Time To Bust Myths About Chronic Pain

Did you know that chronic pain is among the most common, and consequential disease in the world?

Chronic pain is defined as pain that persists past the normal time of healing of any soft tissue (usually past 3 months). Studies find that the rate of chronic pain is now higher than diabetes, depression and high blood pressure, and only 10% recover from chronic pain.

The experience of chronic pain can be complex. You may hear different advice out there about what you should and shouldn’t do. There are misconceptions and misunderstanding about pain that can lead to harmful coping strategies and prolonged recovery times. 

Here are the general myths about the actual causes and treatment solutions of chronic pain: 

Myth #1: Chronic pain is caused by an old injury that never healed. 

Truth: No matter what type of injury we incur as a child, in our teenage years or adult years, once the tissues heal (about 3 months max) , it does not cause chronic pain.

Myth #2: Chronic pain is produced in the area of the body that hurts.

Truth: In fact, the sensation of pain is produced in our brains, processed by our nervous system and then sent to our body.

Myth #3: Chronic pain caused by a structural “abnormality”.

Truth: Even though an x-ray or MRI finds structural deformities, such as disc degenerative disease, arthritis, tendon or ligament tears, it is NOT a predictor or indicator of pain. Many people live with those diagnoses and experience no pain at all.

Myth #4: Chronic pain is a sign of getting old or aging.

Truth: No scientific evidence was able to confirm this belief. It is purely a good old “wives tale”.

Myth #5: I have been living in chronic pain for years, and have tried all types of physical therapies and interventions with no success. I guess I need to learn to live with it.

Truth:

1. Chronic pain is actually caused by mis-firing and mis-interpretation signals that the brain received from the nervous system, thinking your body is in “danger” - this is what we call neuroplastic pain. 
2. Since it is a conditioned response that the brain learns, it can be completely reversed and healed by reprocessing the pain signals. 
3. This explains why doing physical treatments does not work with healing chronic pain. We must work with the brain to rewire and reprocess pain signals to stop chronic pain.

If you suffer from chronic pain and feel like it has control over your life, you may have neuroplastic pain. Learn how you can use the Mind-Body approach to completely reverse your chronic pain by clicking here.  

You don’t need to live with your chronic pain. There is a way out!

Valerie Beaulieu, CAT(C)

Clinic Founder and Owner/Certified Athletic Therapist