Solving Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is never only physical.
We often trick ourselves into aiming only at the thing, or things, that hurt — our foot, our shoulders, our back. They grab our attention and it seems that if those unpleasant sensations could just go away, all would be good again.
So it’s easy to keep chasing relief. Pain sucks, and it’s OK to just want it gone.
It’s a mistake, though, to assume the mind, body & emotions are separate, and that if your body hurts you can focus solely on your body to arrive at a solution.
Recent scientific research has given us a greater understanding about the complexities of chronic pain, and how solving it necessarily reaches beyond focusing solely on the areas that hurt.
In 2020, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) updated their definition of pain to “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with (my emphasis here, note the use of the word “resembling”), actual or potential tissue damage.” They added several key notes to this definition as well, including:
“Pain is always a personal experience that is influenced to varying degrees by biological, psychological, and social factors.
Pain and nociception (the process by which noxious stimulation is communicated through the nervous system) are different phenomena. Pain cannot be inferred solely from activity in sensory neurons.
Through their life experiences, individuals learn the concept of pain.
Although pain usually serves an adaptive role, it may have adverse effects on function and social and psychological well-being.”
This is an important update for us to all really get when it comes to pain. More and more, science is understanding and supporting the argument that pain is not merely a physical phenomenon, but a mental, emotional & relational one as well.
I’ve written a lot about recent research detailing chronic pain’s mind-body connection, and how solving it requires a multi-dimensional effort. To read more related to pain research and why a multi-pronged attack is required, check out my recent blog “Information Medicine” for more.
In this blog though, I want to share a more qualitative focus on what a successful approach looks like.
A Case Study
Awhile back, a new client came to me seeking Rolfing to help resolve their chronic neck & shoulder pain. They’d tried multiple types of therapy (massage, PT, and even Rolfing) prior to seeing me, each providing only temporary relief. So, we began along a typical Rolfing pathway, and while the bodywork offered some relief, we quickly discovered that the root of the challenge lay in the mental & emotional realms, even though it was mainly presenting as physical pain.
With little initial improvement, our second session began the shift from Rolfing into Mindfulness-Based Coaching to see if we could get any clues as to the deeper source of their pain. Starting with a simple mindful awareness practice, my client was able to really slow down, turn their attention deeply inward, and study the moment-to-moment shifts in their movement patterns and levels of discomfort.
I then offered a simple experiment in mindfulness to see what more we could discover about the neck tension we were trying to solve. While closely tracking together how their body responded to my words (new information coming into their System in that moment) I offered a simple phrase so we could learn what happened organically in response – physically, mentally, or emotionally.
“It’s OK to rest.”
Ouch! Despite the gentle invitation to rest (something that may have been quite nourishing to hear), their neck and shoulder tension increased dramatically, and images of their boss flooded their mind, along with agitation at the conflicting and often-erratic demands he made almost daily.
Now we were getting somewhere.
We’d found a direct connection between their chronic physical pain, the simple idea of rest being OK, and the stressful environment their boss had long been creating for them.
Where it hadn’t been clear before, now my client finally knew why they hadn’t yet been able to solve their pain.
Understanding now that the source of their pain wasn’t physical, but mental & emotional, we were finally on the right path toward healing. Our work from there shifted fully to Mindfulness-Based Coaching to continue unraveling the root of this chronic pain pattern.
As our work unfolded, we discovered why their boss’ behavior was so stressful and how the impact of that behavior connected to lifelong challenges. And, like many ordeals, the more we understood it the more multi-faceted it became.
A network of interwoven challenges began to present itself as we continued forward; among the more significant was a strong impulse to simply throw up their hands in frustration with their boss and quit.
This pattern was a well-trodden path for my client, and had been a semi-successful, though never satisfying, habit of abruptly & angrily hitting the eject button on painful or challenging situations. Completely understandable to want to do this! They were in a toxic work environment that seemed to have no possibility for improvement or rebalanced power (I’m sure many of you reading this can relate).
What we were able to uncover, however, was an entirely new set of nourishing possibilities, beginning with establishing clear & confident boundaries, one small step at a time.
Those new boundaries became my client’s own experiments out in their world – “applied mindfulness” as I like to call it – that offered the opportunity to experientially pivot their work relationship strategy day-to-day based on the mental, physical, and emotional feedback they received in-the-moment.
Ultimately, our work together not only resolved their chronic pain, it went well beyond that to also empower them in their work relationships and facilitate new options (rather than ongoing frustration) on their career journey.
In fact, they stayed in that job for several more satisfying years. Their work experience went from barely tolerable to positive and productive. Eventually, the greater connection they’d established with their authentic needs & inspiration synced up with newer & better opportunities they could consciously step into…rather than being driven by pain or an old habit telling them to cut & run that they’d long since outgrown.
Pretty spectacular story, isn’t it?
Over the past 14 years in private practice, some of the most impactful, most transformative work I've had the honor of being part of has been helping clients understand & unravel the roots of years-long chronic pain challenges.
Clients I’ve worked with through the mental, physical & emotional elements of pain have transformed their work & relationships (like my client above), made massive changes like moving across the country, and even simply rebooted their current lives with greater ease & happiness.
It’s a journey to take with a skillful & compassionate guide to learn the “Why?” and “How?” of what’s driving your experiences, and to skillfully create newer and better options for yourself.
So, if you're ready to understand & unravel the roots of your chronic pain once & for all, hop on my calendar and let's chat.
I’d be honored to be your guide.