If you know my story, you know that my mom has been an inspiration to me, but there’s a big piece of the story I haven’t told you yet.
My mom lived a life of chronic pain. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t see her struggling with back pain.
Have you seen someone you love live in pain? Or have you lived it yourself? It’s one of the most heartbreaking experiences. You want to help, but there’s nothing you can do.
There’s an undercurrent of fear: What will my body do today?
There’s an undercurrent of despair: Will I always have this?
I spent my 20s trying to help my mom get out of pain. During that time, she would oscillate between good weeks and bad weeks. On some of the bad weeks, she could barely get through the day. Every little thing, from a sneeze to a dropped pencil, could throw out her back.
I studied muscles and disease. I did internships in physical therapy, I worked in a chiropractic office doing rehab, I worked as a researcher in sports medicine and orthopedics, and I read anything I could find on back pain.
I almost went to medical school, but something stopped me.
After working with surgeons, I could see that the outcomes were variable. One surgery could lead to many. Even after the structural damage was fixed, not everyone’s pain improved. There was only so much the doctors could do, and there were patients like my mom where there was nothing that could be done.
I could see the judgment towards people with chronic pain, but I could also see the suffering. It was heartbreaking for me.
I took a break from medicine. It wasn’t giving me the answers I was looking for, and I felt called to prevent hospital visits, not be a part of them.
Years later, something happened.
When my mom died, I got her pain. It felt exactly as she described, and I was terrified.
In my mind, I could see her movement and feel myself doing the same. I would brace my arm on my leg to bend over and unload the dishwasher. I would very gingerly roll to my side and sit up to get off the floor. I dreaded going out to the garden, knowing the pain it would bring later.
If you know pain, you know this deep fear of movement.
After years of doing research, I knew with 100% certainty that back pain isn’t genetic. I wrote workouts for muscle balance. I did yoga and pilates, I was even teaching it at the time. There was no way I was weak or imbalanced.
I had to find answers. And what I found surprised me, but made so much sense.
Pain is both a physical AND emotional experience.
Pain is fueled by fear. It’s fueled by our experience in life. It’s fueled by emotion. After losing my mom and trying to keep the farm alive with three small kids, I was filled with emotion that I wasn’t allowing myself to feel.
Pain is not created in our body, it’s created in our brain. We don’t have pain receptors in our body, so our pain is the brain’s interpretation of the sensations we feel. In our body, we have nociceptors for temperature, pressure, pH, and tension (stretching).
All pain is in the brain.
When those sensations are communicated, our body incorporates the amount of stress we’re under into the signal. More stress means greater sensations.
Now, we all feel heat, pressure, and tension all day long. It’s when your body and mind are feeling threatened that those are turned up and create pain.
This was me.
I share this, not for sympathy, but to open your mind to the idea that no one needs to live in pain. Our bodies are made to heal, and if we trust it, it will.
Mine did, and I’m now 100% pain-free.
Think about this. If you break your femur (thigh bone), the largest bone in your body, it will fully heal in 8 weeks.
Pretty remarkable, right?
But we’ve been told that our backs are fragile, that we can’t bend over because our nerves will pinch or our discs will bulge.
We were made for movement. Too little movement and guarded movement are two ways to increase fear, which increases pain.
I only wish that I had found these answers when my mom was alive. While we were able to find things that helped her, nothing got her out of pain. I would have given anything for her to have the ability to live pain-free.
I was gifted this experience as a calling to help other people overcome pain. I couldn’t help my mom, but maybe I can help you or someone you know.
This is my goal for the new year. To share my story and help other people heal, mind and body. To keep the flowers as an emotional link to mind-body healing.
I also want to add that is new research, and it’s all supported by peer-reviewed medical studies and neuroscience.
If you’re feeling pain of some kind, consider – am I feeling fear, hopelessness, or frustration around my pain? If the answer is yes, this may be your answer to healing.
Common Mind-Body Pain Syndromes
Syndromes Commonly Due to Psychophysiologic Processes
Note: Most of the disorders listed can also be caused by structural disease processes.
• Acid reflux
• Anxiety
• Back pain
• Chronic abdominal and pelvic pain syndromes
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Chronic hives
• Chronic tendonitis
• Depression
• Dizziness
• Eating disorders
• Fibromyalgia
• Foot pain syndrome
• Gastrointestinal issues
• Heartburn
• Hypersensitivity syndromes (touch, sound, smells, foods, medications)
• Inappropriate sinus tachycardia
• Insomnia
• Interstitial cystitis (irritable bladder syndrome)
• Irritable bowel syndrome
• Migraines
• Myofascial pain syndrome
• Neck pain
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Parasthesias (numbness, tingling, burning)
• Piriformis syndrome
• Plantar fasciitis
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)
• Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (complex regional pain syndrome)
• Repetitive strain injury
• Sciatic pain syndrome
• Spasmodic dysphonia
• Substance use disorders
• Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome
• Tension headaches
• Tinnitus
• Vulvodynia
• Whiplash
**List is from the Pain Reprocessing Therapy Center