A great example is one study performed where participants
were hooked up to a fake simulator that did nothing at all to them, but they
were told it would send electrical currents through their head. The
participants actually felt pain equivalent to the amount of current they were
told they would experience.
Isn’t that amazing??!! And this is just one of many other
studies that shows that if we expect to feel pain, we will actually feel pain.
The amount of pain we feel can even be influenced by who is
around us at the time. In one study male participants tolerated a much higher
level of pain if it was a female testing their threshold levels.
So when it comes to pain, it’s very important that you watch
out for what you’re thinking and feeling with regards to it. When we identify
with or get wrapped up in the feelings of pain, then it’s showing that will
greatly impact the way our brain feels pain.
Worrying about the thoughts and feelings associated with
pain actually makes the pain worse. The more we worry and stress about it, the
worse it gets. Our brain reacts to the things we think about.
This is why the stress in our lives is so important to our
overall health and happiness. At this time of year many people are suffering
from an “illness” we have coined ING syndrome. You know your suffering from it
if you have any of the following symptoms during the holiday seasons:
Headaches; tiredness; fatigue; mood swings; crankiness; migraines; back pain;
stomach troubles; neck pain; inability to get good sleep; and the list goes on.
What’s the cause? Doing too many things – shopping;
traveling; shoveling snow; cooking and baking; visiting friends and family;
hosting people at your house; drinking too much alcohol; eating too many sweets….
You get the picture.
This then creates a stress merry-go-round. And it won’t just
cause pain and other physical symptoms. This constant stress and worrying also
creates more anxiety, worry, depression, and further stress.
Because we are
constantly thinking about or worrying about things, our sympathetic nervous
system lights up (to protect us from danger) and floods our body with chemicals
and hormones that are very valuable in the short term but very toxic in the
long run.
This is the fight or flight response you may have heard
about before. If someone is attacking you it’s a very important safety feature
built in to our brains. However, persistent high levels of stress hormones in
our system (especially cortisol & adrenaline) can decrease our healing
capabilities, and increase levels of anxiety and despair. Over time leads to a
decline in physical and mental performance. Constant high levels of adrenaline
actually change our nerves and the brain’s response to pain!
So it’s very important to take time outs and observe your
own thoughts to break these cycles, because so much of our body is impacted by
it, including our immune system. Our immune system isn’t just activated by what
is happening in the tissues of our body, but also by our brain’s interpretation
of those events. Our immune system is meant to be a good thing, a protection
system. But like all other parts of the body it too can get stuck in hyper
drive and create a raft of problems.
We know that long term stress and pain actually leads to an
alteration in the immune system, which results in more production of molecules
that actually promote inflammation. The immune system is very closely linked with the alert and
danger parts of our nervous system and responds to cortisol and adrenaline.
Then the immune system communicates with parts of our brain to produce even
more cortisol and adrenaline and so it creates a vicious cycle.
So what can we do to buffer our immune system and improve
our pain, especially at this time of year?
Mindfulness meditation is well known to quieten our brain
and calm the stress responses in our body (backed by science). This means
taking some time out from your extremely overloaded schedule to sit and
breathe, relax, visualize, pray…. Whatever helps you slow everything down in
your mind and become more present to your surroundings. If nothing else this
will help you deal better with all the other stressed out individuals you’ll come
across each day.
Proper nutrition is a huge key to calming down inflammation
within our body so that our chemical sensors can stop sending inflammatory
signals to our brain and thus stop our brain hitting the pain button.
Quality sleep also buffers against stress and pain, but stress
and pain can also disturb sleep patterns so setting good habits and routines is
sometimes all you can do.
Don’t underestimate sunshine and water, playing with
friends, a hearty laugh, doing hobbies you enjoy – these all go a long way to
helping our brain turn down or off the stress and pain music. And so often at
this time of year when we are busy and stressed, these are the things that get
pushed out of sight and out of mind.
Movement might be the most essential thing to do. If you
cannot move due to pain, then even imagining and visualizing movement will
help! You need to move the bigger muscles of your body that have been primed
for a fight or flight experience to get rid of the built up stress and tension.
And remember also to get the small muscles around your spine
moving too. Yoga or simple spinal exercises can be great, but maybe the most
vital way is to get adjusted by your family chiropractor. Chiropractic
adjustments help your brain to know more accurately what’s going on in and
around your body.
Remember too that chiropractic care is known to alter
function in a part of your brain called the Prefrontal cortex which plays a big
role in your brain's pain matrix. There’s also plenty of studies that have shown
chiropractic care helps with back pain, neck pain, and headaches. So if you’re
suffering with pain or any other ING Syndrome related symptoms, do your best to
stay positive, move often, eat well, sleep well, and go see your favorite
chiropractor to have your brain fine-tuned!
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