In part one of this blog series, our Oklahoma Pain Treatment Centers physician discussed how roughly 100 million Americans suffer from pain every day of their lives. What we didn’t tell you then was that there are so many documented cases of chronic pain that it has now become the number one reason for long-term disability in the United States.

In part one, we listed some psychological side effects of living in chronic pain. Today, our Oklahoma Pain Treatment Centers team would like to share with our readers about the cognitive side effects, as well.

Negative Cognitive Side Effects Of Daily Pain

• Forgetting Things: Living a busy life is already difficult enough and makes it easy to forget little things, but imagine being in so much pain that you cannot even remember words. This is a condition called aphasia, and it causes people to forget words they would normally be able to recall quite quickly. The extra mental stress of being in pain can make an average person become very absentminded.

• Losing Focus: Constant pain will often make it difficult to focus on anything besides the pain! Forget trying to write an article (like this one) or working in an office setting and trying to keep up with the workload put on you. The stiffness often associated with trying to cope with the pain can also be a distraction from concentration.

• Broken Sleep: A good night of rest is, perhaps, one of the most important factors for living a good quality life. Not only do people with daily pain have problems falling asleep from time to time, but there are many who cannot stay asleep once they do manage to nod off. This lack of sleep can cause a plethora of problems on its own, such as impaired thinking, health risks, and accidents. As if those weren’t alarming enough, lack of sleep also feeds even more into the forgetfulness and loss of focus for everyday tasks.

Do any of these cognitive concerns seem like anything you’re going through due to daily pain? Whether your pain is causing you psychological impairment or cognitive issues, our Oklahoma Pain Treatment Centers physicians do not feel it is necessary or worth it for you to live this way. If you find yourself in any of these situations, please don’t hesitate to seek help!

If you’d like to book an appointment with Oklahoma Pain Treatment Centers, please contact our physicians.