ORIGINS OF PAIN

Imagine the smell of freshly baked cookies coming out of the oven. Close your eyes and allow your mind to accept the sweet aroma that fills your nose. Picture the plate or baking sheet in front of you. What happened? Mouth started watering,? I got a slight smile on your face? I was picturing my mom’s smile as I eagerly reached for a cookie. For just a moment, I was there in my mother’s kitchen.
The mind is powerful. Memories get jogged from the slightest smell, taste, touch, or sound. I remember when I was 14 years old, I had a boyfriend break up with me. My stomach was in knots, I felt like I was going to be sick. I couldn’t stop crying. It was traumatic for me at the time. Today, I look back and giggle a little because I got myself so worked up, but that is coming from the mind of an adult. During that time, I thought my world was going to end. I can remember where I was standing, the feeling of the sun on my skin, the taste of the cinnamon in my mouth. It took 20 years before I could chew cinnamon gum. You see, when I did my stomach would get in knots and I would start to feel sick. It wasn’t the gum, it was the memories.
Our bodies store memories; they are stored in our minds and in our body. Our minds powerful. Have you ever been so depressed or stressed that your body just ached? It isn’t outside influences causing that pain, it is your mind. At the clinic, when we deal with chronic pain and repetitive injuries we ask a lot of questions. There is a purpose, of course we love to get to know you, but we also realize that your pain may be triggered by a memory you don’t realize.
I had a client, she had chronic left shoulder and back pain plaguing her for years. She couldn’t figure out what would cause it to flare up or what made it better, it just seemed to come and go. When it did flare up it effected her sleep and how she functioned at work. Together we traced back the pain, like detectives we revisited the most recent flare ups. What we discovered was her pain had a trigger that she never realized.
Years before her body healed from a domestic abuse incident, she received therapy and moved on with her life. She was now successful and in a good, loving relationship. But her abuser would periodically call or text her. Within days of his contact her body would start to hurt and ache, her sleeping patterns changed. With his contact he didn’t physically touch her but her body took her back to the abuse.
It doesn’t have to be something as traumatic as a domestic abuse situation, the point is sometimes pain and dysfunction have triggers. Sometimes those trigger are influences inside your body. The results we have with reducing or eliminating pain speaks volumes, it isn’t by accident or chance. Our philosophy is rooted in solid science.
I want to challenge you. If you can’t seem to get a grasp on your pain, if you’ve heard the only option left is surgery, if you want to start enjoying life instead of working around the pain…call us. We may have exactly what you need to finally be on your way to a better life.
Everyone have a great night, I’m off to actually listen to my professor teach…no lectures from you guys. This topic was pressed on my heart, I needed to share my philosophy of pain. You needed to know why I am not an advocate of the “hurts so good” thinking. The goal of my table will always be to minimize pain. I’m positive one of you reading these words had a light bulb went on. If you are that person, call or email me…I’m here to help, the clinicians in the clinic are all working together for you!

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