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Understand chronic pain

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By definition, chronic pain is pain that has been experienced for more than three months. This condition is multifactorial and can affect function, morale, cause stress/anxiety and can take up a lot of space in our daily lives.

However, it is possible to be functional and lead a happy life despite chronic pain. In fact, there are ways of moving from a life focused on suffering to one focused on functioning.

Hypersensitivity of the pain system

Pain acts as an alarm system, indicating danger. It’s important to be able to feel this pain in order to protect ourselves. However, when pain has been felt for a long time, the alarm system is sometimes too sensitive and goes off without any real danger. With chronic pain, the brain is so accustomed to sending pain signals that it no longer knows what else to do. It has to get used to not feeling pain again.

To desensitize our alarm system, we can :

  • Visualize without pain
  • Move without increasing pain
  • Gradually increase our activity level

Reorganizing the brain

In the brain, we have a world map of our body parts. Each part of the body is represented in proportion to its use. When we’ve been experiencing pain for a long time, the boundaries of our world map become blurred, which explains why pain can change location. For example, we may have pain in one shoulder one day, then the next day the pain will be more localized in the elbow. This doesn’t necessarily mean we have a new injury.

Influence of context

Pain is affected by our emotions. Unpleasant emotions can increase our suffering, while pleasant ones can reduce it. You may have already noticed that if you’re going through a period of intense stress or have received bad news, your pain will tend to be worse. On the other hand, when you’re doing something that makes you happy, such as spending time with friends, the pain will be less.

There are many ways to manage chronic pain. Here are just a few:

  • Regular physical activity (walking, yoga): Stimulates the release of endorphins, which reduce pain.
  • Healthy lifestyle habits: sleep, diet
  • Effective pain relief methods: TENS, heat, ice
  • Mindfulness meditation
  • Energy management:
    -Don’t wait for pain to increase too much before taking a break.
    -Change position often
  • Abdominal breathing. Cardiac coherence.
  • Medication (as prescribed by doctor/pharmacist)
  • Good stress management
  • Pain-free visualization: imagine yourself performing movements without feeling pain.
  • Cognitive distraction techniques: leisure activities

Your physiotherapist will help you stay active and functional despite chronic pain.

Visit the clinic nearest you:

Mosely, G.L. et Butler, D. (2015), The Explain Pain Handbook Protectometer, Moigroup Publications, 49 pp

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