Pain is a feeling triggered in the nervous system. It can be physiological, or psychological. Pain can be dull, it can be sharp. It can be acute it can be chronic. It can be short lived or last for ages. It can nag at you, stab at you, annoy you, cause you to ache, to feel nauseous, it can at times be debilitating.
Pain may be felt in one area of the body such as the head, stomach, arm, leg or back; or, in the case of flu or fibromyalgia it can be felt all over. One thing for sure is that it usually hurts!
Pain can be divided into two main categories of which there are sub-categories. Pain is either chronic or acute.Pain that lasts a long time is called chronic, and pain that resolves quickly is called acute.
Pain can also be useful however, in that it can be helpful in diagnosing a problem. Without pain, it is possible to seriously hurt yourself without knowing it; without pain it is possible that you might not realise you have a medical problem that needs treatment. Once the reason for the pain has been identified and acted upon, pain usually goes away, if it doesn´t then it usually comes under the `chronic category´. Chronic pain whilst it can be debilitating at times can ordinarily `be managed´.
Fortunately, there are many ways to treat pain and treatment varies depending on the cause of pain. For example a lot of pain relief can be obtained by medications such as analgesics, and sometimes surgery is either helpful or necessary. Another way to treat pain is through the use of the mind. Consider chronic back pain for instance; chronic back pain can limit your everyday activities and make it difficult to do every day mundane tasks or even to work. It cantherefore also affect how involved you are with friends, family members and fellow workers as they may have to do more than their usual share of daily tasks, especially when you cannot do the things you normally do. This can cause unwanted feelings of frustration within youbecause you cannot do what you used to do; resentment because you resent others being able to do more than you can, and this ultimately, can lead to stress.
These feelings and emotions can (and often do) aggravate or worsen your back pain. Why?
Because of the mind-body relationship. They work together – they are inextricably linked. The way your mind controls your thoughts and attitudes influences the way your body controls your pain. Both the pain itself, and /or the fear of pain, can cause you to avoid both physical and social activities. Over time this leads to less physical strength and weaker social relationships. It can also cause more lack of functioning and more pain. And so the cycle continues.
This can lead to depression which is very common among people who have chronic back pain for instance. Continual pain can cause depression or make existing depression worse and not surprisingly, depression can also make any pain worse.Even mild depression can affect how well you can manage your pain and stay active.
There is a belief that behind every physiological problem there is a psychological cause or issue. As a Mind and Body Therapist with an eclectic mix of both psychological and `hands on´ tools in my therapy toolbox I can offer assistance with managing or even eradicating your pain.
The beauty of having an eclectic mix of tools to help with pain relief is that pain is very subjective; what is extremely painful for one person may not necessarily be so for another, and, what provides pain relief for one may not help another. One thing for sure is that help in managing pain is available, whether that is physical and /or emotional pain.
If you are in pain or think you may be depressed or if you are having a hard time controlling your emotions, it is best to get help sooner rather than later. If your pain is the result of an accident or emotional trauma, research has shown that some people are not able to fully deal with their pain until they deal with the emotional stress that their accident or trauma caused.