This may be a deep cut, but I would like to change your mind a bit about pain. Exogenous pain (pain originating from outside of our body) is supposed to warn us about our environment and teach/motivate us to do something quickly to avoid further injury or differently if the same scenario arises in the future. An example of this would be touching a hot flame; move your hand away from that or be burned! It stands to reason that things in the world that cause us pain, that we experience as they are happening, are not pleasant and often can be traumatic and leave us with chronic pain or a long arduous journey toward rehabilitation. Best to avoid these kinds of things. (Thanks for the tip *eyeroll)
What about pain that we experience that seems to be for no reason at all? Waking up in pain or experiencing chronic pain can be very distressing and is one of the most demotivational things ever. (I must be getting old! What did I do wrong? Why is this happening to me!?)
When the pain does not have a cause that we can identify, or the origin is endogenous (the source of the pain is us just being alive) we cannot simply avoid it. Watching Netflix, or playing a game on your mobile are very temporary distractions and are not likely to help with this kind of pain. Denial (this will probably go away on its own) or distraction are our typical go-to, followed by taking an over-the-counter painkiller. Enter the slippery slope of the chronic pain spiral. The pain gets worse, the drugs need to be stronger, by the time we do anything more we have typically suffered for a long time.
The exit strategy: (that sounds mean but is actually tough love) MOVE YOUR BODY. *said in a Drill Sargent voice
Being already demotivated by pain makes moving our bodies feel like torture. Pain (nociception) is a signal the body is sending us to say “we don’t like this. Please DO something about it.” But doing nothing or taking a pill are not the best solutions. Applying heat, getting a massage (hint, hint, great idea! *My bias is showing), stretching, and light vibration are great ways of temporarily disrupting this kind of chronic pain. Actively choosing to DO something about the pain, whether it is effective or not, gives the nervous system something else to focus on that is at least goal oriented toward lessening your pain. The placebo effect works 40% of the time, so simply saying “this is going to make my pain go away” and do any of the options given above is a huge step in the right direction.
Losing hope is something that many people who experience chronic pain go through before they recover. If this is you right now, I want to encourage you to try something different than what you are used to. Go for a walk, go to the swimming pool, (sauna and steam rooms are amazing, if your health permits) book a massage or other treatment that you think might help. Adding MORE pain is not the right solution in my opinion (based on pain science research results), try to choose low-to-no pain treatment options and give your body a new sensation or a break from the nagging pain, and give your somatosensory cortex (the part of your brain that processes physical sensations) something new and even pleasant to focus its attention on.
A common misconception that I would like to try and clear up is that massage therapy does not need to hurt in order to be effective. Discomfort is sometimes to be expected, but pain on top of pain is not awesome unless you like that sort of thing (not my cup of tea).
If you have not tried yoga, or if it has been a good long while I would like to suggest you try some free yoga on YouTube. You can do it wearing whatever comfortable loose fitting or athletic clothes you want in the comfort of your living room and with no judgment (I do this in the morning before my girls wake up, to avoid the judgment).
A hot bath with ~1Kg of epsom salts added can be bliss. Alternatively you can make a topical (spread onto the skin) paste of epsom salts and water that you can make and apply to a sore neck/shoulder or other area that does not have broken/sensitive skin (also not on your face). Add a hot wet towel or compress over the area for up to 10 minutes and then shower/rinse it off. For best results I like to make and apply this paste in the shower or bathtub so that I don’t leave a messy trail of salt all over the house.
Other alternatives to the epsom salt bath or paste is a magnesium oil spray or magnesium enriched lotion that you can choose to pair with the heat or leave on for a longer duration to help tone down the protective muscle tightness that often heightens our pain experience.
In other words, be kind to your pain. Kill it with kindness. Talk to it and reassure it that you are doing your best, or ask it what it needs. (okay that may be a bit much, but you get what I am saying, right?). My favourite analogy about pain is as follows: If your pain were a beloved barking canine companion: “pet the dog, don’t kick the dog. It is only the mailman.”
Things can and will get better and all things in life are temporary. As stoic as that sounds, try and make the most out of your life and your time. Try not to spend too much of it in pain and avoiding life. I wish you all of the best in your journey that will no doubt, at some point, include pain of some form or another. You are not alone and there are awesome people out there that want to help you if you look for us. I am happy to be one of those people. Cheers!
-Kevin Mattinson (Remedial Massage Therapist)
Gold Coast Health and Sport Massage Therapy 