After the amazing response I had to Part 1 about Pain, here is a continuation. Again, these are not in my own words....i think it's best the content comes in it's original condition taken directly from the RM website. Once again there is a lot of information but I figure if you are in pain and haven't been able to find someone to help you then you are probably happy to have a read and see if any of this applies to you. If you have any questions about any of this please feel free to give me a call. So what is going on for the brain to create pain? The response may be a protective mechanism of PAIN We know that nerves carry impulses, or signals, from the body’s tissues that tell the brain about the state of the tissues. Information such as excessive stretch, excessive strain, over-compression, tearing, bleeding, swelling etc. (both physical and chemical noxious signals) are transmitted to the brain indicating a ‘less-than-optimal' state, or an 'unhappy' state. This all happens in our subconscious - we aren't aware of it. This newest, and RM, way of thinking is that once the brain receives these signals then the subconscious brain decides on best approach to protect the body. If the brain perceives these signals beyond a threshold and ‘bad enough’, then one of the brain’s protective reactions is to create the experience of pain and/or symptoms and make us conscious of needing to avoid damage. Without this protective response we would be much more likely to do more severe damage to ourselves, and for this reason pain is a very successful protective mechanism. This protective response can be very different in different people, even with the same unhappy (noxious) signals. Experience and research tells us that our individual brains are so different they can choose to produce a protective reaction, such as the type and location of the pain, that is individual to each of us. On the other hand, if the brain perceives these signals are under the threshold and ‘not bad enough’ then we remain completely unaware of any problem. This whole process occurs at a subconscious level – and this happens every day to all tissues in our body as a natural process.
The PAIN can be created to be experienced anywhere in the body Let’s go back to the example of the faulty car and the dashboard warning light. How good would it be for all the parts of the car, which might relate to thedysfunctioning engine, to be tested to see which ones are faulty? How good would it be to fix the faulty part, and know how to check this for yourself at regular intervals in the future? What might happen to the dashboard warning light if you took this approach? Clearly, this would result in the warning light going off and staying off. Plus, this would result in an optimal performance of the car. This analogy fits the human body. How good would it be if your warning signal, i.e.pain, alerted you to get every part of your body tested+ that could relate to your problem to find out which ones might be faulty? The next step is clear – fix the faulty part wherever it is – and when the most significant fault of the problem is fixed… then the pain goes away! i.e. the warning signal is no longer required to be ON. The bonus is that the body then functions at its highest performance. And the next step after that is highly valuable. Self checking that faulty part in the future and ensuring it remains in good shape is the best way of preventing recurrence. It even gets better than that… for proactive people, the faulty part can be tuned-up, before the warning signal comes on, i.e. before any pain occurs! Many people are this proactive with their car, and this proactive with their teeth, and their general health with a GP, imagine how much easier, and less expensive in the long run, it would be if we all learned to be this proactive for our musculoskeletal body parts. It is important to note that the vast majority of musculoskeletal condition’s ‘faulty parts’ are quickly fixable. We know from regular experience that the human body has an amazing capacity to change very quickly. Rebalancing unevenly distributed forces (even on warn body parts); releasing tension from strained areas; loosening stiff joints and supporting lax body parts can be rapidly changed (immediately in some and within a few sessions for most) for the vast majority of conditions. We certainly hope this brief introduction to the most recent understanding of pain makes as much sense to you as it does to us. Please me know if you would like more information.
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AuthorJacqui Moretto is a Physiotherapist with 29 years hands on experience with a private practice in Buderim on the Sunshine Coast, Qld. ArchivesCategories |