With physical distancing, we have been gifted with some extra time. Let’s take advantage of this time to take the first step to address your pain.
Embrace this rare opportunity and start living your best life!
Pain. For some it’s aching or throbbing, for others it’s sharp and burning. For some, it lasts only a few days, but for others, it can last for years. While our pain experiences may differ, I am sure we can all agree on a couple of things: 1. pain is annoying and 2. we want to rid ourselves of it as quickly as possible. One of the key steps you can take to alleviate your pain is learning about it. Knowledge is power!
The Pain Quiz
True or False?
- Pain is a sensory and emotional experience.
- The body tells the brain when it’s in pain.
- Pain occurs whenever you injure yourself.
- Chronic pain means an injury hasn’t healed properly.
- The brain decides when you will experience pain.
Answers
1. TRUE. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory AND emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage. It [pain] is unquestionably a sensation in a part or parts of the body, but it is also always unpleasant and therefore also an emotional experience.”
2. FALSE. There are no nerves in the body that can relay the message of pain to the brain. Alternatively, the body contains nerves called nociceptors, which are best described as danger detectors. When nociceptors detect danger, they send an alarm signal to the brain. The brain then has to interpret this signal based on everything else happening in the environment, your mood, emotions, stress level, beliefs, fear, past experiences, previous injures, etc. Infinite variables can contribute to this experience. Based on ALL this information, the brain has to decide whether the danger is sufficient to warrant a reaction. If the brain decides the danger is sufficient, it sends a pain signal to the body in an attempt to get your attention. This is to prevent you from causing or doing further damage, help you determine the best course of action, and to ensure your survival. Pain is protective.
3. FALSE. Nociception, or a danger message, is neither necessary nor sufficient to experience pain. Let’s use bruising as an example. How many times have you found bruises on yourself but have no idea where they came from? When you bruise there is actual tissue damage. Small blood vessels rupture due to trauma, but many times you don’t feel it and it’s not until you see the bruise that you are even aware that something has happened. In this example, the brain decided that the danger imposed by the damaged blood vessels is NOT sufficient enough to warrant a response. The small amount of damage isn’t a big threat to your survival so that brain decides it’s more important for you to continue on with your day.
Pain can also occur when there is NO injury. Think of the time you had a headache. What caused it? Did you hit your head really hard and damage your skull and/or brain? Probably not. The more likely scenario is you woke up with it, it started to build as you sat at work all day or some other reason that has not caused any damage to your head. Even though there is no damage, we can still experience the pain of a headache. Remember, many factors can contribute to the experience of pain, and in the case of a headache it could be a combination of stress, anxiety, lack of sleep, dehydration, food sensitivity, etc.
4. FALSE. Our bodies are very proficient at healing injured tissue. Most tissue in the body (e.g. bone, skin, ligament, muscle, spinal discs) heals within 3 months or less. Have you ever broken a bone? For simple fractures, you are usually in a cast for approximately 6 weeks and then you are able to slowly return to normal function. At 6 weeks, the bone has not completely healed, but it is strong enough to take load again, which will promote continued healing. The amount of healing that occurs after 6 weeks is sufficient for the brain to deem there is no longer danger or a threat in this area. Injuries heal. Why then does pain linger for longer than 3 months for some people? For simplicity, pain persists because our alarm system has become sensitive or over-reactive. This can happen in the body, spinal cord and/or brain. It can result in odd symptoms (sensitivity to light touch, pain spreading to other areas if the body from the initial source, pain in the same area on the other side of the body, etc.) Bottom line: Pain is not an accurate measure of the health of the tissue in the body.
5. TRUE. The brain is the master control. It ultimately decides when you will experience pain based on not only the messages it receives from the spinal cord and body, but many other factors (e.g. stress, fear, past experience, previous injuries, environment, mood, etc.).
How did you do? Do you have a good understanding of pain? If not, this should be your starting point. Check out the link below to learn more. This is a great resource so use in conjunction with a healthcare provider that has a good understanding of pain.
REFERENCES
International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). IASP Terminology. 2018.https://www.iasp-pain.org/Education/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=1698#Pain
Butler DS, Moseley GL. Explain pain. 2nd Edition (2013). NOIgroup Publications. Adelaide, Australia.
Butler DS, Moseley GL. Explain pain supercharged. (2013). NOIgroup Publications. Adelaide, Australia.
Lehman G. Recovery strategies pain guidebook. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57260f1fd51cd4d1168668ab/t/590dca266b8f5b01a7f97ceb/1494075961206/recovery+strategies+pain+guidebook+2017.pdf