Hey @MB95 thanks for sharing! I'm sorry you've been having so much ongoing pain 😞 I think @Tiny_leaf is right, it's pain that doesn't go away for a certain amount of time.
I feel you about worrying doctors will tell you it's in your head. Some might.. But usually doctors are better about it these days.
Well I found out because I thought it was going to get better after ages of trying different treatments because I'd gotten better in the past, but when I saw my dermatologist the most recent time she said it wasn't going to go away but that it could be managed and that my nerves had become hypersensitive or some shit. I was NOT happy when I heard that.. ***TW* I told her, rather dramatically I'd rather die than have this pain forever**** Like the pain itself isn't that bad, it's just where it is and how much it gets in the way of things and how much I have to pretend it isn't there I think I've told you that before lol.. But um honestly I guess chronic pain is something you can say to other people to communicate that you've been in pain for a long time, you don't need a doctor to give you a diagnosis to validate that. Sometimes you can go for years without knowing what's wrong with you so it can be good to have 'chronic pain' as a label in the meantime. When I was younger and had this same problem it took 2 years to diagnose and treat (but then it went away for a while..) and now I bloody hate going to doctors because it's so scary to go but paradoxically I get really worried about my health when I shouldn't so I go too much to doctors. I still think my pain is in my head despite like having a diagnosis. It's what my parents told me growing up. And what pretending nothing is wrong has told me. Honestly it's really fucked me up psychologically and I don't know why 🙃 so I'm the worst person for advice
This was a vent about me omg I'm so sorry 🤣
I think you should definitely see a doctor because your pain is real- just make sure it's a doctor you trust and I guess yeah sometimes you do need to be in the right headspace. But sometimes the pain in itself sort of makes things worse so there's no best time. Idk
And yeah chronic pain doesn't have to be permanent, it can be intermittent, constant, minor, debilitating, or anywhere in between. I think it's just something where you have it for longer than a few months or something idk the actual cut off but we don't gatekeep here- anyone is welcome to vent about any sort of physical symptoms or pain or like anything relevant on here and everything is valid
