Pain is very subjective and everybody feels pain in their own unique way. More and more evidence is suggesting that mental triggers are just as important at creating pain as are physical ones. We all know that doing some physical work can bring on back pain but it maybe that ‘what you are thinking about’ at the time is also just as important as what you are doing!
X-ray evidence shows that many people with degenerative changes in their bodies have no pain and that many people in long term pain show nothing on an X-ray so what is going on?
We all know that stress can cause things like headaches and can upset our stomach or bladder so maybe we’re not recognising the bigger picture that more significant and long term stress is actually affecting us in ways that we don’t recognise.
Research has shown that people are healthier and recover better from serious illness if they have a positive self-image and are optimistic. Realism has been found to be bad for your health!
People in long term chronic pain have often been found to have had adverse childhood experiences like the death of a parent or an acrimonious divorce.
It is becoming clear that the emotional turmoil we experience throughout our lives can lie unresolved in our minds and connects in with neural pain pathways and thus sets up pain.
So how stressed are you?
How much stress have you had in the past?
If this is unresolved it can not only create pain but also interfere with other physiological process and ultimately downgrade your general health.
So what can you do? Firstly take care of your mental health as well as your physical health. Go to the mind gym and feed yourself with positivity eg stop watching the news and start doing some mindful meditation.
SIRPA, the association for Stress Induced Recovery aims to help people understand that stress past and present is a major cause of pain and poor health and they provide simple but ground breaking techniques to help you rid yourself of chronic pain and live a full happy and healthy life.
For more information contact me 020 8954 2254
To understand this more I recommend you read this book ‘Chronic Pain Your Key to Recovery’ by Georgie Oldfield http://www.sirpauk.com/product/chronic-pain-your-key-to-recovery/
or Mind Body Prescription by John Sarno
