allaboutchronicpain.com

One of the causes of chronic pain is damage done to the somatosensory system. This is a complex system of receptor sensor nerves mapped out across the body. These receptors are found on your hands, your lips, your feet, your skin, as well as through your internal organs. It is a system that helps us touch things and appreciate different kinds of tactile experiences. It is what tells us fire is hot, ice is cold, cacti are prickly, and kisses are pleasurable.

One of the most sensible yet intriguing ways to depict this is via 3d model of a human person – albeit at first sight, you probably wouldn’t think this looked anything like a person. Say hello to the Cortical Homunculus.

This very-odd shaped person might be a dead ringer for Gollum‘s long-lost brother, but the hyper-enlarged hands, feet, lips and even genitals do have a reason. This homunculus maps out how many receptors a person has in those areas, thus making them much more sensitive than another body part.

photo credit: Son of Groucho via photopin cc

There are over 49 million of American people who suffer from chronic pain, which can adversely affect career, sleep patterns and social life of a patient. Living with a chronic pain can even cause severe depression, stress, fatigue, anger and anxiety. Most cases of it are related to lower back pain, arthritis, headache, multiple sclerosis, firbomyalgia, shingles, and nerve damage. Other comes from old injuries that have not cured properly.

Regardless of how and why you suffer, there are plenty ways to manage and treat your chronic pain.

First, understand what pain you really feel. This might be a crucial step but if it hurt you every day, then, you should open your ears widely and know what particular type of pain you feel and determine where exactly the pain coming from.

Second, learn the art of slow breathing. Inhale, Exhale, Inhale, Exhale. It’s a simple technique that can surely reduce the pain you feel. It’s a no doubt natural pain killer that really works.

Third, take a hot bath. It can absolutely relax your body, mind and spirit. It is one of the best ways to treat any chronic pain you have.

Fourth, start an exercise program. Being physically active can lessen the pain and improve your emotional state by making you feel empowered and motivated. Exercising can even make your body stronger and healthy. Exercise is the key!

Fifth, be engaged in a new hobby. If you are focus with your new hobby, your mind can avoid thinking the pain. Your hobby can be a sort of board games, video games, writing, reading, singing, drawing, etc., something that you truly enjoy doing.

Sixth, take medicine. You dont need to learn Thai or any other language to know this. If you can’t tolerate the pain anymore take medication. Just make sure that it is prescribed by the doctor.

Are you suffering from chronic pain? Does your fibromyalgia seem to be a constant unwelcome companion in hot or cold climates? Unfortunately, that’s one of the things that you may have inherited from your relatives.

A recent study has proven that chronic pain can be something hereditary. It has been tested and proven that if your first degree relatives have suffered from fibromyalgia, you are eight times more likely to suffer from it as well.

It all lies in your serotonin. Serotonin, as you may well know by now, is a neurotransmitter that is usually found in the intestinal tracts and nervous systems of many creatures, including us humans. It is responsible for feelings of well-being and happiness, and can be activated by exercising, cuddling, and sometimes eating copious amounts of chocolate. Now, if your serotonin system has an abnormality, it makes its anti-pain properties all the more scarcer, and well, pain is all the more worse.

photo credit: Brett Jordan via photopin cc

In our last post, we focused on how patients with Fibromyalgia can become extra sensitive to colder temperatures. Today, we’ll take a closer look at the other side of the temperature spectrum, as well as the people who experience pain from the heat.

Most folks will look forward to the end of Winter, the arrival of Spring, and most of all, the exploding heat of Summer. However, for Fibromyalgia sufferers, the heat is not as kind or alluring to them. Some patients with heat sensitivity will shirk away from warm to sweltering weather, as this triggers not just their pain, but also headaches, anxiety, achey joints, and even nausea.

What can be done to cope with heat sensitivity? The first and biggest step is to make sure that cold temperatures do not trigger the patient’s pain receptors. If so, make sure the patient is well-ventilated and stays in a cooler room. Turn on electric fans, air coolers, and air conditioners, and have the patient wear light, breathable clothing.

photo credit: Vox Efx via photopin cc

Last post, we covered the benefits of practicing Taichi in managing pain. Today, let’s look at a particular aspect of Fibromyalgia – cold sensitivity.

Sufferers of Fibromyalgia don’t just have their aches and pains to deal with all the time. They may also sometimes feel extremely cold or extremely hot in temperatures that a non-sufferer would be fine in. This is something called temperature sensitivity. There are two different kinds of this symptom: cold sensitivity, and heat sensitivity.

Sufferers with cold sensitivity will easily feel very cold in situations that would otherwise feel manageable for other people. A slight breeze? Chilly! An air-conditioned room? Forget it! These people will often resort to layering on clothing to feel warmer, seeking an external source of heat, such as a fireplace, a radiator, or even a warm, soothing bath. For people with cold sensitivity, it is a good idea to wear cozy socks, and drink hot beverages to keep warm.

photo credit: r.f.m II via photopin cc

As mentioned in a previous post, Yoga is an effective exercise to aid in managing chronic pain, However, if Yoga is not your thing, another good exercise to consider is Taichi.

Tai’chi chu’an is a chinese form of internal martial art that is best recognized by it’s smooth, flowing movement, and is practiced for its training and health benefits. It hold belief in the flow of life force, or qi, throughout the body, and that taichi is a way of balancing the flow of qi. Every morning in China, many of its long-lived senior citizens rise bright and early to go through their soothing, fluid movements, bathed in the soft glow of early sunshine, or sheltered under the shade of expansive trees in a park. Many of those who practice Taichi swear by it and owe their longevity, good health, and pain-free days to this martial art. Its flowing movements are also given to settling the practitioner into a meditative state.

photo credit: ttcs.buffalo via photopin cc

If you are sick and tired of resorting to expensive alternative medicines and treatments that never seem to work for your chronic pain and if you have given a sour thought to the idea of vigorous exercise relieving your pain, Yoga just might be one of the solutions you never thought you were looking for.

It is very true that pain has its roots in bodily systems. Medical doctors are specially trained to pinpoint the root cause of pain in joints, spinal discs, ligaments, muscles, and more. However, once the root cause has been treated and the pain keeps recurring, perhaps it might be a good time to remember how the mind affects the body, and vice-versa. Perhaps the mind has had many things to focus on and worry, all at the same time. Perhaps the patient is undergoing a period of crisis or grief. Perhaps, too, it is a matter of the patient experiencing burnout without knowing it, and pain is the body’s way of alerting him or her to this fact.

Yoga is a very accepting and forgiving form of exercise. You don’t have to twist yourself into impossible knots and shapes to do it effectively. Yoga’s main objective is breathing, and these poses teach you how to breathe, relax, and have peace of mind. The bodily pain, the bills, the loan payments, and other troubles of day-to-day life melt away while doing Yoga.

photo credit: VinothChandar via photopin cc

Again we tackle the debate of health with MSG at the helm, for except for some extreme cases of adverse reactions to the food additive there has never been such a widespread health issue MSG has caused. No major disease has ever been blamed on the food additive or it’s many other forms. The few evidence that suggests there are legitimate health issues associated with MSG are sparse and not to significant.

No wonder major health and food regulatory bodies the world over still consider MSG as a valid and safe food additive. No country bans it’s use due to side-effects which could only go as far as dizziness and headaches with no lasting health effects that everybody recovers from. Even placebo blind testing between food that has MSG and those that not turn out a lot of false alarms, reactions to food that has not been flavored with or without of the reported culprit MSG.

Sufferers of chronic pain will do anything to gain relief from what they experience every day. Chronic pain sufferers lead a very stressful life because of the constant battle they have with pain. Pain management is what they constantly strive for and this may be quite difficult to find. Some find relief in drugs, which is the common way of dealing with pain.

The problem with pain management with drugs is that it can lead to a drug dependence that could have long-term harmful effects for the patient. That’s why chronic pain sufferers should coordinate closely with their doctors in order to ensure that they won’t develop a dependence to pain medication.

Acupuncture is more than just about pins & needles & it is certainly more than just about picking up the phone & dialing the magic numbers from the acupuncture directory. It is a whole new way of looking at health & healing.

Being a bit of a mystic myself I believe that Western medicine does not always have the answers for everything. Everything is connected in a way that is not always easy for us to understand.
Acupuncture cherishes the mystery that surrounds the body & the mind.

A woman or a man is a nexus of energy that flows in & out of his system & acupuncture restores the balance or harmony that could get lost while dealing with the daily grind. It is fun. It is relaxing.

The pain will go away in an instant. It is like getting a massage but the hands that attend to your physical or emotional needs are very tiny indeed. In this sense it is better than reflexology since its focus is more minute or precise. In this sense size is irrelevant.

Healing comes in a variety of surprising shapes & sizes. What is important is to keep a very healthy outlook in life. But if you ever want to try something new perhaps you would find what you’re looking for in something as inconspicuous as an acupuncture directory on your computer.