Today's post from radiomd.com (see link below) will have the cynics amongst you spluttering into your cornflakes because mindfulness techniques are among the most mocked medical treatments you can imagine. I understand your scepticism but would also pose the question: 'how's the standard medication treatment working for you'? If the answer is 'just fine' then you probably don't suffer from neuropathic symptoms any more and you probably don't need mindfulness as an extra tool. However, I suspect that 90% of you haven't found much relief from modern medicines and drugs, so maybe looking at something else to add to the arsenal against nerve pain problems, is not such a daft idea after all! The theory is that we can use the brain to help us get on top of persistent pain and by using certain techniques we can literally 'calm our pain down'. Now wouldn't that be wonderful, if we didn't need so many pills to achieve the same effect. The only thing that's required is patient compliance and at the very least...an open mind. Okay, I'm not totally convinced myself yet but I'm a work in progress too!
About 100 million Americans, one in three people, suffer from ongoing pain that impacts their daily lives. Chronic pain has fuelled a pain treatment crisis resulting in the over-prescribing of risky opioids.
The tragic deaths of celebrities such as Prince have brought the issue to public awareness in a way that statistics can’t.
The CDC recently recommended prescribers drastically limit opioids for pain; even for pain after surgery. This is a dire situation for patients who desperately need ways to relieve their short- and long-term pain without dangerous medications.
The most frequently overlooked pathway to pain relief is the patient.
There are powerful cognitive behavioral skills that the everyday patient can begin putting to immediate use for personal pain relief. Calming your nervous system is the key to reduction of pain, distress, and suffering.
Below are practical tips for using your brain to calm pain work over time to reduce pain naturally.
1) Quiet Your “Harm Alarm”
Think of pain as your harm alarm: a warning to escape danger. This warning registers in your nervous system and is distressing. Relaxation skills soothe your brain and body, making both less reactive to pain. To quiet your harm alarm, sit down in a quiet place and practice diaphragmatic breathing.
How to do it: Take a slow breath in through the nose, breathing into your lower belly for a few minutes. Simply be present with your breath as you allow your breath to slow and deepen. Imagine that you are expanding each breath down into your lower belly as your breathe. Allow any thoughts to float away as you guide your awareness back to your breath.
2) Understand Your Pain: It’s More than It Seems
Since you feel pain in your body, you tend to assume it’s just a physical sensation. Not true. Studies show that pain is a negative sensory and emotional experience. All pain is processed in your nervous system, which includes your brain and spinal cord. Your emotions, stress levels, expectations, beliefs, choices and thoughts -- your whole psychology -- affects your pain. This is why negative thoughts and emotions worsen pain.
3) Harness the Hidden Power of Your Thoughts
Brain scan studies show that when your attention is focused on pain, the pain grows in your brain; it actually gets worse. Negative thoughts make your “harm alarm” ring louder. Calming thoughts soothe your “harm alarm” and calm your nervous system, lessen distress and reduce pain.
Helpful: Make a list of your negative thoughts and next to each one, write a competing, positive thought. For example, negative thought: “My back is killing me and it’s getting worse.” Positive reframe: “I’m going to do what I can, right now, to make the pain as low as possible."
4) Take Your Mind-Body Medicine Daily
Using the mind-body skills described in steps 1-3 will help you reach your goal. Remember, many of the medicines prescribed by your doctor don’t take effect with the first pill. Most medicines are taken daily and build up in your body over time. Mind-body medicine is the same; it works over time. The feeling of calm will also happen over time, increasing the more frequently you practice your skills.
Become empowered to increase your comfort and ability to do the things you love.
*The Opioid-Free Pain Relief Kit includes these and many other steps that will help you live beyond chronic pain... naturally.
Beth Darnall, PhD
Beth Darnall, PhD, is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Division of Pain Medicine at Stanford University and treats individuals and groups at the Stanford Pain Management Center.
Darnall’s approach teaches patients to reduce their own pain and suffering, thereby reducing need for doctors and pills. She is the author of the The Opioid-Free Pain Relief Kit: 10 Simple Steps to Ease Your Pain, which includes a CD to induce deep relaxation.
She is also the author of Less Pain Fewer Pills; Avoid the Dangers of Prescription Opioids and Gain Control Over Chronic Pain, which provides concrete, evidence-based psychological and behavioral alternatives for pain control.
Website: med.stanford.edu/profiles/beth-darnall
http://radiomd.com/blogs-experts/item/33982-4-tips-for-using-your-brain-to-calm-pain
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