Coping With Chronic Pain: The Willingness to Risk

Stan Goldberg, PhD

THOUGHT OF THE DAY. For two years, the first thing I experienced when I woke and the last thing I felt before falling asleep was pain in my thigh from a less than successful hip replacement. I began a life of coping with chronic pain.

Repeated examinations by the orthopedic surgeon showed my new hip was fine. Bone grew around the prosthetic, the joint was tight, and the x-rays showed my hip to be “a textbook example” of successful hip surgery.

Deniability and Caution

When the surgeon smiled–which I assumed was a form of self-congratulations since I didn’t thank him–I asked, “If the surgery was so successful, why am I coping with pain?” He thought for a minute then said, “It’s not from the surgery. Let’s try physical therapy,” as if the pain had nothing to do with the operation.

“Can I go back to running?” I asked. “No, don’t ever run, the joint will fail.” I limped out of his office with a script for three months of physical therapy and hope that in my hand was the holy grail of pain reduction. With it, coping with chronic pain would become a memory.

At the end of fourteen sessions, still coping with chronic pain, I asked the therapist, “Can I run?” “No, don’t ever run, the joint will fail.

Playing the Odds When Coping With Chronic Illness

I looked for studies comparing the failure rate of people who ran after a hip replacement and those who didn’t run. I didn’t find one study, but many antidotal comments by surgeons. They were unanimous: Don’t run, if you do the sky will fall.

At a Christmas party, I presented the lack of evidence to another orthopedic surgeon. “Don’t ever run,” he said, as if memorizing the line was a requirement for completing med school. “The hip will fail sooner.” “How much sooner?” I asked. “Hard to say, but sooner.”

The Gamble

The literature indicates I have an 85% chance my hip will last 20 years if I care for it. That means I shouldn’t have a problem until I’m 87 years-old if I’m “nice” to the joint. And the cost? Living with pain probably until I die. I weighed the risks of reducing the life of my joint against the possibility of reducing the pain. I decided to run again and see if my leg would fall off.

It’s been a month and my joint hasn’t loosened, my leg is still attached to my body, and, the pain I experienced every day for two years is almost gone.

The TakeAway. Living with chronic pain can result in a grudging acceptance of a less than positive lifestyle or learning how to cope. What happens less often is the willingness to try something different, or even something warned against. Am I recommending everyone who’s had a hip replaced start running? Absolutely not! But the lesson I learned is the willingness to risk can lessen what’s making your life miserable.

Preventing Senior Moments, by Stan Goldberg

Offers practical and achievable prevention strategies for senior moments.

Coming October 2023!

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