Broadening the Understanding of Persistent Pain.

Pain is a bodily sensation created by our nervous system to protect us by alerting us to a potential or actual threat to our wellbeing and health. The decision to generate pain is informed by inputs from our full experience, including; past experiences, our current situation and future implications (bio-psycho-social). This information is processed by our brain to help it predict the possibility and level of threat, determining the extent of pain produced. The current understanding of pain offers us a broader context within which we might experience pain, as well as an idea of the multiple factors that influence the generation of pain. Within this understanding one of the key reasons pain is generated, and largely the context in which we have understood pain, is to alert us to an injury or other condition, therefore it is recommended that medical assessment is sought for a new onset of pain.

Have you ever had the experience of watching someone get injured in a sports game or in a movie and literally had a felt experience of the injury in your own body? Or perhaps you have had a previous injury that when you recall it you re-experience a reminder of the pain you were in at the time. Our nervous system has the ability to generate pain as well as a range of other physical sensations, think butterflies in your tummy when excited or a feeling of nausea when nervous.

By gaining a broader understanding of the factors that influence the production of pain, as well as the different contexts we can experience pain in, we are better able to treat persistent pain. Persistent pain is defined as pain that has been experienced for 3 months or longer, or beyond that of expected healing time and can effect any bodily area, for example ongoing low back pain, shoulder pain or fibromyalgia. If this sounds similar to the pain you may be experiencing please feel free to connect so we can work together to bring about relief.

Some additional resources;

• The Way Out by Alan Gordon

• Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John E Sarno MD

• Chronic Pain: Your Key to Recovery by Georgie Oldfield MCSP

And if you want to expand your knowledge on the fascinating mind/body connection try these;

• The Expectation Effect: by David Robson

• The Mindful Body by Ellen J. Langer

• When the Body Says No: The Hidden Cost of Stress by Gabor Maté

This article is not intended to replace medical advice. If you are experiencing pain it is recommended that you seek medical advice to rule out physical injury or an underlying condition.