Free
We long to be ‘pain-free’. Because physical pain is somehow the opposite of physical freedom, it places terrible limitations on the variety, quality, and vibrancy of the life we are able to lead.
We long to be ‘pain-free’. Because physical pain is somehow the opposite of physical freedom, it places terrible limitations on the variety, quality, and vibrancy of the life we are able to lead.
John is one of those rare gentlemen who has continued to play competitive soccer well into his late 50s. He is in really good shape, which you need to be to play football at that age—good shape except for his left leg. His left leg is not in good condition at all. In fact, once you get to know his left leg a bit better, it becomes apparent that it's miraculous that he's able to run at all, Let alone the type of running required to play competitive soccer against younger men.
Steve was a fixer, the kind of person you would trust to get a job done. He was a resourceful and intelligent business coach with 20 years of experience pulling small business owners out of deep stressful-filled holes they mostly dug for themselves.
Few things in life deserve more respect and appreciation than science. Science has made our lives so much easier, warmer, drier and safer that it is hard to fathom.
Using hormetic (healthy) stress to heal painful tissues is a crucial element of pain management.. Even for pains that are predominantly nervous system based (like PTSD-associated pain), there is great value in healing and strengthening painful tissues.
Over time, a toxic belief can be as harmful to the body as a toxic chemical. One of the most toxic and inaccurate beliefs nurtured by many pain sufferers is that their pain is caused by getting older. The old age myth may stem directly from the global family doctor's office, where it is often advertised, but it's hard to know for sure where it started.
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.
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.
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.
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.