Pain

Let’s just jump in - Pain is not pleasant

Pain is different and personal for every person.

Conditions we see here at the clinic with pain.

• Arthritis – osteo and rheumatoid
• Degenerative Back Pain, Prolapsed Disc
• Carpel Tunnel
• Cancer
• Fibromyalgia
• Headaches and migraines
• Shingles and Neuropathic pain
• Post-surgical / Post Injury
• Long covid
• Digestive pain – IBS and Diverticula
• Period pain
• Pain with no cause and no answers

Chronic pain can sadly in some cases lead to anxiety and depression.

Pain is real and one of the worst symptoms a person can have. 

There is no way we can say it is ‘made up’.

However, the biggest question is whether it is a structural disorder or a non-structural disorder. If it is a structural disorder how much is the structural disorder effecting the brain signalling or the other way round. 

Many treatment plans are about managing pain not eliminating it. 

I ask and have thought about this a lot over the last 10 years.

The reason I ask this is that as we get older slowly our spine, joints and body deteriorate, degenerates and ages. 

Personally, I have a degenerative neck issue and 9 years ago hit a crisis of cervical radiculopathy from 3 prolapsed discs causing extreme pain down my right arm. 

Now, 9 years later, my arm is not in pain, and I can manage the condition and keep out of pain YET the degenerative neck is the same and/or maybe worse, taking aging into account.

Pain recovery takes patience and nurturing; more patience if it is nerve pain.

During the recent congress our naturopaths attended I was inspired to write this on the back of Dr. Howard Schubiner‘s lecture where he explained how the subconscious brain can serve as a friend or foe in alleviating or experiencing pain and he shared some ideas on how the mind can overcome chronic longstanding pain. 

Here is a tiny but significant story - when I realized this was the case with my arm pain, which in my world seemed to come on after bike riding. Three weeks later after heavy pain killers, hospitalization and rehab I was sitting up comfortably and my troublesome arm was softly resting on a pillow. No pain at this point. I started watching a bit of the tour de France on TV. I did not move I did not turn my neck and the pain went to 8/10. Why – no movement, but what was the trigger? What was my brain thinking at this point? I was watching the bikes on cobblestones, I watched rider’s necks, and BANG pain was back. This was a light bulb moment and changed my whole thought pattern regarding pain. I challenged this and for the next week watched 5-10 minutes each night the same Tour de France and this time watched the mountains and wheels, basically anything but the necks. BINGO – no pain trigger. 

Therefore, can anyone’s pain can be exacerbated by stress, late nights, emotions, fear, anxiety, transitions in life, financial worry, work stress, moving houses, changing jobs, relationship breakdowns, past childhood trauma?  I believe so. If we are not tuned in, aware and able to calm our own brain signalling, our condition of pain can get quite bad, if not excruciating. I personally had to make friends with myself and knew if I did not work on the brain component of pain, I would not have improved or coped.

I still managed my brain’s response in a multifaceted approach. I continually even now look at stress and stressors, my exercise program, my work life balance, sleep pattern, breathing, social life, emotions, and nutrients. I had no choice to approach it multi dimensionally – I was in so much pain.

This is a whole different approach to pain. 

Whether pain is generated in the body, mind or both - PAIN IS REAL.

If you are in pain, I want you to try a new approach and look at helping it via the brains signalling.

Where do I start?

1. You want to feel better and happy to try a different approach
2. Be prepared to work with your brain to help yourself
3. Change the way you approach your pain
4. Chose to move forward – tune into what your soul is needing to heal.
5. Be intuitive, be in tune and perceptive to what emotions could be connected to your pain. Examples – fear, grief, resentment, terror, sadness, loneliness, insecurity, post traumatic stress, sexual harassment, emotional abuse. Your practitioner can help identify this. 
6. Do not expect others – to be the main fix, use all your practitioners to learn from and then take the information and really tune into what changes in activities and thoughts you need to embrace to make the difference. 
7. Keep hope and positive and start each day thinking forward and maybe using affirmations if this helps. This can be hard when living in chronic pain. 
8. Be a ‘Master of your own fate/ Captain of your soul’ – (quote from poem Invictus)
9. Let go of what does not work for you anymore – be it an emotion, relationship, anything that is holding your health back.
10. Let go expectations
11. Forgive yourself and forgive others.
12. Define boundaries
13. Move forward every day in a positive way.

Help yourself get well and the pain shrink – you do not need it anymore.

• Find a good body worker – myotherapy, osteopathy, NST, bowen
• Meditate daily
• Go to bed early and have a good nurturing sleep routine
• Exercise daily – if needed see an exercise physiologist or physiotherapy or specific reformative gym and/or pilates work or hydrotherapy
• Breath work- 4 seconds in 4 second hold and 4 seconds out
• Toxic load – reduce the intake of coffee and alcohol and vaping and artificial sweeteners
• Create a healthier eating plan - Talk to your practitioner about our super eating plan.  Keep low sugar with low gluten and carbohydrates and lots of fish and green vegetables
• Keep immune system up
• Socialize, hobbies and laughter 
• Posture
• Fresh air 
• Emotional health – see a kinesiologist or psychologist or counsellor or psychotherapist
• Take the right supplements for inflammation, pain relief, detoxing, vagus tone, immune, minerals, vitamins, and probiotics
• Drink healthy clean water 1-2 litres a day
• Live in a clean, toxic free, mould free environment. 
• Have relative positive affirmations and make small goals to move forward. 
• Be positive and self- disciplined

Being In pain is unbearable so moving on a path out of pain is a journey and there is not always a quick fix but every step you make to change can make a difference. Look for the solutions for you – if something is not working change it up.  Your team makes a difference, and you can make the difference. Here at the clinic, we are ready to help you on this journey – you do not have to be alone on this journey. 

Ref: Metagenic Congress 2022 – Dr. Howard Schubiner