Have you been dealing with persistent pain?
Have you tried and failed lots of different therapies?
Are you frustrated and beginning to believe your pain will never go?
Fear not because you can 100% get better, and you, not your therapist will be the one to achieve this.
If you search google, listen to other people’s opinions, listen to therapists and doctors, scan results, you can become overwhelmed with the conflicting nature of advice, diagnosis and become fearful and anxious regarding your pain and ability to function.
The most important thing you need to know is that ongoing pain does not necessarily mean tissue damage or injury.
Pain is a complex process that is not attributed only to tissue damage but is based on a complex interaction of your biology, psychology, physiology, immunology and society. When your brain and nervous system become aware of a threat that is as a result of an injury or as a result of a non-physical stressor, the same response will be triggered. Your brain cannot detect whether the threat is physical or not.
But what it will do is try and protect you from this threat, by exciting the flight or fight response. This flight or fight response triggers your nervous system to tense your muscles, breathe differently and changes your blood flow and thought processes. If continuosly triggered your pain can persist despite injury healing. This is what causes pain to persist long after an injury.
So, what can be done?
Firstly, knowledge is power, understanding that you are not in danger if you do an activity is vital. An ability to make sense of why you are feeling the way you do is important to get you on the road to recovery.
Fantastic resources for understanding your pain are out there:
Understanding Pain – Youtube video from HNEHealth 5 minute video
Why things hurt Lorrimer Mosley 14 minutes
General health and Immune function in pain Kieran O Sullivan
Tame the BEAST a fantastic website from Lorimer Mosley and team
An athlete’s story on overcoming chronic pain persistent pain can happen to anyone
So what can you do with this knowledge?
It is essential that you use this knowledge to help yourself get back to doing what you love. Here at Sligo Physio Space we work with this knowledge to help guide you back to normal activities. You will be given the steps and advice that will give you control of your rehabilitation and have you back having fun and feeling great before you know it.
Simple things you can do:
Move: movement and exercise are the pinnacles of persistent pain rehabilitation
Reduce fear: the simple knowledge that you cannot do harm by moving can change things rapidly
Breathe: the easiest way to reduce the flight or fight response, breathe awareness training with your therapist is a simple and extremely effective way to reduce pain
If you want to get control of your pain get in touch, we will guide you back to doing what you love.
