Reducing pain through changing your understanding of pain

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

― C.S. Lewis

Below are six classes on the Neurophysiology of Pain. They might help your pain, they might not. What I hope they do is help you understand that pain is incredibly complex. It is biological, psychological and social. Like a tangle of wires, it will take a long time to unravel.

Good luck on your journey.

When we don't have a clear mental image of an injured body part, pain can be continuous, referred or deferred or can even be phantom pain.

Pain is an experience that results from activity in a network of brain cells spread across the brain.

When we hurt ourselves electrical signals spread the message to the spinal cord, then to the brain stem and then to the brain. Descending inhibition modifies this messaging.

Our nervous system is soft wired and can change depending on environment, experience and demand. Nothing we feel is set in stone - this includes our pain.

Pain is very disempowering. This is why it is important to focus on what we can control. I'm ready; I'm in charge; I can do this; I am worth the effort!

Chronic pain myths are unhelpful. A scan does not mean a diagnosis. Pain does not equal tissue damage. Motion is lotion. Surgery might not be the best option.