What is a Flare Up?

A flare up is a term for chronic pain/ongoing symptoms temporarily becoming worse, e.g ‘flaring’. Sometimes there is a very obvious cause, like menstruating or doing too much, other times there is no cause at all! If you’re like me, a flare up can be brought on by hugging someone too tightly, or even turning my head. It’s very difficult to navigate life with so many obstacles you don’t see coming! Flare ups can last for a day or sometimes even months, but the most important thing to remember is that you will not feel this way forever, things end, get better, or worse, but they never stay the same! That’s little comfort when you’re actually in a flare up, but I am not going to lie to you- the most hope I can have as someone in pain is that the pain changes.

My podcast goes through the basics of how I deal with constant pain (as I can’t take pain killers) so please check it out and read my post on how to cope with chronic pain!

A flare up is a term for chronic pain/ongoing symptoms becoming worse: flaring. My flare ups can look like me being silent (very unusual for me!) because I’m so exhausted or not being able to move due to pain (but mentally I’m okay just frustrated-feeling-trapped-with-a-brain-that-wants-to-do-things-my-body-can’t!)

On my worst days, it’s both.

What does a flare up look like for me? It looks like nothing.

It looks like any healthy 19 year old girl. Because most of my disabilities are invisible.