Persistent or chronic pain can be reduced by understanding the factors involved and how each contributes to your pain.

The factors include:

• Physical
• Lifestyle
• Cognitive
• Nervous system
• Structural
• Nutrition

Your pain may be due to a combination of these factors.

Can you identify the things that drive your pain?

And rank them according to how much you think they contribute?

Focussing on one factor usually won’t resolve the cycle of pain or ongoing pain.

It’s more effective to approach pain holistically and address the underlying causes, rather than only treating symptoms.

Are there factors you haven’t tried to address or perhaps don’t know how to address?

I might be able to help.

“It’s believed that up to one in five Australians live with longstanding or chronic pain and a good proportion of those are disabled by it to a significant extent.”
Dr Norman Swan

On Monday Dr Swan spoke with Professor Vania Apakarian from Northwestern University, Chicago during the Health Report, on ABC Radio National.

Professor Apakarian was involved with a study that’s helped demystify the process that leads to ongoing pain for some people.

“Chronic pain may be all in your head” on Radio National website

Pain may be associated with arthritis, cancer, injury or other circumstances.

And some people experience chronic pain.

The thing that originally caused the pain may have healed or disappeared, but the person is left with is very real, and hard to resolve pain.

“Pain experts believe that abnormal and self sustaining pain circuits are set up in the brain.”
Dr Norman Swan

“Chronic pain may be all in your head” on Radio National website

A client told me about this podcast after reading my post ‘What is fibromyalgia?’

The ‘Is fibromyalgia real?’ podcast is an easy to listen to summary of an US doctor’s thoughts on fibromyalgia.

My favourite quote from ‘Is fibromyalgia real?’ is

‘The other main symptom that is nearly universal in fibromyalgia is fatigue.
People feel like their plug has been pulled from the wall.’

I’ve included the link so that you can listen to the podcast or read the transcript with the following in mind:

There are many articles, recordings and opinions available from websites and in publications. You should verify the accuracy and appropriateness of any information for your individual circumstances.

More on fibromyalgia soon.

Chronic pain and a sense of being powerless and trapped in a body that doesn’t feel like it belongs is, unfortunately, an experience that many people have.

It can seem that nothing can make a real difference.

A process or approach that improves understanding of what drives the pain and allows resilience to develop can empower the person.

I find that it helps to demystify pain, by explaining how pain is felt in our bodies and working out with each client how to best manage their pain.

Understanding that all pain is real and the reasons why things hurt can really help. For example, learning about:

• what movements or situations increase or decrease pain
• how pain is produced by the brain
• how body systems respond to injury and what happens after the injury
• how this contributes to the ongoing experience of pain
• why pain can persist after an injury when there has been heaps of time to heal

Understanding pain can give people the power to challenge pain and to find new ways of seeing and experiencing it.

This can lead to management strategies that significantly improve quality of life and ability to engage with pleasurable or meaningful activities.

And of course reduce or eliminate the pain problem.