The Daily Grind of Living With Chronic Pain: An Applied Hermeneutic Exploration

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to explore the philosophy regarding understanding the complex experience of living with chronic pain. As well, this article addresses a person’s suffering as an evolving process of learning to not only manage pain but to learn how to live well through exploring their suffering narrative. A hermeneutical interpretive approach was used to engage participants in this research and to offer a philosophical reinterpretation of living with chronic pain from a humanistic and tacit perspective. This work is offered to invite and extend our discussions about the complexity of living with chronic pain. It can also be understood as a process of rewriting oneself from a lived chaotic state of pain into a new affective historical consciousness. This transition from acute to chronic pain explored through a philosophical context can provide insight into the ways in which patients learn to live well with their condition.