Persistent or Chronic Pain

Persistent or chronic pain affects many people and can impact on all areas of life

Each person’s pain experience is very real and unique.

There are often mechanical contributors to pain, but we also know that when you understand your pain, you’re better able to manage it.

Here we will discuss the basics of what pain is, how it can go wrong, and some ideas on what you can do.

First of all, we need to address the question: Why do we feel pain?

Think of pain like the training wheels on your first bike. At its simplest… Pain is protective. Pain is designed to be unpleasant, to motivate you to act in a certain way. This might be to get you to rest after spraining an ankle, or to seek help for a major injury.

So what happens in our body when we feel pain?

Tiny sensors in our body pick up information about pressure, or temperature etc, and they send ‘danger’ messages (not ‘pain’ messages), via nerves to the brain.

The brain then has to answer two questions: Am I in danger? and How can I best protect myself?

Our brain answers these questions with information from the body (danger messages), what situation we’re in, memories of similar situations, how we’re feeling, and more.

The key to take away here is that… The brain is boss. Your brain decides whether you feel pain. You can have tissue damage without pain, and you can have pain without tissue damage. Pain doesn’t always equal harm.

You might be wondering then, How is my chronic pain protecting me?

Well, let’s talk about what can go wrong. Sometimes our brain gets it wrong, which can contribute to persistent or recurrent pain that’s hard to manage. With prolonged pain, changes in our body and brain can lead to an over-protective and ’amped up’ pain system. Our brain learns pain. Think of an overprotective parent, hovering over their child constantly, worried that something could go wrong. In a similar way, our brain can come to inappropriate conclusions about the true danger of a situation, leading to pain that doesn’t match the situation. Changes in our pain system can amplify the danger messages, and other things in life can add to a sense of threat, like stress, memories of the original injury (if there was one), and worries about never getting better. But here’s the good news… We are bioplastic, we can change.

With many activities, you can be… Sore but Safe

Your body is stronger and more resilient than you may think.

You can use the Goldilocks principle to help know how much of a particular activity is right for you at one time. If, during the 24-48 hours after an activity you feel:

No increase in symptoms

Too cold

Good, you could do a bit more next time to challenge yourself.

Mild & short-term increase in symptoms

Just right

Good, you may be a bit more sore, but you are safe. This can help make your body and brain less sensitive over time

Moderate to severe & prolonged increase in symptoms

Too hot

Try doing a bit less next time. Doing too much repeatedly might reduce your tolerance by making your body and brain more sensitive.

How much is too much of a certain activity can change day to day, depending on all sorts of other factors. Play it by ear.

An experienced ‘coach’ can help guide you. Chiropractors, physiotherapists, and exercise physiologists are the most experienced in this area and your best resource.

Here are some online resources you may find helpful: www.tamethebeast.org

Explain Pain & the Protectometer: www.protectometer.com

Recovery Strategies, a free pain guidebook: www.greglehman.ca

Clinic Hours

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Tuesday:	8:00am - 11:00am 2:30pm - 5:45pm
Wednesday:	9:00am - 12:00pm 2:30pm - 5:45pm
Thursday:	2:30pm - 5:45pm
Friday:	8:00am - 11:00am
Saturday:	8:00am - 11:00am

Persistent or Chronic Pain