Pain Syndromes and Pain Management

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Acute and chronic pain effects over 100 million people in the United States each year. While pain is best known and characterized as subjective, meaning only the person who is experiencing it can explain what it feels like, pain is often called the Universal equalizer. Pain affects people differently. What may be perceived as only a minor nuisance to one person, may be completely debilitating to someone else. Pain is a warning that something isn't quite right. Pain is not a disease in itself but the result of an underlying condition or due to injury.. Pain is not just a physical sensation or psychological event, but a combination of these and other components. Pain can be caused by a variety of situations such as accidents, musculoskeletal disorders, improper lifting, bending, sports activities, misalignment of the vertebrae of the spine and disease. It can also appear out of nowhere with no obvious cause.. A viral illness may possibly be a cause, or emotional trauma, such as fear or resentment. n the vast majority of cases, pain is caused by stasis of blood and or our body's energy resulting in muscle spasm, trauma and immobility. From a healthy heart to a good sex life, the proper flow and circulation of blood in our arteries is one of the most important things we can do to maintain good health, a pain free life and push back the aging process. There is a common denominator between good arterial health and pain disorders such as heart attack, obesity, diabetes and high glucose levels, as well as sexual health. That common denominator is blood. Pain is a vicious cycle: spasm and inflammation lead to more spasm and inflammation. Although the cycle can develop due to injury, the ultimate cause is often in the brain, which can interfere with muscle physiology through the spinal cord. Chronic (long term) and acute back (and neck) pain are common expressions of stress and emotional stress. This demonstrates the true complexity of the mind/body interaction. Many times it is the brain's distortion of muscle function that sets us up for pain by preventing muscles from responding freely to physical stresses. Acute pain can result from disease, inflammation, or injury to tissues. This type of pain generally comes on suddenly, for example, after trauma or surgery, and may be accompanied by anxiety or emotional distress. The cause of acute pain can usually be diagnosed and treated, and the pain is self-limiting, that is, it is confined to a given period of time and severity. In some rare instances, it can become chronic. Chronic pain is widely believed to represent disease itself. It can be made much worse by environmental and psychological factors. Chronic pain persists over a longer period of time than acute pain and is resistant to most medical treatments. It can often cause severe problems for patients. In assessing pain, a useful approach is to assess pain intensity (sensory), pain relief (cognitive), pain location, pain distress (affective), behavioral patterns or other similar sensory aspects of pain. Without a doubt, added stress and strains can take its toll on your spinal and nervous system. Maintaining a physically fit body, awareness of body positions, a clean and detoxified internal system, keeping fears, stress and insecurities in check and careful execution physically, through each day are all great ways to avoid daily aches and pains. Common Pain Syndromes 1. Inflammation: can be caused by injury, joint diseases, tumors, infection, abscesses, misalignment. The cause is usually clearly defined and is medically classified as Calor, dolor, rubor, and tumor: Heat, pain, redness, and swelling. The four classical signs of inflammation. 2. Physical Injury: are defined as cuts, broken bones, sprains and strains and can manifest as intense burning pain or deep aching pain. 3. Widened Inflamed Blood Vessels: considered migraines, headaches or temporal arteritis. This is defined as pulsing, throbbing intense pain and localized to the area of inflamed blood vessels. 4. Insufficient Blood Flow: considered angina, leg pain, pain from exercise or in some cultures the definition of pain itself; blood stagnation. 5. Nerve Pain: expressed as shingles, diabetic neuropathy and sciatica. This sensation is that of tingling or burning pain and may radiate along nerve pathways. 6. Toxemia: which is caused by the ingestion and accumulation of substances which are foreign to the body and toxic in nature, such as chemicals, drugs, etc. These produce irritation, inflammation and pathology in bodily organs and systems. Toxemia, which is also due to the accumulation of toxic wastes resulting from the food and beverages we eat and drink; unnatural food or natural food in excess beyond what the body can use at the moment. 7. Deficiencies: The insufficiency of necessary food substances, such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins, enzymes etc., lead to breakdown of cells, tissues and organs which is given names of diseases, according to its location. 8. Enervation: is the reduction or loss of energy due to the lack of rest or sleep, or the excessive use of emotion, negative thoughts, worry, stress, or the overdoing of physical actions, overeating etc. Enervation leads to a reduction of the body's ability to digest, absorb, assimilate and excrete body wastes - thus leading to a retention of wastes in the cells and tissues and thereby causing disease. Source of Relief from Pain 1. Cold Applications: This application often feels best on acute injuries, where the pain is often hot to the touch or has a feeling of heat radiating from it. Ice numbs the area, reducing pain. It also constricts blood vessels, limiting blood supply to the injured site. This action decreases swelling. Ice can also decrease muscle spasms. If an area is painful to move or swells after exercise, use ice. Apply ice or a frozen object, such as a bag of corn from the freezer, to the injury. Be sure the area is protected from the cold application and not applied directly to the skin. The cold will reduce swelling and pain at the injured site. This step should be done as soon as possible. Apply the frozen object to the area for 20 minutes, every two to three hours for the first 48 hours. 2. Hot Applications: This application is often most affective for chronic injuries or pain that is cold to the touch or has cold radiating from it. It is very useful with injuries agitate by cold or damp weather. Heat increases local blood supply, bringing healing cells to the area and potentially relaxing tight muscles. Use moist, hot towels or microwavable heat packs for no more than 10 to 15 minutes several times a day. Never sleep on a heating pad. 3. Anti-inflammatories : from aspirin to herbal compresses, anti-inflammatory applications can reduce the recovery time by half if done within the first 24-48 hours of an injury or painful attack. 4. Lancing or Draining Abscesses: reducing swelling from painful sprains and strains and toxic swellings from insect bites are all very important reasons for lancing and draining an injured area. In Chinese Medicine, cupping is done after the lancing to draw out the blood from the area. This is a very affective method used to decrease the amount of time it takes for the area to heal. 5. Rest: This can be the best medicine for any condition from a cold to a broken bone. Rest rejuvenates, repairs and reassembles. For acute injury, rest and protect the injured area. If it hurts to bear weight on the injury, use crutches, if it hurts to move the area immobilize it with a splint. 6. Compression and elevation: tend to go hand in hand. Compress the injured site by applying an Ace bandage. This will decreases swelling of the injured region. Although the wrap should be snug, make sure it is not too tight as this can cause numbness, tingling, or increased pain. 7. Elevation of the injured area: above the level of the heart as much as possible. This technique will also assist in reducing the amount of swelling to the injured site. 8. Exercise conditioning and stretching: certain pains can improve from stretching such as painful stiff muscles and joints by increasing blood flow to these areas. Weight baring exercises are beneficial for improving strength and bone density. Restoring movement and normal function to an injured area is critical. Learn to stretch to improve your flexibility. 9. Dietary Changes: So many aches and pains can be eliminated by the proper foods we choose to eat. Weight gain affects our joints, heart, circulation and blood pressure among other conditions. Change your diet and change your life. 10. Root Cause Treatment: Pain is the result of injury or disease. With acute pain, the cause is often obvious. A fall resulting in a painful scrape or twisted ankle. In chronic pain, often the pain has been with you for so long, it is hard to pinpoint the real cause or root cause of the disorder. Most alternative health therapies see the occurence of disease as the results from an imbalance. The treating of the root of primary cause of disease is what makes a root cause treatment very affective in the long term. It does not just treat the symptoms of that disease. Andrew Pacholyk, MS L.Ac(Author) http://peacefulmind .com/pain. htm Therapies for healing mind, body, spirit

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