Pain is in the mind. Well, brain. Thus I think personal outlook can have a bearing on what you can and can't do.
Once my scan results came through, I gave myself a good talking to, and feel an order of magnitude better, which has given me a different outlook on my capabilities. OK, I'm still not back to the capability levels I was at pre-accident, both pain levels/stamina/fitness levels, but I sure as hell am not the cripple I was 3 months ago.
But pain is there for a reason. Its an image created by the brain to protect its host from damage, so we need to take it into account that maybe, but no always, we are asking too much from a damaged part of the body. Its for this reason, I don't believe it should be suppressed if at all possible. Hence, I rarely take medication, and use my "its only pain, it will go away" attitude.
Those who know me know I'm a bit gay with medication anyway. Half an asprin, I'm out like a light. Even those mild 500mg painkillers the quack gives me, I have to have by 7pm if I need to drive at 8am the next day. Those ones that Mrs TB used to have, she made me pop one when I chewed tarmac on the Kwaka (I probably should have gone to A&E, but I have a natural distrust of the medical profession), well, I was 'dangle berries'ed. I prefer the pain to the effects of the medication, but then I think I had a pretty high pain threshold anyway... ...except banging cold fingers for some reason, then I'm a girl
