Chronic Pain, Are you bravely putting up with it?

Many people have aches and pains, much of it chronic pain, often debilitating pain. Maybe this pain is tolerable. Maybe this pain means you take ibuprofen daily or some other medication to mask it. Often people will have an injury. That injury could have occurred from an accident or from repetitive use! We may note that new pain, try to ice it, or medicate it. Whatever we do we have to continue with our day right? So we tolerate it. It becomes a part of us. It means we don't run up those stairs anymore... we have to go on with our life right? So we limit our movements so we don't feel that pain anymore, or as much. This limited movement becomes our "New Normal." How many times do you hear someone say something to the affect of "oh I can't do that anymore" with a resigned sigh. "It's just the way I am now."

Living with this "new normal" - walking more carefully or with a limp, asking someone to help you reach up to get something because your shoulder doesn't reach anymore - actually increases your chance of more injury, leading to more pain and then more limited use of your body! The initial injury get worse, just by holding it. The holding is a tightening, a contracting of the muscles. This cuts off a flow of blood to the area, which causes more pain and so the cycle continues. (I'm talking about chronic pain here, if its a new acute injury, holding it and limiting movement can be necessary)

Tolerating chronic pain can adversely affect your life in other ways. I know when I have pain, I am NOT gaily going about my daily activity. It's a struggle. I move more slowly, I sigh, I don't think as clearly, I don't enjoy. It affects my ability to think creatively. It affects my relationships, it affects how productive I can be in a day. And that is because the pain is trying to grab my attention, taking a little bit away from my mental ability and emotional stability. Even if I don't feel the pain because of medication - it's still there trying to get attention.

So, how does one stop this cycle? Pain is the way your physical body communicates with you. Rather than masking it or ignoring it, listen to it! find out what it is telling you. Maybe an injury needs to be healed. Maybe a contracted muscle needs to be released, maybe you need to stop doing that repetitive motion or do something in a different way. Massage can help. Not only will a massage work to release the contracted muscles or tight fascia and bring a blood flow back to the area to decrease the pain and increase the healing in your body, but a good MT will listen to you and help you make changes in how you do something to cut down on repetitive use injury.