Chronic pain suffers.How do you deal with the stigma associated with your pain?

I have lower back pain(degerative disk disease,ruptured disks L4,L5,pinched nerve and a failed surgery)and I am only 24 years old.Most people look at me and say things along the lines as what could be wrong with her,she doesn't look to be in pain,or just out right treat me like a drug addict for taking my prescribed medication.
I just would like to know if you have dealt with something similar and how you handled it?

It use to bother me. I always felt like i had to explain myself to everyone but slowly i became sick of it. Now I'm like screw it, if there's a problem it's not mine. I needed to take care of myself and the people who love me will come along for the ride and the other people don't understand, hit the road. Some people think when your in pain you have to be crying all the time. For me there are times i get so use to my pain that i can joke around or pull myself together if i have to and people look at me like i am fine. I let them think what they want. I'm the one with the pain if they can understand it or not and i don't have to explain myself. The only thing i have to do besides be white and die is to do whatever i can to minimize my pain.

I have chronic pain also. I guess because I am older I just don't care what ppl think. I take my pain medication and I do the best I can. I say a private prayer for ppl who don't understand and I get on with my life. You will learn to do it too.

Difficult problem. You might wish to consult other orthos. Problems with spines is as soon as one vert. goes, the one above and below are more stressed. Rods, bars and other divices then are attached to vertebrae higher up, and so the problem extends higher up.

As for pain meds, take 'em. And if phys. therapy has any ideas, go for strengthening the supporting tissue, do the exercises. You didn't say if your condition was from kyphosis, lordosis, scoliosis or an injury, so therapy, and therefore treatments would differ. But do what you need to do to reduce your pain, without becoming "blotto" -- sometimes a thin line.

I just came down with tennis shoulder yesterday, si I'm taking the pills. From a person who's 13 years over the hill.

as a emerg dept RN in a regional 1 trauma center here in new york......i have seen many young people on high doses of medications to deal with their back pain; most physicians would agree, the key to getting back to a normal lifestyle is to wean yourself back or off the narcotics so you can think more clear and feel better; patients on high doses of narcotics sometimes have paranoid thoughts of how others "view" them...a.k.a. you mentioned " others treat you like your a drug addict"...........maybe its a behavior or slurred speech why on the pain meds......

seek help from you doctor or local pain clinic , to assist you in weaning of the pain medications (narcotics).....you don't want to live the rest of your life like this .do you?