Last time the focus was on just what is pain. Now let’s dive into if it is possible to overcome the pain?

From before we learned that pain ultimately is or becomes a biological response to help keep a person safe. But what happens when that pain response gets turned up to say 15 on that 10 point scale? How does a person “re-frame” pain so they can once again be productive and no longer consumed by pain?

These are great questions with some not so easy answers…BUT the good news is it is possible to break free from pain.

Let’s face it, no one really enjoys pain. And that person who lives with pain for months or even years comes to despise it. On occasion chronic pain can become a hinderance to sleep, work, social interactions, and a person’s emotions. A vicious cycle starts, one from which it is difficult to come out the other side feeling good.

So how does a person overcome chronic pain?

Simply time, patience, and persistence.

To overcome pain, one must begin to re-direct attention (focus) away from that which the person perceives as painful. This requires a change in mindset. The individual must “re-teach” the brain that not all movements, positions, activities, and environmental stimuli are harmful.

See once the brain codes a stimulus as harmful or painful it sets off a series of events in attempt to keep the body from harm in the future. In many instances this is good, but sometimes this reaction becomes mal-adaptive and leads to a person’s chronic pain.

To break this cycle a person must help their brain to see a certain action as non-threatening to the system again. For example, bending over to pick an item off the floor. This is something a person does from birth. The body is made to bend, move, and twist. But after a “tweak” to the back, some individuals start to view bending over as harmful (due to fear of cause pain again or what society or some doctor told them about bending over). This is not normal and something that needs to be reversed.

By starting with small movements in positions or postures a person feels safe in, this bending movement of the spine can be re-introduced. As the body starts to learn that the bending motion is ok again, the person will not be as nervous about moving or concerned about the potential for pain AND thus the pain response will start to lessen. This process will go through a series of steps all designed to progressively load the system safely so that ultimately the person no longer experiences pain with the bending movement.

Now this example overly simplifies the process, BUT the concept is real and valid. The goal is to help the person’s body and brain to no longer respond with pain signals for normal healthy movements. It is possible to overcome pain with a little coaching and TLC.

Looking to finally break free from pain?

If so, then click this LINK to request a FREE Discovery Session to learn how you can finally be FREE from pain