Have you been living with the same musculoskeletal pain problem for a few months — or even several years? You’re not alone: Chronic pain is a common and frustrating condition that affects over one in five adults (21%) in the United States at any given time.
Whether it affects your joints, back, neck, head, or your entire body, persistent pain can make you less active, sap your vitality, interfere with your sleep, and erode your well-being. But our team at Center Point Medicine has a holistic, drug-free solution that can help.
Here, Dr. Ran D. Anbar discusses why counseling is a vital component of every chronic pain treatment plan — and explains how it can help you attain much-needed relief.
Pain and emotions are deeply interconnected, sharing a bi-directional relationship that often gives rise to an ever-intensifying mental stress/physical pain cycle that can be hard to break. Experts know that:
This helps explain why people who are living with chronic pain are more likely to develop anxiety and depression — and why people with anxiety and depression are more vulnerable to developing chronic pain. In many cases, related issues like insomnia, reduced mobility, and weight gain are soon to follow.
Given that your brain processes physical and emotional sensations on interconnected pathways, it makes sense that the areas of your brain involved in pain processing are also readily altered by your emotional state — whether negative or positive.
Psychological factors can activate (stress or soothe) your brain’s pain-modulating systems. By understanding how stress and negative emotions lead to increased pain and how calm, distraction, and positive emotions promote pain relief, you can work to break the emotion-pain cycle.
Counseling first seeks to teach you about the basic connection between negative emotions and increased pain — as well as positive emotions and pain relief. Then, it aims to give you the tools and coping skills you need to self-regulate more mindfully.
By taking a comprehensive approach to help you manage chronic pain more effectively, counseling encompasses several emotion-lifting, pain-easing techniques. Many people benefit from some combination of the following methods:
Learning relaxation techniques like deep “box” breathing, progressive muscle release, and visualization can help you quickly reduce physical tension, ease anxiety, and take the edge off your pain. Being able to relax in moments of discomfort makes it easier to engage in other mindfulness practices, too.
Hypnosis induces deep relaxation to create a heightened state of focus and mindfulness. Once you’re “zoned in,” you’re open to the power of suggestion — and better able to make positive changes in your daily life. This holistic approach helps you modify negative patterns, activate your relaxation response, and break the stressor-pain cycle.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a form of “mind-body reframing” that works to help you replace negative thoughts and emotions with positive, helpful ones.
By identifying and actively replacing the adverse thinking patterns that contribute to pain-inflaming emotions, you empower yourself to “shut off” the flow of stress, anxiety, anger, fear, and helplessness when it arises, easing your pain through positivity.
As part of your CBT plan, you may come up with personal “pain coping” statements that resonate with you. Statements like “I can get through this,” “the pain will pass soon,” or “one step at a time — I can handle this,” help you navigate challenging moments with less stress, greater optimism, and more composure.
By addressing the psychological aspects of chronic pain, counseling aims to restore a more fulfilling life. This includes supporting your ability to participate in daily activities, thereby improving your mood and pain control efforts.
Activity pacing helps you stay active by teaching you how to strategically balance activity and rest, manage your energy levels, listen to your body, and prevent overexertion.
Are you ready to gain the upper hand over chronic pain? We’re here to help. Schedule a visit at Center Point Medicine in La Jolla, California, or Syracuse, New York, today.
