Chronic Pain - 2003

Welcome to Hypnotes

This month we shall take a look at Chronic Pain.
So what is Chronic Pain?  Firstly you have to know the different types of pain.
While acute pain is a normal sensation triggered in the nervous system to alert you to possible injury and the need to take care of yourself, chronic pain is different. Chronic pain persists. Pain signals keep firing in the nervous system for weeks, months, even years. There may have been an initial mishap -- sprained back, serious infection, or there may be an ongoing cause of pain, but some people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of body damage. Common chronic pain complaints include headache, low back pain, cancer pain, arthritis pain, neurogenic pain (pain resulting from damage to the peripheral nerves or to the central nervous system itself), psychogenic pain (pain not due to past disease or injury or any visible sign of damage inside or outside the nervous system).  Chronic pain is pain that continues a month or more beyond the usual recovery period for an injury or illness or that goes on for months or years due to a chronic condition. The pain is usually not constant but can interfere with daily life at all levels.

Is there any treatment?

Medications, acupuncture, local electrical stimulation, and brain stimulation, as well as surgery, are some treatments for chronic pain. As a Hypnotherapist I have a keen interest in helping clients to firstly understand what pain is, and then helping to manage it. Psychotherapy, relaxation and medication therapies, biofeedback, and behaviour modification may also be employed to treat chronic pain.

Many people with chronic pain can be helped if they understand the causes of pain and the many and varied steps that can be taken to undo what chronic pain has done.

Whatever treatment you receive, it is unlikely that Chronic Pain will disappear over night, and to beat it you have to be committed to fighting it.  Many people do think pain is something that has to be tolerated, but regular readers of this column will know that I strongly believe if a person can understand a condition, even if only in simplistic terms, then you can make a difference.  Pain management focuses on lessening the sense of suffering experienced by a person with chronic pain. It blends physical, emotional, intellectual, and social skills that help the individual regain control and enhance quality of his or her life.
We should also recognise emotions help us to understand ourselves, and to remember we can always make a difference, we have options of choice, we can either accept the situation, or do something to help ourselves, the choice is ours. Remember too there is no way for another person to feel your pain. It is however important for your family to understand their role in helping you manage your pain. By ‘owning’ the pain we can influence it in a positive way, which will positively affect the way we think and feel, and behave.

For an information sheet on pain ring 01925-629899.  Next month – Weight Loss.