turn off pain the better, I know my spine is knackered I've seen the MRI's, I don't need a constant grinding reminder.
> If you require painkillers to get through the day (or year) you should consider your position and how youre treating your self and your body.
..or you have a debilitating condition that medicine can do nothing about and you need them to stay functional, I think unless you've experience chronic pain (or someone close to you has) you are not really aware of how insidious it is, unmanaged it will eat away at you.
EDIT: For the record I'll wager I'm considerably physically fitter than the average for my age, I cycle and swim a lot and workout every day, I also eat very cleanly but I can do those things because of the painkillers without them I'd be stuffed in terms of exercising.
I'm aware of him but what I have isn't well known or something that is amenable to normal physiotherapy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syringomyelia basically a cavity in the spine that presses on the nerves causing pain and eventually permanent spinal damage, prognosis ranges from painful for rest of life through to you die depending on size, location and progression.
Syringomyelia often doesn't cause any pain and isn't progressive. Just because it shows up on the MRI doesn't mean it is the reason for the pain, or that it is progressive. I certainly think it's worth exploring other possible causes for the pain.
>I'm aware of him but what I have isn't well known or something that is amenable to normal physiotherapy.
Perhaps, the problem with conditions primarily resulting in pain is that everyone has different tolerances for it.
I take about half the painkillers that are the average for someone with my condition but I'm also on the good end of the scale in terms of symptoms (partially because I lost a lot of weight, force myself to exercise and took up pilates) and partially because I have a highish tolerance for pain (I broke my elbow in three places and went to work the next day since I didn't realise I had) but I don't make comments on what other people need to do to get through the day.
The principle drug I take does have a marked effect on my cognitive performance so I have to walk the line between enough to be functional all the time.
Define seriously ill, I have a spinal condition, it's not going to kill me in the next ten minutes but it causes constant pain some days meaning I'm more functional with painkillers than without.
The sooner we figure out how to turn off pain the better, I know my spine is knackered I've seen the MRI's, I don't need a constant grinding reminder.
> If you require painkillers to get through the day (or year) you should consider your position and how youre treating your self and your body.
..or you have a debilitating condition that medicine can do nothing about and you need them to stay functional, I think unless you've experience chronic pain (or someone close to you has) you are not really aware of how insidious it is, unmanaged it will eat away at you.
EDIT: For the record I'll wager I'm considerably physically fitter than the average for my age, I cycle and swim a lot and workout every day, I also eat very cleanly but I can do those things because of the painkillers without them I'd be stuffed in terms of exercising.