Understanding Persistent Pain: It's Like Four Flat Tires
- Raechel
- Jul 26, 2017
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 3, 2024
The American Chronic Pain Association has a fantastic video called A Car with Four Flat Tires. watch it here...
Chronic (or persistent) pain is like a car with four flat tires.
We might think one medication or treatment will take away our pain, but one tool only pumps one tire. We've got four.
Pumping up that one tire might give us 25% relief, which is good, and should be celebrated as a victory. But it's not enough to move our car forward. There are three more flats to fill.
So, we’ll keep using that one tool to keep one tire full, but we’ll need to get some additional tools to fill up the others.
For each person, the needed therapies, tools, or combination of treatments is different. And there may be a fair amount of trail and error involved to find the right treatments, in the right amounts and frequency.
Managing and recovering from chronic pain - filling up our flat tires - takes a team effort and it takes time. Once our car is rolling again, we also need to maintain it with periodic checks and on-going expected maintenance.
Understanding Pain Article Series
Understanding Persistent Pain: It's Like Four Flat Tires
Understanding Persistent Pain: Mindfulness Understanding Persistent Pain: It's An Experience, Not a Signal
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Understanding Persistent Pain eBook
The nervous system is constantly evaluating a variety of cues and information that when combined create a pain experience. It's a complex process involving many parts of the mind and body. This guide will provide readers with a better understanding of persistent pain along with tools to reduce or manage it. learn more...
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This analogy really makes sense! Managing persistent pain truly requires multiple approaches, just like filling all four flat tires. It’s a great reminder that relying on one solution isn’t enough. Similar to how I trust professionals for precise care, I’ve found that services like Kissimmee auto glass show the importance of expertise and thorough attention when handling complex problems.
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This flat-tire analogy makes chronic pain so much easier to understand. Managing it really does take multiple tools and steady maintenance, not just one fix. I appreciate how you highlight patience and teamwork in the process. As a verified social media model, I’m always looking for clear explanations like this that help people connect health concepts to real life.