Deal with the pain or let it lead ?

Everyone has experienced the sensation of pain in some part of the body at least once in their life; back pain for instance or a headache, throat pain etc. It is an unpleasant and disturbing feeling that occurs and limits our ability to function and truly enjoy certain activities that are related to this aching part of the body.

Pain by definition is a message from the body to the brain, signaling that a disease, injury, or strenuous activity has caused trouble in a specific area of the body. It is a wake-up call and without it we would remain unaware of a variety of problems; from the tendons to the heart, until the disorder would become a more serious and even life-threatening one.

At low levels, pain can motivate you to give rest to the injured or compromised area of the body, so that the tissues can get repaired and by that, prevent any additional damage to them.

Pain can become chronic, therefore, forcing you to change your entire routine in order to avoid situations that cause it, while basically letting it run your life. Which means that you are no longer in control.

When the pain is more severe or chronic it can also motivate you to seek treatment.

In Conventional medicine you will probably have to go see a specialist (Orthopedist, Neurologist etc.) who may prescribe you some antibiotics or pain killers to start and later on a kind of anesthetic or some kind of sedative drugs. Depending on the painful area, they may also provide Physiotherapy treatments for a certain amount of time. A lot of times Conventional medicine offers an immediate yet short-lived (and sometimes addictive) solution to the symptom, which is the pain you feel, without truly addressing the root of the problem, the core of the pain - what your body is really trying to say.

There are many innovative treatments nowadays for pain management but most of them are based, again, on numbing the symptom rather than actually solving the problem.

Moreover, the pain that the body manifests in one area might actually indicate a problem in another area, which makes it more difficult to diagnose correctly if you don’t consider the person as a whole.

In Alternative medicine the therapist will try to figure out the WHY? what in your life has motivated this pain? whether it’s your lifestyle, working area, emotional imbalances, injuries that continue to manifest themselves etc. What has actually pushed the button to create this, at times, intolerable situation? In this process we are allowing the body to help itself by solving the alert it had put in front of us, therefore, it will not create any dependencies.

There are different options to address the reasons for pain; taking certain supplements, creating a specific supportive diet, taking care of imbalanced emotions with Bach Flowers and using physical treatments such as: Acupressure (Jin-Shin), Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Aromatherapy massages, Guided imagination sessions etc.

Lavender, for example, is a good natural home remedy for mild pain (sinuses, headache etc.). Try to use a good quality oil since quality matters in Aromatherapy. One drop spread externally over the painful area creates an immediate relief. As I mentioned, some conditions are more persistent, therefore, require your attention, so at the same time you should seek further and more thorough treatment.

You can either choose to constantly live your life with the pain or choose to find a good and lasting solution for it in order to live a better and freer life.

I do believe that no one should continue suffering if there is a way to make the pain substantially better or at times even make it disappear altogether.