We have all had a nasty headache or a rolled ankle, but what actually is PAIN!?
The definition of pain from the International Association of the Study of Pain is:
” An unpleasant sensory & emotional experience associated with actual or perceived tissue damage”
This basically means that Pain is always a personal experience that is influenced to varying degrees by the structure of the body that is “hurt” but also the psychology and social factors affecting the person in pain.
It also suggest that the pain we experience is different to the actual damage or input ( called nociception) that our brain receives and pain cannot exist with nociception alone.
Through our life experiences, individuals learn the concept of pain and although pain is meant to serve as an adaptive mechanism, it can sometimes adversely effect function and social/psychological well-being.
Moreover, a person’s report of an experience as pain should always be respected.
So when pain appears what do we do?
A lot of us might think rest is best, yet this is often the opposite of what is needed by the body.
Remember, pain is not a simple gauge of how “injured” our body is.
Gentle movement to the area can often make our pain feel a lot better.
If you have had ongoing pain for a while, there is a good chance that you have been told that something was found on your scan.
Some “tear, bulge, bursitis or degeneration” and other scary words…
It is important to remember that these findings are all a NORMAL part of being human and these findings can also exist without the presence of pain!!
This means these findings DO NOT EQUAL pain and scans do not always explain pain.
Your body is inherently strong and stable!
The average spine can withstand more than 907.8kg of pressure, can handle huge amounts of bending stress and most daily activities are way below the threshold where tissues get injured!
So get out there gang, it is time to move and adapt our bodies!
Contact one our Osteopaths here to see if they can help you get out of pain and get moving again!