Neuroscience suggests that the conversation we have with our
pain affects how our brain reacts to it. Of course, we can't get a grip on
positive thinking when in the throes of intractable migraine, nor can we expect
to have the where-with-all when we are having a significant flare of any
chronic pain condition. However, we might want to reconsider the unnecessary garbage
we throw at our brain when our pain is treated sufficiently.
In all the cerebral glory it can muster, the brain tries to
tend to pain in the usual ways. Whether pain is acute or chronic, the brain is affected
by our judgments and feelings. There is a structure in the brain called the
limbic system, which is in charge of this phenomenon. As an emergency room
nurse, I have witnessed the differences in patient's reactions to injuries.
Those who do not catastrophize their wound tend to do better. When we personally
experience an injury, we resist the temptation to look because once we do; we
know we will actualize the pain associated with it.
What choice do you think our brain would make if it had the
option of communicating with Debbie or Dog Downer compared to Mahatma Gandhi, Maya
Angelou, or Helen Keller? Already bombarded by pain messages, the last thing
our brain wants to hear is a negative dialogue about how awful something has
become. We have the opportunity to reprogram our feelings and our brain. It's
as simple, and as complicated, as that.
Great care must be extended to the patient in pain. Pain is
very real to those of us experiencing it and there are times when pain is the
boss, no matter how much we wish otherwise. Sometimes, healthcare providers
become part of the emotional conundrum so many patients in pain experience. It
is a legitimate expectation to have our pain validated; it is just as important
as our own personal experience and reactions to living with chronic pain. When
we feel that we are mistrusted or that we can think away the problem that is
causing our pain in the first place, then the negative dialogue begins. We must
not let that happen; explore new relationships. We all deserve to be treated
with the same kindness I am suggesting we give our body.
I will embrace a considerate dialogue with my body because "it
can't hurt." What a metaphor. Watch out brain, here comes dessert.
Updated
Post Script
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"Adversity is only an obstacle if we fail to see
opportunity."
Celeste Cooper, RN
Learn more about what you can do to help your body function to its
potential in the books you can find here on Celeste's blog.
All
answers and blogs are based on the author's opinions and writing and are not
meant to replace medical advice.