What is pain? How can we reduce it!

Although it may not seem like it PAIN is actually a very beneficial to a persons well being Imagine sticking your arm in a hot fire and not being able to fell it! In this way it is our friend and we are glad we have it.

Of course the other side of the coin is the suffering we experience as part of long term illness, injuries or disease. It is your bodies “Alarm System” that tells you that something is wrong. The signal is sent to the brain by the way of nerves, the brain can then decide what is needed to either avoid more pain or treat we need to seek medical attention. There are different types and even that can change from day to day.

Some discomfort tells us that we need to re-act immediately, for example when you stick your hand on a hot stove your brain can tell us to move away quickly.

Other aches like that of arthritis or nerve damage is more long lasting. It is good because it tells us that something is wrong but however it can be difficult to make it go away or to manage it. Learning to deal with chronic or long term suffering is caused Pain Management. Management my not be able to totally relieve your agony but in most cases it can diminishes it or relieve it for a period of time. There are books, courses and Medical institutions that deal strictly with helping people understand and help manage it.

No two people react the same way to it. It is true that some people call “handle “ it better than others. Some peoples nervous systems are more sensitive than others. Also peoples emotional and social attitudes can affect the level of pain. Other factors can be previous experiences to pain, energy level, your attitude toward managing the pain and also the way friends and family react to your pain.

Here is a list factors that can make your pain worse:

Stress

Anxiety

Fatigue

Depression

Increased activity from the disease

Focusing on the pain

Too much physical activity

Below is a list of things that can help relieve pain:

Heat and Cold treatments help alleviate pain

Medications and pain relievers

Distraction

Massage

Humor

Appropriate exercise

Relaxation

The body does have a system for helping to control pain. Endorphins, chemicals produced by the body, are released when we physically or emotionally need quick relief of pain so that we can attend to possibly more urgent matters.

We have all experience times when we have an ache or pain but” we then forget about it, when we suddenly are in urgent situation. That’s the endorphins at work. The body releases these chemicals and the pain is relieved. Certain medicines such as codeine, work in much the same way has endorphins. Other ways to control pain is through external pain control; methods such as heat and cold treatments. Heat and cold can stimulate the body to block pain signals or to release endorphins.

The first step in dealing with pain is knowing what is causing the pain. Most times it is obvious where the pain is, but not as obvious what is causing the pain.