More often than not, pain plagues us for years, rearing its ugly head at the most inopportune times, like right before a sporting event, while on vacation, or when the weather finally turns sunny and it’s time to go out and play. Worse yet, it can be a lingering thorn in your side for years; You may wake up each morning covered in pain, stiff, and unable to move.
Those who suffer from chronic or acute pain do not do so willingly. In fact, according to the American Chiropractic Association, Americans spend at least $50 billion each year on back pain, and experts estimate that up to 80% of the population will experience back pain at some point in their lives.
Most doctors, if they can’t find a direct medical cause for the pain, such as a herniated disc or spinal stenosis, attribute the pain to “just part of aging,” leaving patients with little hope of cure long-term. The truth is that aging does not have to be accompanied by the myriad aches and pains that our Western civilization expects.
In his lecture series, The New Physics of Healing, Deepak Chopra refers to studies done on indigenous tribes where a person’s perception increases in value as they age. So, for example, a 30-year-old is much more highly regarded for athletic ability and mental ingenuity than a 20-year-old, and so on. In this culture, the population did not decline as they aged, but instead improved in cardiovascular health and athletic ability (measured by their ability to run long distances, their main way of transmitting messages between tribes). Similar studies also invalidate the notion that aging requires physical and mental decline.
So if pain isn’t a necessary part of aging, why do so many people suffer from chronic pain? The following are three of the seven reasons I see clients get stuck running in circles, unable to achieve the results they dream of.
Mistake #1: Keep doing what doesn’t work
It is common for someone to try a healing modality because a friend or family member has been successful with that path. Typically, clients will see the same therapist who treated the referrer. Overall, this is a good strategy, but if you’re not getting the results you want, don’t keep whipping a dead horse. It may be that the therapist is not a good fit for you or that you need someone with slightly different skills. Your body may respond better to a different modality. Don’t be afraid to end treatment if it’s not getting you where you need to be.
Mistake #2: Assuming there is only one solution
Instead, some people jump from one doctor to another, searching for the “miracle cure” that will make their pain go away. They try one massage session, two with an acupuncturist, and then go to a Rolfer for three sessions, keeping nothing long enough to assess whether or not they’re getting results.
When you set out to heal your body, you must understand that there is no magic wand. Accepting that fact will allow you to be proactive and participate in your healing process. Ask lots of questions and learn about the different therapies. If you are getting results, no matter how small, keep working with the therapist or modality that is moving you forward. Slowly add additional modalities, one at a time, until you find two or three that have a symbiotic relationship with your body. And, most importantly, keep an open mind. Assuming that you know it all, that you’ve tried everything, and that you know what works and what doesn’t, will tend to keep you stuck in a rut. You never know what new piece of knowledge will be the secret key to unlocking your vitality.
Mistake #3: Not working with the right mentors
Commonly, customers show up asking to be “fixed”. They say, “I just want you to fix me so I can go back to my old life.” I hate to break it to you, but a) you can’t time travel backwards: the body you have now is the body you have to work with from now on, and b) no one can “fix” you; it’s an inside job.
Pain healing goes beyond simply “fixing” a sore spot on your body. Pain is intimately related to our mental and emotional states, as well as our physical well-being. At a minimum, if you are starting your healing journey, it is essential to have the support of a body mentor, a spiritual mentor, and a counselor or therapist. You may find that you have several in one category, such as an acupuncturist and structural integrator for your body, or an individual may be ideal. Treating all aspects of your pain will help you change the patterns that got you to your current state, developing healthier habits that support whole-body wellness.
Mistake #4: Treating only the symptoms
This might be the most common obstacle I see my clients face. Western medicine, in its efforts to divide and categorize the body, has given us the false notion that we are some kind of soft machine, a marvel of engineering with interchangeable parts, where organs and tissues can be removed and replaced to no avail. some on the organism as a whole.
Please don’t get me wrong; Western medicine has produced wonders in healing and it definitely has its place in the world. Trust me, if I’m in a serious car accident and need to be taken to the ER, I want the best doctor in the world to sew me up again!
But, when it comes to back pain, the tendency to want to pinpoint a small foothold of pain tends to leave the patient struggling and hopeless. Here’s why: His body is intricately joined; each tiny microscopic cell is connected to the one next to it, and to the one next to it, and so on. Every joint in your body affects the function of the joints that immediately surround it. If you insult a joint, there is a ripple effect through the body, much like the rings in a pond when you throw a stone. It is impossible to focus on just one knee, one hip, or one facet joint in the spine without also looking at the joints above and below.
Most treatments only focus on the condition or diagnosis, i.e. sciatica, herniated disc, etc. In reality, his body went through many stages of misalignment before developing severe conditions and debilitating pain, all beginning with an unbalanced physical structure. Treating the condition alone is equivalent to treating only the result of the imbalance rather than going directly to the root cause of the pain. And, if there is no medical condition, doctors will often tell you that the pain and discomfort you experience is “just part of aging.” In fact, it’s often indicative of an underlying imbalance that will get worse if you don’t intercept it.
I highly recommend working with therapists who take a whole body balancing approach to healing pain, such as a structural integrator. Your results will be more profound and will tend to last much longer than treatment that only focuses on the symptom.
Mistake #5: Not dealing with the pain the first time
We’re all busy, and no one wants to end their life just because of a little stiff back, right? Worse yet, we don’t want to sound “whiny” or be labeled a hypochondriac. So it’s not surprising that most people don’t treat back pain the first time it occurs.
Barring a major bodily injury, such as a bad fall from a horse or a terrible car accident, back pain doesn’t come on suddenly or overnight. It is a progression, a slow deterioration perpetuated by daily habits. If you experience even mild discomfort in your back, neck, and shoulders, it is a sign that all is not well, and if you do not get treatment right away, you are setting yourself up for a much more difficult healing task in the future. .
This is exceptionally challenging for athletes, as excelling in sports requires a tough mindset. If you give up at the first sign of pain and discomfort, you’re unlikely to go very far as an athlete; therefore, I recommend that athletes find a solid core of pampering professionals, establish a scheduled treatment schedule, and stick to it (don’t cancel appointments just because you feel healthy and well this week)! This will help catch any minor imbalances in their early stages, reducing the risk of major injuries and pain later on.
Mistake #6: Not understanding that curing back pain is a process
In a world of quick fixes and magic cures, we all want to take the fastest path to health that we can. But just like losing weight, healing pain is a process and can take some time. The only way to get from A to B is to put one foot in front of the other, keep walking, and don’t let little setbacks get you down. Healing your body is a journey of self-discovery, and it can be uncomfortable to say the least. It forces you to take a look at your life, the areas that serve you and those that don’t. Just as losing weight means letting go of the habits that are destroying your health, facing your back pain will mean that you have to change the way you live to some extent.
Pain almost always correlates with an emotional state. There is absolutely a connection between stress and pain, in part because stress causes the body to release certain neurochemicals that create inflammation and tension, and also because stress makes us focus less on taking care of our well-being (the economic crash of 2008 saw longer work hours and a corresponding increase in computer-related shoulder pain). Dealing with stress is much deeper than swallowing a pill; it requires that we allocate time for self-care and incorporate practices that support a calm and relaxed state of being, such as meditation, qi gong, tai chi, and yoga. All of these take time to have an effect on your body and life. Choosing and following a bodywork, exercise, and stress management program is crucial to long-term success in healing your pain.
Mistake #7: Not taking action
Making this mistake is sure to keep you stuck and in pain for years to come. No one can act on his behalf, no one! If you want to heal your body, you need to become an active participant in its healing process, and that means scheduling appointments with experienced bodyworkers, incorporating daily activity into your life, being proactive about managing stress, and educating yourself about every aspect of life. healing. of the bread
While it’s easier to sit on the couch and wonder why this happened to you, or just get over the pain, keep doing the same sports and other activities (weekend warriors, I’m looking at you on this one) until you just can’t take it anymore. Refusing to actively seek relief or taking refuge in pain-relieving medications that mask symptoms is the same as choosing to shorten the number of years you can be physically active. The decision is completely yours.