Chronic pain – What you resist persists!

Integrative approach to pain: From Medication to Meditation.

Ease anguish by desensitising the nervous system. Learn to cope better with the burden of emotional distress and secondary suffering by using mindfulness approach to create a different relationship with pain.

Chronic Pain is one of the most debilitating and expensive health concerns.  It is estimated that 35 to 51 % of the population live with chronic pain and about 10 to 14 % live with moderate to severe pain. There is acute pain which lasts less than 3 months, chronic pain that lasts for more than 3 months and the third category is intermittent pain. Pain has two aspects – sensory perception and associated emotion experienced in the brain. Persistent chronic pain can take a toll on physical and emotional health. Some people often experience persistent pain long after the source of pain is treated or even when there is no actual damage being done to the body parts. Chronic pain serves no useful purpose as opposed to acute pain which is like an alarm telling us something is wrong and we need to take immediate action.

Pain is a personal experience. Only the person in pain can narrate how much pain they are in. There is primary suffering which is any unpleasant physical sensation experienced as a consequence of injury to the tissues such as joint pains, backache, headache, inflammatory bowel conditions, fractures or repetitive stress injuries. And there is secondary suffering which is the human anguish experienced as a reaction to physical sensation of pain. Feelings and thoughts soon get piled on top of unpleasant sensation of pain. More distress causes more suffering. Perception of pain being bad. ‘Pain is horrible’, ‘I wish I could get rid of it’, ‘why me?’. Frustration, stress, anger, irritability, low mood and anxiety soon set in around these unwanted thoughts making pain worse.

And the more you resist pain, the more it persists!

Over time, the nervous system “learns” to feel the sensation of stress induced pain when the cycle of pain and anguish becomes repetitive. The sore body parts send continuous pain signals to the brain. As a result, the sensitised nervous system makes the body feel continuous pain. Leading to the chronic pain syndrome along with excessive fear, worry, addictive behaviours or more anticipation of pain, associating the pain with a ‘catastrophic’ health issue. This sends the body into ‘fight’ or ‘flight’ mode increasing the emotional distress and feeling even more pain. Often times without a primary source!

Medical assessment, imaging studies or long term analgesics do not always alleviate the symptoms of chronic pain or make the pain go away. Over time chronic pain takes its toll on quality of life affecting work, sleep pattern, physical activity, mood and relationships. Hence, there is need for non-pharmacological ways as complimentary to the current treatment options.

As more research is emerging several mind body practices are being increasingly advised to help reduce the intensity of pain and to improve the quality of life. They help by relearning the ways to manage pain. Mindfulness techniques, meditation, relaxation, breath work – deep belly breathing, measured breathing, thought distraction, stress management, remaining positive, Yoga & Exercise are proving helpful in addressing chronic pain. Mindfulness techniques & meditation also improve the emotional aspect around pain. Coping ability improves by reducing the burden of negative thoughts. And by changing our relationship to thinking itself, we see thoughts as merely ‘mental events’ rather than ‘facts’. This in turn lessen their impact overcoming emotional distress around pain and associated disability such as depression and anxiety. Sleep quality, interpersonal relations and social life also get better contributing to improved overall quality of life!