PAIN MANAGEMENT
What is pain?
We categorise pain as being either acute or chronic. Basically, pain is experienced as an unpleasant physical sensation within the body due to illness or injury.
There are many different structures that present different types of pain such as: the skin and fascia, muscles, bones, joints and visceral organs.
Why do we experience pain?
The brain needs to understand and advise us that something is wrong and therefore, the affected structure will send messages (pain signals) to the brain.
Pain becomes a chronic problem when it appears not to respond or be fully eased with medication. It is imperative that you have a medical diagnosis for chronic pain before seeking conservative treatment.
We have all become conditioned into thinking that chronic pain requires medication and only responds to medication but actually there are alternatives, one such alternative is hypnotherapy which can enable clients to be able to control and manage their chronic long term pain. In fact, hypnotherapy and acupuncture are a very useful therapeutic combination to help with chronic pain management.
Pain Management and Control
Listed below are many ways in which you can help to ease your discomfort and reduce your symptoms:
Clients are assisted to enter into a trance state and once this relaxing state has been reached then the hypnotherapist will communicate with the sub-conscious mind using psychotherapeutic language and a variety of techniques and suggestions. The term clinical hypnosis usually implies that the therapist has received clinical training and holds a clinical registration such as the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Acupuncture stimulates the nerves in the skin and muscle, and can produce a variety of effects. It is known that it increases the body's release of natural painkillers endorphin and serotonin in the pain pathways of both the spinal cord and the brain. This modifies the way pain signals are received. But acupuncture does much more than reduce pain. It also has a beneficial effect on health and clients often notice an improved sense of wellbeing after treatment.
At Kevin Anthony Walsh we are currently researching this combination of therapy utilising acupuncture and hypnosis to help alleviate chronic pain and discomfort. These two powerful techniques are used together to assist clients to reduce and self-manage their chronic pain.
This is a clinical science based on restoring your muscles and joints to be able to work to their full potential, helping to reduce pain and restore movement and function to optimum ability.
Physical activity has been hailed as a miracle cure. A great many people will find an unsurmountable reasons and excuses not to take exercise and yet the benefits have been proven time and time again. Pain can be decreased by musculoskeletal activity while joint mobility and flexibility can be improved. Overall your strength and fitness can be an increased with noticeable improvements to the general health of both your mind and body.
This is a small compact device that you can use to help relax the muscles and alleviate pain and discomfort. Small discreet pads are attached to the skin and electrical impulses are delivered to the muscles. These impulses can help to relieve the pain and discomfort experienced by the muscles. Endorphins, the body’s own natural painkillers can also be stimulated.
We treat pain with drugs that haven't really changed for decades. These drugs are very beneficial, but they may also carry side effects. Some drugs lose their effects as the body becomes used to the therapeutic doses and clients can become intolerant of the dose and/or drug requiring increased dosages, stronger drugs and the possibility of addiction.
What the experts have to say about pain
There is currently a great deal of time and money being invested in the area of research into pain control as was seen at the Pain Less Exhibition which ran at the Science Museum in London until August 2013.
The exhibition asked a very important question: “Is there a better way to control pain?”
Geneticists are decoding our DNA to find out how pain works in the body. At the same time Neuroscientists are examining our brain activity to discover how emotion affects how we feel pain. These Scientists are working to create the perfect pain relief.
The exhibition drew attention to the complexities of researching the way the brain interprets pain. It is hoped that eventually medical science will be able to find a cure for all chronic pain, but in the meantime, there is a role for hypnotherapy in supporting chronic pain sufferers to manage their distressing and debilitating condition.
As clinical trials both in the UK and abroad look at quantifying the efficacy of hypnotherapy in supporting clients in managing their chronic pain, the role of hypnotherapy may change. Perhaps in the future hypnotherapy will be regarded as a front line treatment, rather than as a last resort for those with the most life changing and previously intractable pain conditions.
TYPES OF PAIN & INJURY
PRACTICE HOURS
We have a series of informative leaflets in pdf format produced by Physio First for download