managing pain

Pain stifles thought and over time shrinks brains It erodes relationships because it is difficult for friends and partners not to take the irritation or anger of pain personally. The strategies here will usually reduce or eliminate pain and avoid being restricted by it.

However pain is essential for survival. Injuries are splinted by pain and swelling, giving them time to heal. Pain signals danger, motivates change and prevents further damage. If we ignore pain or use pain-killers to continue painful activities instead of fixing the causes, they can eventually get out of hand and even become incapacitating.

pain medications
I avoid anesthetics or pain medication for surgery and tooth extractions as I experience less swelling with little discomfort after an hour or two. This approach used to be the norm but is not for everyone.

Addictive pain medications lose their effectiveness after prolonged use. In the short term they add the distressing and painful ups and downs of withdrawal symptoms and accumulating side effects to the original pain. Add to that the stress of acquiring them, monitoring them and experimenting with doses and combinations as their effectiveness waxes and wanes. A never-ending cycle of agony and relief, agony and relief.

In the long term they gradually increase sensitivity to pain. Ever increasing doses are needed to relieve pain as the body adjusts to them. Eventually the pain is no longer relieved without increasing dosage to the point of being incapacitating or life threatening and quitting is extremely distressing. Ever increasing sales are leaving a trail of illness and misery that has long since surpassed illegal heroin.

Opioids are the new twenty first century gold mine for Big Pharma now they have got heroin and morphine-like substances past regulative authorities as medications. Eager prescribers (after a bit of ritual hand-wringing) use them to create long term loyal and dependent patients. Now they are on the gravy train.

experiencing the pain
Fearing or resisting pain magnifies and perpetuates it. By relaxing or not tensing muscles the experience of pain is not as overwhelming. The same pain but not felt so intensely. Calmly experiencing the pain with curiosity and interest allows the experience of pain to subside. Notice what the pain and the fear of pain feel like and where they are felt rather than not want them.

It is as if one gets used to the pain or the nervous system just can't keep up with the task of producing the pain signal for long stretches of time once it is no longer energised by fear or tension.

hypnosis
Some people can undergo surgery without experiencing pain and alleviate chronic pain using suggestion, hypnotic suggestion or self hypnosis.

visualisations
Visualisations can be constructed from previous comfortable or imagined experiences. Distancing from the experience of pain is often effective.

diversion
Absorption in recreation can be relaxing and can swamp the senses with other stimuli. Pain can seem to disappear as attention shifts elsewhere.

massage
Specialist physiotherapy or massage can often quickly relieve muscular pain by relaxing muscles and getting them working again and this experience can provide hope and encourage the body to learn to find more comfortable ways to move and position itself.

exercise
As much exercise as possible without causing damage boosts blood flow, promotes recovery and maintains health. Vigorous activity if possible stimulates the release of endorphins that are natural pain relievers.

movement
Reorganisation of posture and movement may allow life to go on without pain or with a tolerable level of pain. Painless ways of moving might be discovered within Feldenkrais, Ti Chi,Yoga or other movement practices. If so they could be a way to exercise without pain. They are outlined in the body pages.

relaxation
During the extreme stress of a traumatic incident there is often no sensation of pain as attention is focused elsewhere, pain relieving endorphins are released and pain pathways are disconnected from awareness.

Stress, anxiety and depression amplify the experience of pain. Focusing on pain and tensing against it magnifies it.

Much pain Including most back pain results from muscle tensions. Tense back muscles can eventually pull the spine out of alignment, which increases pain. The relaxation exercises on the stress pages can be used to eliminate the tensions.

other resources
Not all pain is easy to understand or remedy. For example pain nerves can follow blood vessels growing into degenerated discs as part of the repair process and generate pain that does not respond to manipulation or exercises.

If these suggestions don't give complete relief or the cause is difficult to figure out then specialist pain clinics can often help. Fellow sufferers often post solutions to their problems on the internet. They are more motivated and focused than medics who get more for treating pain than eliminating it or diagnosing causes and don't take the pain home with them at the end of the day.

Relaxation, biofeedback, visualisation, energy therapy and trance exercises are available from therapists, the internet and books.

Yoga, Ti Chi, Feldenkrais and posture exercises and massage can be exercising and relaxing and can reorganise postures and movements that are causing pain. They are outlined on the side menu.

Being able to deal with pain is a powerful skill. It becomes possible to transcend emotional pain and face unpleasant realities and setbacks instead of hiding from them. And not be held back by fear of discomfort.

copyright (C) John Brasted 2008
updated 11/06/11

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