The Connection Between Chronic Pain & Adverse Life Events
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The basis of musculoskeletal pain is biomechanical. Yet, emotional trauma is the single most influential factor in determining the severity of chronic pain a population of patients will suffer. However, many chronic pain sufferers do not identify as having any significant trauma. Some because they legitimately don't. Many others because they do, but were just not aware.
The Biology Of Trauma
The set of physical and mental conditions we refer to as trauma are caused by a failure to process our natural responses to stress. Adverse life events cause traumatisation via the mechanisms of our ancient biology.
Psychosomatic Pain
Psychosomatic pain is real pain. Psychosomatic pain is not 'all in your head'. Psychosomatic pain is far more common than most of us realise. Psychosomatic pain is also very treatable when its underlying causes are identified and treated.
Getting To Grips With Pain Triggers
Many pain sufferers struggle to discern between what really causes their pain and what simply triggers their underlying pain issues.
Triggers are always external forces and events, like bad sleep and awkward lifts. Whereas causes can be environmental, but are often internal challenges, like having a weak core, for example.
The true causes of pain are always a very big and important deal. Pain triggers, on the other hand, are very helpful to know but often trivial in the grand scheme.
Interpret Your Symptoms Like A Pain Expert
For most of human healthcare, we assumed that our symptoms were the problem.
We have moved past that now to a large extent. For example: we know that the virus is the problem, not the green snot. Mucus is just a byproduct of healthy immune function.
Prior to the microscope, we naturally assumed the redness and swelling of an infection was ‘the problem’. But since microscopes, we know our swelling is the body’s vital inflammatory response and the actual problem was an invasion of hostile microbes. Through this deepening of scientific understanding, we’ve moved past ‘symptom blaming’. Somewhat. Because we still very much do it with pain.
How Grief Can Influence Pain
Emotions can have a profound effect on our physical health, especially when it comes to physical pain.
Mechanical Pain
If you have stubborn pain in a muscle, joint, nerve or your soft tissues - it’s highly likely to be mechanical pain. Mechanical pain is caused by factors relating to movement. It is the body's way of alerting us when healthy movement patterns are lost within body parts for an extended period of time.
Is My Pain All In My Head?
It can be a little hard to swallow, but one of the most surprising truths about the biology of pain is that pain itself doesn't happen in the body. Pain very much feels like it’s in the body, we can all agree on that, but it doesn’t mean that it is. Sensory perception and scientific truth often don’t line up too neatly.
The Possibility Of Freedom
On 10 June 1963, U.S. press based in Saigon were informed that 'something important' would happen the following morning on the road outside the Cambodian embassy in Saigon. They were unsettled times, so that in itself was certainly nothing unusual. But what followed created an emotional shock wave that was felt on a global scale.
Cold or Hot Therapy For Pain?
Pain, swelling, stiffness – our bodies often have specific ways of telling us when something is wrong. And when they do, it isn't always clear what we should do about it. Among the options are two simple, time-honored techniques, cold, and heat therapy. Understanding the distinction between these therapies, when to use them, and how they work can help empower us to address the various types of pain effectively.