How depression makes pain worse

Which comes first...the chicken or the egg?  Many people ponder this question and now I'm going to ask which comes first....pain or depression.

You live in pain and there doesn't seem to be anyway out of it.  You don't understand what your Doctor tells you...you need a medical degree to understand their language.  So you take your pain killers....but they stop working.



Your body can build up an immune to your pain killers.  It starts out with needing to take more to relieve your pain symptoms...then they just quit working.  So you get depressed and guess what?  Depression can make your pain worse.  

 "Living with chronic or long-term pain is a tremendous burden. But when you have chronic pain and depression, the burden gets even heavier.

Depression magnifies pain. It makes it more difficult to cope with everyday living.  (WebMD)

According to WebMD:  "If you have chronic pain and depression, you've got plenty of company. Depression is one of the most common psychological issues facing people who suffer from chronic pain, and it often complicates the patient's conditions and treatment. Consider these statistics:

• According to the American Pain Foundation, about 32 million people in the U.S. report have had pain lasting longer than one year.
• From one-quarter to more than half of the population that complains of pain to their doctors are depressed.
• On average, 65% of depressed people also complain of pain.

People whose pain limits their independence are especially likely to get depressed.

Because depression in patients with chronic pain frequently goes undiagnosed, it often goes untreated. Pain symptoms and complaints take center stage on most doctor visits. The result is depression -- along with sleep disturbances, loss of appetite, lack of energy, and decreased physical activity, which may make pain much worse."

You tried pain medication which is highly addictive.....it didn't work.  You become depressed, which only makes your pain worse....so you take more pain medication.  It is a viscous cycle. What can you do?  The first thing you need to do is find a Doctor who understands this cycle and who wants to help treat your pain not your symptoms.  Often times the symptoms are treated because the injury is not known.  Find a Doctor in your area that has Digital Motion X-ray.  To learn more about DMX click here.  This revolutionary product can actually help find injuries that the common x-ray and MRI's will miss.   Treating the injury through a non-medication approach with healthy lifestyle changes will make the difference in your life.


No one wants to live in pain.  No one wants to become addicted to pain killers.  Now there is a way to eliminate these from your life.  Depression is a symptom of pain.  Don't take more medication for depression when your pain can be treated if you know where the injury is.  

Don't settle for the old X-rays....choose Digital Motion X-Ray!  

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Dr. Jere Sutton of the Colorado Car Wreck is a Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon