Today's pain free tip is shared from Dr. Michele Gargan, PsyD, who has been treating pain patients for over 30 years, and is one of the advisers for the CT Pain Foundation.
Pain and Activity: Use It or Lose It
"The human body is meant to move. Yet a person who experiences intense, persistent pain will probably move less and less over time. He or she is also likely to develop a number of “pain behaviors” such lying down for long periods, using unusual postures to brace against the pain, or favoring one side of the body over another when moving. After a while, these pain behaviors take on a life of their own and actually add to the pain.
Long periods of immobility disrupt the body’s pain sensing mechanisms because pain perception relies on feedback from normal muscle activity, particularly the larger muscle groups of the body. Avoidance of activity under stimulates the large sensory nerves and results in more pain when movement is resumed. The habitual use of unusual postures results in secondary pain in other areas of the body as certain muscle groups go into chronic spasm while other muscle groups atrophy from lack of use. So, rather than decreasing pain by avoiding certain patterns of movement, a person is actually increasing his or her pain as well as creating new pain."
...
Wow... she says that so well... almost like.. she's been treating patients like me for 30 years ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment