Maybe… But It’s Complicated
Have you avoided doing things you love because of pain? Have you been to multiple doctors over the years with no results? Do you feel like you rely on pain medication to get through your day? If so, you might be interested to know that you are not alone. The CDC predicts about 20% of adults in the U.S. suffer from some form of chronic pain.
What is Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain, or persistent pain, is pain that lasts longer than the usual recovery period. It may be constant or come and go over time. Due to the subjective nature of pain, chronic pain can be a difficult diagnosis to treat and fully understand.
But we do know one thing, all pain is real. The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage”. In a way, pain is what alerts us to danger and prevents us from harming ourselves further. It’s actually a good thing as it helps protect us, but what happens when you are in pain all the time? Chronic pain can lead to a vicious cycle of pain, anxiety, less movement, and poor sleep.
Your Alarm System
Think of your body as a house. What happens when a burglar tries to break in through a window?
Hopefully, your alarm system goes off and scares the burglar away.
Now what if your alarm system has a malfunction and goes off all the time, even when a leaf floats by your front door.
This is what it’s like to live with chronic pain. Your body (the house) becomes extremely sensitive to your environment. Your nerves (your alarm system) become so sensitive that even small movements trigger a painful response. The effect is amplified by life stressors, poor sleep, and a fear of movement.
This constant alarm ringing actually changes your body’s sensitivity to painful stimuli.
These changes can become part of a vicious cycle of pain, resulting in increased stress, poor sleep, and limited movement that ultimately slows healing. Four important factors that need to be addressed when it comes to chronic pain are pain education, aerobic exercise, sleep hygiene, and goal setting.
What is Pain Neuroscience Education
Pain Neuroscience Education, or PNE, is intended to help people better understand their pain biologically and physiologically. Pain that lasts longer than tissue damage may be attributed to a heightened alarm system which results in an increased response to normal or lower-intensity stimuli. You may have heard words such as central sensitization, allodynia, hyperalgesia or neuroplasticity. Don’t let these words scare you, they may just describe what is happening to your body due to an overactive alarm system. It is also important to note that everyone has different experiences with pain. Environmental factors including personal and work stressors can also contribute to your pain levels. PNE helps patients determine what contributes to their pain and what modifications they can make to improve their functional activity.
How Can Physical Therapy Help Chronic Pain?
You may have heard the phrases “No pain, no gain” or “pain is weakness leaving the body”. A better phrase to say might be “sore but safe” or even “hurt does NOT equal harm”. Pain neuroscience education is focused on giving you the tools to manage your pain. It may take some homework and willingness on your part to change the way you think about pain, but the research supports its use for improved function. The best part is that it can be incorporated into your physical therapy sessions to help you move well.
A therapist will be able to help you gradually return to your activities using graded exposure and visuals to help re-train your brain to get you back to doing what you love.
Have more questions? Schedule an appointment to talk to one of our therapists.
Check out our back pain blog for more tips: https://petersonptmd.com/2022/01/31/do-you-suffer-from-lower-back-pain/
Additional Resources:
Books:
- Why Do I Hurt? Adriaan Louw
- Everyone Has Back Pain Adriaan Louw
- Explain Pain David Butler and Lorimer Moseley
Podcast:
- Pain Reframed
YouTube videos:
