Episode 45: What does the pain relief in fibromyalgia come down to?
Episode 45: What does the pain relief in fibromyalgia really come down to? Hello friends! So Excited to be here, brining you episode #45. The focus of today’s episode is zeroing in on what is the pain reduction really about. I had an epiphany very recently and realized that I have to share it with you because it just may help some of you to think of pain relief in fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions differently. While I was still working on this episode, 2 days ago, I was in a car accident, I rear-ended a truck. I got distracted while in slow traffic, the line of cars stopped at a light and I did not realize this soon enough. The reason I am mentioning this is that I had yet another re-inforcement of the concept I am talking to you about! So the question is: what does the pain relief in chronic pain and fibromyalgia really come down to? In a nutshell, the pain relief comes down to finding evidence for and focusing on all the ways our nervous system and brain ARE working FOR US as opposed to looking for evidence of how they do not. That’s it. Let me explain. If you listen to enough of my episodes or videos you know I view the process of recovery from chronic pain in 3 main steps or strategies: Understand and embrace the concept of neuroplasticity – meaning – accept that the brain/central nervous system generate the pain (and as result can take it away because the neuronal connections are born and severed /deleted every day based on our practices and habits) BELIEVE the pain relief is possible AND available to you Lastly, engage the relaxation response that makes our primitive brains feel SAFE. I notice that often, even myself, being an experienced pain coach that I am, I tend to first think of the worst case scenario when I experience worsening of pain. Basically, my brain offers the following thought: “You see?? It is NOT working! Your pain cannot and will not get better!” And in the past I would succumb to that thought which would lead me down the spiral of doom and would not lead to anything good, seriously. The good news is that this is normal, Our brains, our lovely brains that want to keep us safe and comfortable and love familiarity above all else, even it is not serving us, will offer us that thought. And our job is to say, well, dear brain, how about focusing on ways this DOES work? The way to achieve this, is to sit down with a pen and paper, and think of all the times your body DID do something that may have delighted or surprised you, or may not have even registered in your attention, basically you took it for granted. I will give you some examples: Think of one activity that you enjoy doing that you can actually forget a little or completely about your pain. Meaning, when you think about the pain then you may feel it but in the moment you are completely lost in the flow of things and you are blissfully unaware of any pain. This is a proof our nervous system is working as designed and intended. It takes away from the pain because it is focusing on something pleaseant and the pleasant and joy neurotransmitters temporarily win over the pain inducing ones. Think of ANY time your pain was clearly worse when you were stressed out or under enormous pressure – whether in personal life or in a workplace. Your pain was worse, you did not sleep well, you were more tired. This is a proof that the system is working. The stress response is resulting in increased production of stress related chemicals that make us feel worse. Have you ever felt excited about something, super excited, either an event you were going to go to, or a new movie, or a concert or a vacation you dreamt up and paid for, and transiently you could feel less burden of a pain? How about being excited about some project at home or at work where you were applying yourself creatively or in a leadership position – have you felt a jolt of energy, life force, energy
