Why Chronic Pain Sufferers Hate Yoga
‘Have you tried that yet?’ and other unhelpful and hurtful questions
The Zoom support group I attended broke into knowing groans.
The 10 or so participants, including me, suffer from chronic pain. We all had heard the same suggestion from family members, friends, co-workers, healthcare providers, even strangers: “Have you tried yoga yet?”
The question is sincere and comes from a genuine desire to help those of us in pain. But it is almost always not what chronic-pain sufferers care to hear. The sentiment from us generally is, “Down with downward dog.”
If you know someone in chronic pain — say a family member, friend, or co-worker — it’s vital to understand that the questions you ask may be unhelpful, hurtful, or even harmful. Honestly, we sufferers don’t want to be pestered by so-called solutions we’ve been asked about before. It’s exhausting to keep saying, “Yeah, I tried that and it didn’t help much.” It’s damaging to be constantly on the hook to explain why we aren’t getting better right away. And it’s demoralizing to be thought of as “not trying hard enough.”
“Down with downward dog.”
