About Pain

The Number One Misunderstanding About Pain

Is that pain always comes from injured tissues at the site where pain is felt and that pain signals are sent to the brain from the tissues and structures within the body.

There is a growing body of neuroscience and physiotherapy research that is making it very clear that this is not the case. This research has shown that there are no ‘pain receptors’ or ‘pain signals’ from the tissues. (Butler and Moseley, 2015).

What Does The Latest Research Explain?

Pain is a warning signal created by the brain to help protect the body and prevent further damage.

Imagine a car that is malfunctioning with an engine warning light on. Do we fix the problem by doing something to the light OR would we acknowledge the warning light and then check out every possible structure that could be causing a problem to the car’s engine? Recent studies teach us that pain is the brain’s equivalent of a dashboard warning light. (Sueki et al, 2103).

So pain is created by the brain and can be experienced in any part of the body causing us to use protective mechanisms to reduce strain to that area. Seeing conditions this way ensures that we treat the body parts that need the most help and not just where the pain is. It helps us identify certain movements or postures that may be increasing strain to the injured area, allowing us to modify and retrain movement to improve recovery.  

It is important that this way of thinking does not lessen the significance of pain, it validates how important pain is as a warning signal. Pain is a very important indicator for us to pay attention to and change what we are doing to protect us from harm.

Understanding that pain is created by the brain allows us to focus on fixing the parts of the body that are the underlying cause of our brains creating pain. This sometimes means that treating areas different to where the pain is experienced is the best way for most rapid and long-lasting results.

So How Does This New Understanding of Pain Help Solve Pain Faster?

How good would it be for all the parts of the car to be tested to see which ones are faulty? To fix the faulty part, and know how to check this for yourself in the future? What happens to the dashboard warning light if you took this approach? The warning light would go and stay off, resulting in optimal performance of the car.

How good would it be if your warning signal, alerted you to get every part of your body tested that could relate to your problem to find out which ones might be faulty? 

Next Steps

1. We need to find and fix the most significant dysfunction contributing to your condition.  If we can achieve this, the warning signal of pain is no longer required. The bonus is that the body then functions at its highest performance.
2. Self checking and tuning up your main dysfunctions, ensuring they remain in good shape is the best way of preventing pain recurrence. 

Many people are this proactive with their car, their teeth, and their general health. Imagine how much easier, and less expensive in the long run, it would be if we all learned to be this proactive for our body. 

At IBPF, this is why we assess the whole body when a client presents with pain. This thoroughness ensures we evaluate and treat all possible contributing factors to your condition, so that we gain a rapid and long-lasting result.