Tag Archives: chronic pain

12Sep/16
Mindful commuting

Mindful commuting

Anxiety, Mindfulness, , , ,

Mindful commutingMany people commute to work creating a great opportunity to create calm, focus and prepare for a top performance, simply with mindful commuting. In London, a huge number of commuters use the tube, which is rammed with people (in a rush), often smelly and particularly hot in the summer. How can one create calm and focus in those circumstances you may wonder?

As a commuter you join thousands of others, some of which push you, breathe on you, lean on you, rest their paper on you (I once saw a woman rest her newpaper on a man’s back, which she quickly moved when he turned, only to put it back when he looked away — it was quite amusing), stare at you and nudge you. Today there was a small space next to me and a man forced his way into it creating discomfort for everyone, including himself. So there are just a few incidences that could challenge one’s patience and yet what a great opportunity to develop the skills of patience and compassion towards others. In doing so, you feel better versus feeling anger, frustration or annoyance. We can choose.

Over and above developing a compassionate outlook for the day ahead by looking deeply at a situation (we can consider that the other person may be suffering for a range of reasons and hence behaving in a certain way), we can use the following practices to orientate ourselves towards positive emotions. Being aware of and acknowledging positive emotions broadens our thinking and receptiveness as well as enhances our resilience in the face of a challenge, all of which impact upon our performance at work based on how we communicate with ourselves and others.

  • each time you find yourself becoming irritated on your commute, take 3 breaths and in particular notice your out-breath
  • walk mindfully, paying attention to each step and just be curious as to what is going on around you. Notice how it makes you feel and return your attention to your walking
  • if you cannot get through the crowd because it is busy, return your attention to your breathing to create calm and then walk mindfully
  • be aware of those around you and wish them well in your thinking, noticing how this makes you feel and how the world then appears
  • as you pay attention to your breathing, think kindly about your colleagues and boss so that when you encounter them, you communicate with skill and not on a background of feeling stressed and anxious
  • if you feel stressed and anxious it is because your thinking (embodied) has drifted into the past or future, thereby flavouring the present. Take 3 breaths and see things for what they are; be aware of this moment
  • listen to a mindful app on the journey
  • practice mindful breathing when you simply pay attention to your breath that holds you in the present moment

There are many more ways of practicing but in essence just using one or two will help you create calm and focus. Try it and see!

Mindfulness is a very practical way of being that creates calm, peace and allows you to to see things for what they are as you are consistently aware of the present moment, you listen deeply and speak with skill to communicate understanding and compassion. This is transformative in all situations and achievable for all.

Mindfulness practice forms part of the Pain Coach Programme for pain and chronic pain | t. 07518 445493

28Aug/16
simple skills

Simple skills

Chronic pain, Pain, Pain Coach, , , ,

simple skillsThere are a number of simple skills that can be practiced to become a better clinician. In essence, when we are fully present and engaged, we are communicating this to the patient thereby creating a nourishing environment. This environment sets the scene for new understanding and new habits, beginning the transformation of the suffering person.

We are not separate from the environment in which we reside and hence we, the clinicians, have a role in how the environment supports the person getting better. Arranging the treatment space is important then, enabling the patient to feel welcome, heard, comfortable and free to express themselves. This expression is the story to which the clinician must listen deeply as all the information is contained within the narrative. Allowing the person to speak in their own language with occasional prompts and guidance is the basis of the onward journey towards their vision of a desired outcome.

For the clinician to practice mindfulness is a simple way of maintaining presence and engagement with the patient. This simply means that you are listening deeply and using insight to see the causes of suffering that are revealed as the person speaks freely. Add to this compassionate speech and the communication facilitates the way forward. Communication is part of the treatment as the clinician helps the patient understand their pain and suffering — what has happened so far, what is happening now, what is influencing their pain, what they can do, what the clinician will do and how they will go about it.

Practicing mindfulness is a simple skill. As a starter, the clinician can take 4-5 breaths between patients, paying attention to the rise and fall of their chest. On the out-breath you can consciously let go of unhelpful and distracting thoughts. As soon as your mind drifts into the past or future, you are no longer present and your engagement dissolves. During the session, recognising this happening and bringing your attention back to your breath is a way of re-engaging once more.

Taking a break midway through the day to move, breath and nourish is an important refresh and renew point. A period of deep relaxation for 10-20 minutes gives us energy to be present once more and focus on the patient: their words, their gestures, their messages. We must develop our abilities to gain insight into the causes of the patient’s suffering so that we can guide and treat, enabling them to get better and ease their pain and suffering. In fact, by gaining insight ourselves, we can then help the patient to develop their insight into the causes of their own suffering and create new healthy habits around their thinking, choices and actions to actively infer new experiences.

Practical point: start by taking 4-5 breaths between patients, and at the start of the day express gratitude for the opportunity to help people get better.

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Pain Coach 1:1 Mentoring Programme — develop yourself and your insights to coach people overcome their pain | t. 07518 445493

27Aug/16
If pain

If pain

Chronic pain, Pain, Uncategorized, understand pain, UP | Understand Pain campaign, , ,

If painIf pain was understood, there would be less suffering.

If pain was understood, the right messages would be given from a young age, sculpting behaviours based on what needs to be done.

If pain was understood, there would be no fear about it.

If pain was understood, we would focus on what we can do to feel better.

If pain was understood, it would be known that listening deeply is the first step to help someone transform their pain.

If pain was understood, it would be known that understanding pain changes pain.

If pain was understood, there would be an enormous amount of money available for a better society.

If pain was understood, it would sit in the realm of public health and not medicine.

If pain was understood, there would not be the reliance on medication.

If pain was understood, what would the world be like?

— this is the mission of UP | understand pain; to globally change the understanding of pain, because put simply, the world would be a better place if pain were understood.

www.understandpain.com

23Aug/16

Inequalities in pain relief

Chronic pain, Pain, Pain Coach, ,

A brief article in yesterday’s Guardian highlighted one of the inequalities in pain relief. The author, Grace Rahman, focused on the question why black patients are given less pain relief in the light of recent research. With pain being the most common cause of Emergency Room visits, there is plenty of data to analyse. This is likely to be the same in the UK, pain being the primary vehicle that takes people to seek help. As a significant aside, it astounds me that pain is so low on the public health agenda in terms of funding for research as well as overall recognition.

Depression and chronic pain take the first two positions in global health burdens — they cost us the most. Yet where are the campaigns? Where is the TV coverage? They do not exists despite the fact that pain is a universal experience, except in an unlucky few with a rare genetic disorder, which is normal and necessary for survival but so deeply troubling when it persists. Therein lies a major issue contributing to the question penned by the journalist: why are black patients given less pain relief?

Previously, young babies may not have been given pain relief and older people may still not receive adequate pain relief, especially those who are cognitively impaired. The aggression seen in someone suffering dementia may well be due to pain that a simple analgesic would relieve. The misunderstanding of pain underpins all of these contexts, resulting in poor treatment that is based on the wrong thinking. The lack of pain education is incredible when you consider it in this light.

A study quoted by the author highlighted the knowledge gaps of white medical students who rated pain levels to be lower in black people when looking at case studies. Why would this be the case? It was thought to be due to ‘entrenched ideas’ about how people differ biologically and about how they behave in relation to using medication.

Each person is unique with their own personal experiences and narratives of their life to date. This makes an individual’s pain unique, and at any given moment our lived experience that could include pain, is also unique. I have never had this moment before and never will again. So even in the individual, the pain is never the same. We are always changing as we build up prior experiences with every passing moment in time. Understanding this is important and also delivers hope, because when combined with a working knowledge of pain and what we can do to actively steer a desired course within realistic parameters, we actualise change.

Therefore, as clinicians and as a society we must appreciate that each person’s experience of pain is unique and just as they person says it is — listening deeply is vital to gain an understanding with the required compassion. Just spending those moments with the person, allowing them the time and space to describe their experience allows a calming. We must certainly appreciate culture, gender and beliefs as we impart the truth behind someone’s pain, giving them knowledge and skills to overcome their pain and what fuels the sensations. This is the same for every person — whatever the colour of your skin, age or sex. Deep listening, compassionate speech and a focus on what action to take in this moment.

Much suffering comes from how we think about our pain, which is why we feel better when we understand pain and the fear dissolves. When the fear and worry decrease, so the pain eases and we can focus on what we need to do to get better. Fear, worry and depression are based on the contents of our thinking from the past or the future, neither of which exist except in our embodied minds. The only real moment is this one, now. Practicing being present and seeing what is actually in front of you by using the breath for example, allows the person to let go and concentrate on this moment. This is the foundation for moving onward in a chosen direction.

Medication is part of overcoming pain. It can be useful when used wisely within a plan that includes how and when the drugs will be reduced. Of course this is individualised to the person, their condition and their needs. Many people choose not to use pain relief, and certainly the opiate based drugs. Everyone wants relief and this should be a primary aim of any treatment programme, however, the person needs to understand how they themselves via their own thinking, perceptions and actions can change their pain. This is the main bulk of the work for that person as they need to be able to coach themselves at any given moment, each day. The strategies and exercises become healthy habits formed through practice that interweaves into the day. Continuing with normal activities in tolerable chunks maintains a sense of living a life and I often say to people that they can only get only get back to living by getting back to living — doing the things you want to and starting doing the things you have not been doing, bit by bit; thinking ‘can’ instead of ‘cannot’. It is just that you need some ways and means to do so as you build up tolerance by following a programme. A simple analogy is all the background work that an athlete would do in order to perform their sport. The programme is the background work.

Bearing this in mind, there is only one way and this is to consider and treat the unique person as much as the condition. In doing so we learn about their suffering and guide them forwards with treatment that gives the person working knowledge of their pain and skills so that they can coach or mentor themselves forward by thinking and acting in such a way as to take them forwards.

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Pain Coach Programme for persistent and chronic pain | t. 07518 445493

 

18Aug/16
Trauma

Trauma

Chronic pain, Pain, Pain Coach, , ,

TraumaAll injuries have a degree of trauma, but some more than others. The moment of injury is just that, a moment. Part of the experience is an urge to do something in a way of protecting the self both in thought (what shall I do here?) and action taken. The thoughts and actions, unified into a lived experience of action-perception, are based on prior knowledge and situations as we try to make some sense of what is happening now. As humans, we have a tendency to flavour the present moment with thoughts of the past or future, neither existing beyond the thought itself. The problem lies in the fact that the thought is embodied, resulting to a greater or lesser degree from the current body state, which we then fully experience with sensations in the body, feelings and emotions; embodied. For example, purposefully thinking about a prior happy occasion usually fills you with the same feelings of joy and pleasure as if you were there again. The same is true for thoughts of an unhappy situation in the past. However, this body state is continually updating and hence we are in a position to steer our change in a desired direction by thinking-acting in a way that aligns with our values and vision of how we want to be. We purposely put ourselves into situations to get better.

Understanding the state of the individual before the trauma and at the time of the trauma provides important insight into the subsequent unfolding of events. A person experiencing persistent pain continues to suffer despite the tissues (body) healing, which they do to the best of the body’s ability, because the systems designed to protect us continue to be vigilant to potential dangers. These potential dangers soon become normal day to day situations, now regarded as posing a threat to the individual’s survival, hence the pain to motivate defensive thoughts and behaviours. The longer these habits persist, the more suffering. But, this is not set in stone and indeed the practice of new, healthy habits steers a new course. We are designed to change and we can decide on the direction, using new habits to get there. Not always a smooth route, it is the one that takes you towards a meaningful life as you overcome the challenges with new understanding of pain and the best course of action. Maintaining this course also relies upon recognising distractions (unhelpful thoughts that affect mood and motivation — old habits) and re-orientating to the desired route.

Healing is not simply about the muscles, bones and other tissues repairing. It is about the person resuming their sense of self — ‘I feel like me’. This is a process of understanding, adapting, gaining insight into the causes of suffering, the practice of new habits and gradually engaging once more in normal activities including socialising. I think about this as getting back to living, by getting back to living instead of waiting for pain to subside before re-engaging. The re-engaging itself has a role in getting better and pain easing. This comprehensive approach, or whole-person approach, is key to success.

A pure focus on tissues means that the person living the experience is neither acknowledge nor addressed. There is the pain, the injury (the two are not well related) and the person’s appraisal of both, which if not validated and considered, means that a huge source of suffering is neglected. This does not mean in-depth psychological assessment, instead recognising that there is an individual with a story that needs guidance towards getting better. We are more than an injured leg or back. Insightful and compassionate clinicians will work in an egoless way as they focus on the person getting better by helping them to understand how they create the conditions for their health — environment, surrounding and influential people, their programme. We often use the phrase ‘I want to go back to how I was’, but of course this is impossible as we cannot go back in time. What we can do is adapt and focus on getting fit and healthy, and in so doing the body, the self, predicts less and less need to protect and hence the pain changes as we get better.

On first seeing a person who has experienced a trauma and on-going suffering from their persistent pain, we must consider prior health, pain experiences and beliefs about how we overcome problems. It is common to have had or to have other sensitivities, sometimes for many years, which exemplify a pre-existing state (or pain vulnerability) that has been primed by painful episodes over the years. This means that a new injury or situation deemed in need of protection will arouse a more vigorous and potentially prolonged set of protective responses, vigilant and fear-based behaviours. Knowing this from the outset means that the new issue can be addressed fully. Examples of common prior conditions include irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, jaw problems, persistent aches and pains (e.g. back pain), pelvic pain or period pain. These sensitivities can have arisen as part of an overall protect state following early traumas in life that have triggered the protect state, which has continued to emerge in many circumstances including normal ones. We learn to avoid and look out for trouble and can see it in the face of day to day activities, resulting in persisting pain and anxiety. However, with change occurring every new moment, we are able to transform this suffering by seeing things for what they are as opposed to being lost in thoughts about the past or future that arouse unpleasant sensations and emotions (in the body — we are embodied).

In discussing emotions and thoughts, this does not mean that we only focus on these dimensions. As stated earlier, we must focus on the person and their unified experience that is constructed by their brain, mind, person, body etc. On shifting a thought purposefully, inferring something different, we immediately feel differently about that situation. ‘How are you choosing to think about this?’, you could ask yourself. ‘Is there another way I can look at this?’. Recall the experience of where you feel emotions. It can only be in the body as thoughts are embodied. They are not ‘out there somewhere’, they are here, in me. My body state determines my thinking as much as my thinking determines my body state. Sit up for a while and notice how your thinking and feeling changes. You can gain insight into how someone is feeling by observing their posturing and manner. Imagine going into a business meeting to find the person you are about to discuss a deal with, sprawled across his chair with his feet up on the table. He has not said anything yet you gain insight into his approach, character and manner. Will you do business with him? Further, force a smile by gripping a pencil longways between your teeth, look in the mirror and notice how your feelings and emotional state change.

We are complex, predicting what needs to be experienced in any given context based on what we know. There are a huge number of variables that we cannot account for as we are only aware of a very thin slice of what is going on in any given moment — what we are conscious of, making many assumptions from prior learning. In terms of persistent pain, the intensity, the impacting nature of the experience usually far outweighs any signs of ‘damage’ or injury. Often there is evidence of natural degeneration that slowly evolves, quietly informing body systems which predict the meaning of the information, eventually reaching a point of conscious protection when it hurts. This is a slow burner with a point in time when pain is noted. 

In trauma, there is an obvious incident, which is embossed upon the person at that moment in time. The reverberating effects from there on depend upon that person: what they have experienced before, how their body systems predict the causes of the sensory barrage, urges manifesting as behaviours and actions taken, thoughts about the situation (meaning, attribution of causes etc.), emotions that emerge and the onward unfolding of these experiences unified as the story. Naturally the time frames vary according to the conscious awareness of the person, wherein a head injury would impact on memory of the event. In an emergency situation, clearly there are priorities for the medical team to protect the person and maximise the chances of survival and sets the scene for recovery and healing.

From the earliest possible time point, the right messages about what has happened and what needs to be addressed should be purported. The person needs to understand their pain and problems so that they can focus on the right action to get better. This is day to day, moment to moment as the advice and education are taken, internalised and become second nature as new healthy habits are practiced. The notion of the Pain Coach emerged from this thinking, blended with a strengths-based approach. Strengths-based coaching focuses upon developing a person’s existing strengths and managing their weaknesses. On the basis that we are seeking to focus and perform to the best of our ability, the strengths coaching method offers an effective modus operandi stretching across recovery from injury to sports and business performance. Strengths are many, and can include perseverance, attention to detail and compassion. People often realise that they use these strengths in other areas of their life but not in relation to getting well again.

Experiencing trauma in life presents the person with a challenge in many different ways. It also presents a challenge to those around them including family and friends as we are not in isolation to others or the environment in which we reside. There may be a region of the body that has been injured or affected, however, it is always the person who has to deal with the situation and recover. This is a key point that can often be missed, particularly when the injury is complex and multiple parties are involved in the treatment planning. Whilst we discuss the incident, the injuries, the symptoms and the impact upon that person’s life, they are living that life and only they know what that experience is like. This is the reason why deep listening is so important from the outset. It is the person who heals and recovers. It is the person who gets better, and hence it is the person we must know and treat as much, if not more, than the condition because each of us will experience our life events in our own unique way.

The Pain Coach Programme to overcome persistent and complex pain | t. 07518 445493 

09Aug/16
sea

Refresh and renew

Chronic pain, Pain Coach, , ,

seaRefresh and renew is one of the most important strategies that I teach individuals who have been suffering persistent pain. Within the refresh and renew there are a range of techniques that can be used dependent upon place, time and context, all of which are important ingredients making a whole. We are in no way separate from where we are, what we are thinking, what we are doing and what we are feeling. These are merely the conscious elements and of course there are the vast subconscious elements including our biology in the dark.

Being in pain is exhausting, usually added to by feelings of anxiety and concern. There can often be a cycle of pain and sleep disruption, one begetting the other as time moves on. It seems more and more probable that sleep is fundamental for our health, which is why creating the conditions for a consistent daily rhythm of activity and rest is vital. Most people know what it is like to ‘survive’ after a bad night’s sleep, but imagine the effect when this is on-going.

Refresh and renew is needed throughout the day by everyone. Every 90 minutes we may feel an urge to do something: move, take a few breaths (4-5 is good), have a healthy snack or a glass of water. This is certainly the case when one’s health is below par as we need to create the conditions for our biology in the dark to switch into health mode rather than survive mode. The person suffering persistent pain spends much of their time in survive mode as they are both consciously and subconsciously protecting themselves from perceived threats. Consider the person with back pain who walks into a room to survey for the closet chair, whether it is likely to be comfortable or if they will be able to have a conversation because their pain maybe too distracting. The thought processes, predictions, anticipations and expectations that are embodied, will prime the coming experiences. The good news is that creating new habits can change this routine for the better, beginning with being aware that this is what you are doing.

All the extra monitoring and thinking is tiring as you use your resources, along with imprecise and guarded movements that require more energy than normal. Too much muscle activity for example, has a huge energy consequence, which is why refresh and renew is so important through the day. Setting reminders and alarms can be effective in the beginning, but as the new habits take hold and the internal messages become second nature, you increasingly make the choices that orientate you to getting better; your desired outcome.

Pain Coach Programme to overcome persistent pain | t. 07518 445493

05Aug/16
New thinking in dystonia

Facial pain

Chronic pain, Facial dystonia, Facial pain, Orofacial pain, Pain, Pain Coach, , ,

Facial painYesterday I spent the day in Leicester and Northampton seeing several people suffering facial pain with a colleague who has been working in the field. All pains are unique to the person, however, I feel that there are some particular features of facial pain, which are similar to those of facial dystonia. Identifying these shared characteristics has guided treatment and training techniques that aim to improve sensorimotor function as part of adapting and restoring a sense of self.

The loss of the sense of self is a significant part of suffering in my view. People describe how the pain or dystonia impacts upon their lived experiences and their choices, narrowing both. This means that they are not doing what they wish to and hence do not feel themselves as they feel they should. A shift has occurred, part of which is constructed via the ‘physical’ sense of the body. Of course we have a unified experience of ‘me’ including the sense of the body, a sense of a past, a projected future and the inner dialogue that strings it together.

We literally face the world with our face and hence anything that affects our perception of how we are doing this will impact on how I feel, think, the actions I take and perceptions I perceive. There is a spectrum: a red spot through to jaw dystonia — something visible to others that makes us second guess what they may or may not be thinking. Quite easily this can mean we avoid going out or seeing people. The isolation that ensues then gathers momentum, affecting us on many levels including genetically.

In cases of facial pain there may be no clear and consistent visible signs such as the involuntary movements of facial dystonia, however there are often habitual posture and facial expressions — tension, attempts to relax by opening the mouth, rubbing, speech impediments. When we are in pain, our body sense can be different, the perception of the environment can be different, the way we plan changes and our emotional state is one of protection, as is that of our underlying biology. Whilst this is vital for survival when there is an actual threat (an injury or pathology), in most cases of persistent facial pain and other pains, there is no significant injury. The pain is a habitual response to perceived threats that increase in number with time via learned responses and expectations. Things that would not normally pose as a threat now do, including the way we think about ourselves and the world. With a sensory system detecting changes internally and externally, in survive mode we can be jumpy and very responsive.

Facing the world with a painful face is challenging. Understanding pain is the first step to steering change in a desirable direction — how do you want to be? When the person understands that pain can and does change, and that they are the drivers of that change, then new habits can be formed — new habits of thought and action that are practiced over and over to create the right conditions. Likewise in dystonia, the practice of new habits to change the way in which the sensorimotor system is working but integrated with training that addresses the influences upon this system — e.g./ the environment, thinking, emotion. Learning to recognise and let go of unhelpful and distracting inner dialogue, focusing on what you can do, noticing positive emotions and how you evoke them, re-training sensorimotor function, gradually doing more normal and desired activities are all part of a comprehensive programme based upon the neuroscience of pain and using your strengths to be successful.

18Jun/16
Pain now

Biology of pelvic pain

Chronic pain, Functional Pain Syndromes, Pain Coach, Pain Education, Pelvic Pain, , , , ,

Pain nowMost of the biology of pelvic pain does not exist in the pelvis. The same is true for any pain — back pain, knee pain, neck pain etc. Much like the screen turning blank in the cinema, the problem itself is not the screen but instead the projector or the power source. In other words, to think about pain requires us to go well beyond the place where it is experienced.

Pain is of course lived and whilst it must have a location, the relationship between pain and injury is unreliable. With a huge number of factors influencing the chances of feeling pain in any given circumstance, there is a requirement for a perception of threat that is salient and exceeds other predictions in terms of a hierarchy. Once felt, pain compels action much like thirst and hunger. Again, like thirst and hunger, context and meaning we give to the sensations influence that very experience, which clarifies to a greater extent the difference between on-going (chronic) pain and that of labour.

To feel pain we need a concept of the body, which itself is constructed elsewhere as the sensory information flowing from the body systems is predicted to mean something based upon what is already known and has been experienced, we need a nervous system, an immune system, a sensorimotor system, a sense of self and consciousness to name but a few. Where in the pelvis do these reside?

This is not to ignore where we may feel pain as this is an ‘access’ to the pain experience that should be used in terms of movement and touch. However, it is the person who is in pain and not the body part. My pelvis is not in pain, I am. My pelvis does not go and seek help, I do. My pelvis does not ease its pain, I do. So when ‘treating’ a person, we must go beyond the place where the pain is felt to be successful. And it is vital that the person is considered a whole; there is no separation of mind-body. The notion of physiological, body, psychological division etc. etc., just does not fit with the lived experience; I think, and I do so with my whole person — embodied cognition.

Locally one will usually find evidence of protection and guarding, which themselves manifest as the tightness, spasm, painful responses to touch and movement. This is all manifest of an overall state of protection, co-ordinated largely unconsciously accompanied by a range of behaviours and thinking that quickly become habitual — they are certainly learned from priors, our reference point. This is simply why delving gently into the story is important, as we can identify vulnerabilities to persisting pain such as previous experiences of pain, functional pain syndromes, stressful episodes in life; all those things that put us on alert when the range of cues and triggers gradually expand so now I am vigilant and responding to all sorts of normal situations with fear.

The start point is always developing the person’s working knowledge of their pain, which also validates their story. So many people still report that they feel that they have not been believed, which I find incredible. How can someone work in healthCARE and not believe what a person says? Baffling. Once the working knowledge is being utilised and is generating a new backstory, new reference points emerge. We create opportunities for good experiences over and over, moment to moment, day after day, in line with their desired outcome, the healthy ‘me’ that is envisioned from word go. This strong foundation that opens choices once more then permits exploration of normal and desired activities supported by sensorimotor training and other nourishing movements, alongside techniques in focus, relisience and motivation. Realising and actualising change in a desired direction must be acknowledged as the person lives this change knowing that they can.

Pain can and does change when you understand it, know where you want to go and how to get there, quickly getting back to wise, healthy action when distracted (i.e./ flare ups, mood variance, loss of focus etc). The biology of the pain is one aspect, hidden in the dark within us, and the lived experience is another. The two are drawn together to give meaning and to develop an understanding of the thinking and action that sculpt a new perception of self and pain, resuming the sense of who I am, as only known and lived by that person.

09Jun/16
Pain and injury

Pain and injury

Chronic pain, Chronic pain in sport, Pain Coach, Sports Injuries, Sports medicine, , ,

Pain and injuryPain and injury are poorly related. Unfortunately most of society continues to believe in a stimulus-response relationship between these factors, but in reality it does not exist. This was raised by Pat Wall in his classic 1979 article entitled ‘On the relation of injury to pain’.

Since then we have learned an enormous amount about pain; what it is and the purpose it serves. Why should the relationship between pain and injury be so unreliable? The answer is because pain is contextual, motivating appropriate action for that moment depending upon a range of factors. These include the injury itself and what it means, prior experience, beliefs about pain, the environment, who is there, how one is feeling before and at the point of injury and what is going on at the time. Here are some examples:

* a carpenter hitting his thumb with a hammer — despite the fact it will hurt, this is not unexpected, an occupational hazard if you will, and soon dismissed.

* an electrician electrocuting himself — similar to the carpenter; the context is key

* spraining an ankle in a cup final — there are many reports of injuries being sustained whilst playing sport that are not painful at the time, because playing on is more important

* battle hospital reports — severe injuries but no pain initially; the same in many accident and emergency reports

* a concert violinist who cuts his left index finger the day before his most important gig — what do you think this experience could be like versus a chef?

These examples demonstrate the variability in lived experience despite the biology of healing being similar (effectiveness may vary depending upon existing and prior health) — the two lives, that of our biology and that of our lived experience. The clinician’s role is to marry the two for the person so that they understand the hows and whys before focusing on what needs to be done to get better.

When my knee hurts, or any other body area, the vast majority of the biology that is involved resides elsewhere. Pain is located to my knee, although I can’t possibly know from where exactly; where is the stimulus? Yet to feel pain in my knee I need the systems that protect me to detect certain sensory activity, predict that the causes are threatening and then translate this to a sensation that is pain; i.e./ the biology becomes ‘conscious’. Whilst there are signals from the knee to the spinal cord and onwards, this is not necessary for us to feel pain. Think about phantom limb pain.

There are many levels whereby signals and predictions are modulated until the most credible prediction emerges as a lived experience. This is why prior experience, beliefs, emotional state and our thinking play such a role in pain as all can modulate the meaning and level of perception of threat.

An analogy is watching a film at the cinema. The film is on the screen yet for this to happen and be experienced, there must be a projector, electricity into the projector, and this electricity comes from the grid. Most of the necessary elements are not where you watch the film. The same can be said of pain, when it is made up of many non-pain factors that come together to create that lived experience. The point there is that when we address these in a comprehensive treatment and training programme, we can change pain and get better. But to do this we must think beyond the structure (the cinema screen) and consider the person, their beliefs, their thinking, their lived experience, the phenomena of their life, in order to be successful, which we can.

Pain is not related well to injury, but instead to the level of predicted threat.

Pain Coach Programme for persistent pain | t. 07518 445493

 

08Jun/16
Mindful commuting

Space

Chronic pain, Environment, RSI, Space, Uncategorized, , , ,

SpaceThere are things that we know are good for us: sleep, water and space. Of course then we need quality sleep, water and space. I’m interested in space, and not the kind that is out there, but rather the space we choose to place ourselves day to day and how this impacts upon us consciously and subconsciously. In particular I am keen to understand how we associate with certain environments and in fact how our brains predict the meaning of a given environment and the experiences that emerge.

Here are a couple of classic examples that I hear about:

1. RSI — repetitive strain injury: I am using this term for ease, although I have issue with it, but that’s for another time. I refer to pain and other symptoms that people attribute to repeated use such as typing, clicking a mouse and texting. In the vast majority of people I see with this burdensome condition, we can evoke their symptoms by just thinking about certain environments! Their desk at work for example. When we close our eyes and think about a place, we are in essence there and it feels like it. When a place or space becomes associated with a threat value because of a link that has been established, then it makes sense to feel a warning when we think about it. However, when this persists, this becomes an increasing problem due to the behavioural aspects — altered movement, restricted use and guarding, all of which perpetuate the threat value and hence the on-going pain. Thankfully, this cycle can be broken with the right understanding and training.

* This is not unique to RSI, but any pain problem is contextual and becomes associated with certain places, positions, movements, activities etc etc. A significant part of overcoming persistent pain is by creating new habits.

2. A place in nature: a pleasant image comes to mind, unified with feelings of comfort in the body to make it an overall calming and soothing experience. This is why visualisation is so effective as we can choose to shift into our resource state whenever we need: when anxious, stressed or in pain for example. This is a technique that I blend with others to create the necessary calm we need to refresh and renew, particularly if we are suffering pain or tiredness.

Placing ourselves in an environment has enormous effects upon us as we become part of that very environment. In fact, what you experience as that environment you are creating using at least your brain, your mind and your body, and importantly how they unify. Using a film analogy, you are the film maker, the script writer, the star and the audience all rolled into one. Wow! How do we explain that? Using the very same unified processes to explain themselves! So, in becoming part of threat environment, the importance of choosing the right space is vital. Each day we should absorb ourselves in a nourishing place such as a park, by a river, in a forest or at least in a space where there is plenty of exactly that, space! And if you can’t do this on a particular day, then you can use imagery and visualisation and feel the resulting great feelings.

On a moment to moment basis, where we spend a lot of time, perhaps home and office, these spaces need to be nourishing and promote the feelings we want to feel — e.g./ at work to concentrate, focus, think, write, communicate; at home to feel comfortable, warm, safe etc. This may take some thought and some re-organising but it will be worth it — see here, a professional organiser: Cory Cook. Remember that the environment you choose to put yourself in impacts upon you enormously: the way you feel, the way you think, the way you interact. Something similar could be said for the people you spend time with.

So, when you are at work, at home, choosing a new job or accommodation, think carefully about the environment in which you will be living moment to moment experiences, because they will be shaped somewhat by that very environment. Get out into a big open space and move around in it, see it, smell it, feel it, using all your senses. And if you can’t, then take a deep breath, slowly let it go, do it again, close your eyes and take yourself to a space where you will feel great.

Pain Coach Programme for persistent pain | t. 07518 445493