Pain is a symptom. Symptoms are the feedback that the body generates when it faces problems with its delicate internal balance (homeostasis). Without symptoms like pain, thirst, nausea and fevers, it would be very difficult for us to maintain a healthy body in the same way that it would be hard to drive a car safely with no dashboard display.
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.
After using intensive cupping therapy to support remedial care of chronic pain patients for nearly 20 years, I feel an incredible weight of responsibility. To help people understand this often overlooked but vital tool in the box of remedial pain management techniques.
There is nothing wrong whatsoever with seeking pharmaceutical pain relief to tide you over until real healing of your chronic pain starts to take effect. But in most instances, seeking real answers to chronic pain from your family doctor is a highly questionable endeavour. Doctors are trained and equipped to treat medical issues.
People who have suffered a manageable amount of pain seek relief, while those who have suffered an unmanageable amount of pain seek resolution. Resolution of pain means wishing for it to go away and never come back. Both relief and resolution are possible for most pains. But in order to take a realistic shot at pain resolution, most people need first to make a mind resolution. A resolution to do whatever it takes to reclaim their life, relationships and health from the grip of chronic pain and underlying causes.
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.
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.
Emotions can have a profound effect on our physical health, especially when it comes to physical pain.
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.