Chronic Pain
A few months after breaking my ankle, I
noticed that whenever I touched my right leg and foot
from about 2 inches above the incision down to my toes, I would get an
electric shock/tingly/bump-my-funny-bone-type feeling. In other words, a
tender ouch.
I asked the doctor and he said he had to move a nerve out of the way when he did my surgery. He said the nerve is usually on top of the shin, but my nerve traveled down the outside of my leg. I now have tingly feelings in my foot and ankle, the result of nerve damage. He said it should take a few months to subside. But they never did. In fact, they got worse.
So, on January 25th I had the plate and screws removed from my ankle. I was not certain that the plate was the cause of the rubber band tightness around my ankle and the intense prickly sensitivity on the top of my foot and toes, but I was willing to take a chance. I had decided that I could not live with the wincing pain every time I put my sock or shoe on or took them off, the thorny, scratching sensation I had if anything brushed against my ankle, and the dull, throbbing pain in my ankle before a storm.
I asked the doctor and he said he had to move a nerve out of the way when he did my surgery. He said the nerve is usually on top of the shin, but my nerve traveled down the outside of my leg. I now have tingly feelings in my foot and ankle, the result of nerve damage. He said it should take a few months to subside. But they never did. In fact, they got worse.
So, on January 25th I had the plate and screws removed from my ankle. I was not certain that the plate was the cause of the rubber band tightness around my ankle and the intense prickly sensitivity on the top of my foot and toes, but I was willing to take a chance. I had decided that I could not live with the wincing pain every time I put my sock or shoe on or took them off, the thorny, scratching sensation I had if anything brushed against my ankle, and the dull, throbbing pain in my ankle before a storm.
(By the way, I looked “bone ache before rain” up on the internet and found
out that it is real. Before a storm, the
barometric pressure drops and decreased air
pressure causes tissues in the body to expand, thereby putting pressure on a
sensitive area, such as an arthritic joint or injured nerve, and causing pain.)
After they wheeled me out of the
surgical room, the doctor stood at the foot of the gurney and asked me how I
was feeling. Although still woozy from
the anesthesia, I could already tell that the pain had diminished considerably. And now, 10 weeks later, we had a rain storm yesterday and my “bone ache before rain” is also gone!
It turns out my nerve had been pinched between scar tissue
and the plate. It had also branched,
which is considered unusual for that particular nerve. This information led me to do some research
on nerves. Basically, nerves are made up
of cells with long fibers called axons that are bundled together inside
insulating sheaths, like wires in cables. Since the nerve had been undergoing pressure for over a year, it could
not transport nutrients and messages properly and was becoming more injured
over time. No wonder I wasn’t healing.
Which brings me to the subject of chronic pain. I didn’t realize I was experiencing chronic
pain in my ankle and foot until the cause of it was removed. Maybe that's because I seem to have a high pain tolerance. After all, I walked five miles
out on my broken ankle (and probably injured it more in the process) because all I could think about was the expense of calling a helicopter to fly me out. And, a few years ago, I walked up about 1,000 feet from the
Colorado River to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon with
two broken toes. Not to mention
childbirth.
But those instances involve
acute pain—pain experienced for a short duration and then—poof! It’s over. Thinking back, I can remember experiencing the pain and can describe it—sharp
or throbbing or raw or a dull ache—but I can’t feel it again.
Chronic pain seems to be difficult to define. Some doctors say chronic pain is any pain
that lasts longer than 3 months at the onset.
Some say 6 months and some say over a year. Perhaps the best definition is: pain lasting longer than the expected time of
healing.
And what is pain, anyway?
And how can it be rated? On a 1
to 10 scale with 1 being no pain and 10 being the strongest pain imaginable? For me, Ms Pain Tolerant, I’d give my pain before surgery
about a 5 out of 10. For someone else,
it may have been a 8 or 9.
Nevertheless, subconsciously enduring that pain put a layer
of tension beneath everything I did. All
the things I dislike—stinky smells, bright lights, loud or rumbling noises,
annoying distractions—magnified and stressed me out so much that I felt on edge most of the time. I gained weight, I didn’t sleep well, I
snapped at my husband, I lost patience a lot more easily, I couldn’t
concentrate, and I got the worst cold I've had in years. In fact, I had to put the surgery off for 2 weeks because I wanted to get over my cold and build up my immune system first. My quality of life had bottomed out and I
didn’t even realize it until after the plate was removed!
