Why am I in pain? This question is common enough in my practice, and for some the answer is clear, but for a lot of patients coming to me there is frustration in not knowing the source or reason for the pain. Even more frustrating is often people have gone to countless medical doctors, alternative health providers including acupuncturists and massage therapists, counselors/mental health professionals, and physical therapists and their pain continues to persist. Perhaps you are one of these people. Often people who have been through this cycle of care that has not given them results feel a sense of depression about their condition, and think that it is something that they have to deal with for the rest of their lives. And for a small percentage of people, this can be true. But for most people, reduction of pain levels or even living without pain is possible, even if it has been present for years.
The most common reason for pain is overuse or misuse.
This is true for a wide range of people, from those in manual labor
jobs, where muscles are working at or beyond peak capacity, as well as for those in desk jobs, where muscles are in pain due
to being hunched over a computer or desk all day and not getting enough
time to counteract the slumped position.
For the group of
people who are doing manual jobs, from construction to hair stylists to
musicians to nurses, the need for having a treatment plan where you consistently get care is essential. Often this group responds well to manual therapy (massage, acupuncture,
and cupping work well with this population). I often suggest treatment
once a week to once a month for this population, depending on the
severity of complaint.
For those people who have desk jobs, it
is also important to get regular care (massage and acupuncture work
well with this population as well) but also to develop a plan to
counteract the slouched position, such as getting up from your desk and
stretching every twenty minutes, use of a trigger point device such as a Theracane or two tennis balls, and a plan to reduce the stress response in the body, such as meditation, yoga,
energy work or craniosacral therapy. Often, for the "desk jockeys" out
there, a combination of massage and acupuncture to deal with the
physical manifestations of sitting at a desk all day, as well as dealing with stress levels
through energy work or craniosacral is extremely beneficial in keeping
happy and healthy. For this population, I often suggest treatment once
every one to two weeks to once a month, depending on stress level as well as
pain level.
There are also many people out there who have had
trauma, such as a car accident, broken bones, disc problems, something
that can be pointed out somewhere in a persons timeline that is the
cause of physical distress in the body and has brought the body to a weaker
state than it should be.
Sometimes, it is important to note, people don't realize that a car accident that they had in their teens could be a source of their headaches, or that the fact that they broke their leg or sprained an ankle that never properly recovered could be a source of their current issues. A careful history taking on the part of the practitioner is necessary to find possible causes for pain.
Acupuncture
is excellent at treating this type of pain, CranioSacral therapy, which
deals with restrictions in the spinal cord
as well as the sutures/bones of the skull also can be indicated. Zero
Balancing, a form of energy work geared for bones and bigger energetic
restrictions in the body, can help release the trauma from the body on
an energetic level. Frequently, all three modalities are used with this
population with great success. Often, treatment works best in a 3 to 5
appointment set (one per week), and then appointments will be spaced
out until my services are no longer needed.
In Part 1 of this blog, I discussed the most common reasons for pain that are from clear and known origins, such as having a trauma or misuse or overuse of muscles, joints, and ligaments, and bones. In the next blog, I will discuss the unknown or unclear reasons for pain and what can be done to assist pain of unknown origins. I will also discuss the common reasons for why the treatment of pain often does not get the results you are looking for.
Questions or Comments? Contact me by sending a message.