Is a painful sensation a construct of the mind? Or is it an exact indication of pain where we feel the sensation? When we experience a painful sensation, a signal is sent to our brain, and our brain processes this signal and produces a response. Attributes like mood, experiences, and expectations can also contribute to different sensations of pain.
Trying to identify where you’re experiencing pain and the contributors to the pain is essential to making sure that you not only alleviate the pain you’re currently experiencing, but actively take steps to reduce the likelihood of the pain occurring in the future. In some cases, pain can be mental or it can be the result of something that is physically going wrong and your body is trying to send a signal that you need to pay attention to so you can get it corrected.
By understanding how mindfulness and your brain can change and impact your ability to locate and deal with pain, you’ll have a better understanding of how you not only experience pain but the steps you can take to alleviate pain in the future.
The nervous system is composed of the central nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system, which is made up of nerves that stem from the spinal cord and connect to other areas of the body.
The pain receptors from the peripheral nervous system will create an impulse which will travel through the nerves and into the spinal cord which is quickly delivered to the brain. The brain is the area where the pain sensation is registered, processed and perceived.
A biopsychosocial approach is one that takes biological, psychological, and social factors to better understand health, the delivery of healthcare, and treatment of illnesses. Essentially, we know that the brain processes pain differently for each person based on a number of factors, so this approach takes these factors into account when determining how we will respond to pain.
The better we understand how someone could potentially respond to pain, the better chance we have of making sure that they not only alleviate their pain but work to prevent pain in the future. This level of care also means that each care given to each patient is unique to their specific needs, challenges, and unique goals.
Stress creates a buildup of cortisol in the brain; the buildup of cortisol can negatively impact brain functioning and make the brain more susceptible to stress. Since stress has a large impact on the brain and the brain is where we perceive pain, how can we lower stress to reduce the sensations of pain in our brain?
The brain is responsible for soaking up 20 percent of our oxygen supply. Whenever we feel stressed and our body produces too many “stress hormones” or cortisol. Deep breathing techniques can help slow your heart rate and allow oxygen to enter into the bloodstream which will send a message to the brain telling it to relax.
Deep breathing also triggers the body to release the “feel good” hormones, or endorphins, which will help reduce cortisol and relax the body. Basically, when we are stressed our brains do not receive the oxygen it needs to function properly. The practice of deep breathing can improve brain functioning, reduce stress, and lessen the brain’s response to pain.
Meditation is a skill that can be learned through practice, whether it’s your own or through a guided exercise experience. Meditation is the training of awareness and perspective and is usually conducted in a quiet area with minimal distractions where you can focus on your breath.
Mindfulness is the actual state or quality of being completely present or engaged in what we are doing, free from distraction. Mindfulness also creates an awareness of our thoughts and actions without getting caught up in them in the process. Both of these practices are led by deep breathing techniques which have been linked to a number of health benefits.
Research suggests that by utilizing the mind and the body in a meditative practice, you may be able to reduce pain by changing the way your body perceives pain. In fact, meditation can change the structure of our brains by improving neuroplasticity, or the restructuring of the brain pathways by allowing the nerve cells in the brain to change their responses to events.
In other words, we can work to train our minds and pathways to reduce the effects of pain over time with practice. Research has also linked meditation with multiple positive benefits including: improved sleep, reduction in stress, reduction in anxiety and reduction in depression symptoms. It is clear that the core principle of deep breathing in both meditation and mindfulness practices can change how our brain interprets pain and stress.
If you have found that you’re struggling to stay focused whenever you’re feeling chronic pain or painful sensations doing certain tasks, practicing meditation and mindfulness techniques can be a great way for you to retrain your brain to alleviate the pain until the underlying issue is corrected. With physical therapy, you can focus on the underlying issue with targeted exercises, stretches, and other manual therapy techniques that are specifically catered to you with your unique needs and goals in mind.
John J. Durocher, PhD, who teaches in the realm of biological sciences at Michigan Technological University, conducted a study to assess the impact of meditation on our brain, body and behavior. He states, “Our results show a clear reduction in anxiety in the first hour after the meditation session, and our preliminary results suggest that anxiety was significantly lower one week after the meditation session. Participants also had reduced mechanical stress on their arteries an hour after the session. This could help to reduce stress on organs like the brain and kidneys and help prevent conditions such as high blood pressure.”
Meditation and mindfulness are all about deep breathing and calming the mind — who knew that these practices could change the way our brain interprets pain and our reactions?
For instructions on how to meditate, here is a great resource: MEDITATE
Many times, whenever we feel pain our doctor will prescribe medication as a first defense, but is that the best option when combatting pain every time? Sometimes it is helpful to focus on lifestyle changes to reduce stress and incorporate more holistic approaches like meditation along with an effective recovery and treatment plan.
At Results Physiotherapy, we believe that nobody should live with pain. We also believe that by incorporating and educating our patients on holistic remedies like mindfulness and mediation into treatment plans, we can cut the risk of reaching for potentially harmful medicine as a first line of defense against pain.
We educate our patients on the best and most natural approaches to improving pain and from here, create a personalized treatment plan to best suit their needs. Not only is medication an expensive route to go when experiencing any sort of pain, it’s unhealthy to constantly rely on medication to keep your acute or chronic injury symptoms at bay.
Why not incorporate meditation and mindfulness into your treatment, where you have the ability to reconstruct the neural pathways in your brain to develop less stressful reactions and perceptions to pain?
Schedule an Appointment Today with one of our licensed Physical Therapists at one of our hundreds of in-person clinics or virtually to begin alleviating that pain you’re experiencing and to learn more about our manual therapy techniques which can help you identify and work to treat your underlying pain.
