The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain in the following terms: “pain is an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or experienced as such damage, being felt in the body and modifying behavior”.
Why does it modify behavior?
Pain has a goal: to modify behaviors. These behaviors can be of the cells, of the tissues, or globally of the individual.
A clear example of behavior modification is when we touch a burning object, withdrawing our hand immediately so as not to burn ourselves.
So what behavior do you want to modify chronic pain?
Persistent pain or a chronic condition, such as irritable bowel disease, indicates that a change must be made in the patient’s life. It is important that the person asks himself if he is willing to change and modify that behavior in his life, in order to achieve the cessation of the pain or condition suffered.
It is essential that the patient is aware that healing involves making a change, since many people expect to be cured to be able to return to do what they did before. On many occasions, this change is the great obstacle that my patients face when they come to undergo this method to cure their chronic pain.
What must a patient change?
First of all, people must change the now obsolete beliefs about what pain really is and what health is.
Nowadays, cell phones and computers are updated from time to time but, on the contrary, the knowledge about the functioning of our organism is at least 100 years old.
There are several assertions that are still believed, reinforced by the current health culture, which should be disproved:
- “It’s genetic”: epigenetics has already eliminated this dogma.
- “It’s a virus”: our immune system can be affected by an emotion, such as irritability, altering the immune system upwards or downwards.
- Osteoarthritis: it is still believed that if osteoarthritis is seen in the hands, knees or spine, this is the reason for the pain.
- A nerve can be pinched: this is still believed to cause back pain or tingling in the legs or arms.
In the 21st century we are fortunate to have all the information at our fingertips, updated and rigorous, with scientific evidence, so it can help us to change. From there, it is up to the work of each one of us.