even temporary pain sucks. i, like @linxminx, also have arthritis and fibromyalgia, as well as neuropathy from my diabetes and some other stuff. like her i try not to complain; folks do NOT understand, any more than they understand that depression isn't just feeling sad. i had a recent experience of which your post has reminded me. i go to adult day care thrice a week, and the director is a nice person but i felt dismissed this past monday when i was feeling some rather unusual pain that i could not attribute to anything i know i have. i had back spasms in a place that i have never before had them, and the pain migrated to the front into my ribs and affected my breathing. i mentioned it to the director and she said "let's talk about our aches and pains!" and mentioned something that hurt her, and then walked away. it was rather shockingly dismissive. my pain got worse and by the end of the day i had to cancel my ride home and instead call for an ambulance, and guess what? the paramedic had the same attitude! he kept asking me if i was SURE i wanted to go to the hospital! i was fearful that he would write down that my insurance shouldn't pay because it wasn't a real emergency! i think chest pain and an inability to draw a full breath counts as a real emergency. when i got to the e.r. the doctor expressed his fear that my pain my be coming from a pulmonary embolism. he ordered an x-ray (which an urgent care could have done) and an ultrasound of my legs (which would NOT have been done immediately at urgent care). they found nothing. they said a p.e. was not eliminated totally but less likely than previously thought. they didn't offer me an alternative explanation but they did send me home with the usual instructions: call your doctor. but to be dismissed so, twice in one day! at least the doctor wasn't like that. but lay persons.... they definitely do NOT understand. i do not wish your pain upon you and i cannot say i am glad you have it. i don't and i'm not. but i AM glad that since you DO have that pain, you are wise enough to interpret it properly and imagine what it would be like to have it chronically. not only would people not understand what it's like, but if they DID purport to understand, then they wouldn't take your seriously if you had a pain you knew was DIFFERENT from your chronic pain!

g