Newsletters: June 2002

No Pain, No Gain...How come?

What Is Pain?

If the separation continues and becomes great enough, the pain begins to diminish until it is no longer felt. In these circumstances we may feel as if the injury or trauma is "healing", because the pain is going away. In fact, the pain is diminishing because the separation is becoming so great that it grows beyond our level of awareness. Rather than healing (becoming whole) we are merely becoming numb.

We may think, "I'm better! The pain is gone!" Only finding a few weeks, months, or years later, that we re-experience the same pain...only stronger. We take a few aspirin or go for a cortisone injection...enhancing our separation. Once again, the pain is gone...for a while. It is like the gas light in the car. Have you ever been driving when suddenly the gas light comes on? You keep driving and the gas light goes off. A few minutes later it comes on a little longer...and again it turns off. Even quicker, the light comes on again -- and stays on. If you don't get gas now, you'll probably come to a sudden halt. Our bodies, and our pain, function in a similar way. Eventually, if we don't listen to the signal, all will come to a stop. When we understand that pain is not the problem, but the signal of a problem, we are more equipped and more responsible to take action and find a solution to the problem rather than just attacking the signal through a pain reliever, muscle relaxer, anti-depressant or anti-inflammatory drug. If the fire alarm went off in your house, would you not be annoyed if the fire department came and merely removed the alarm? What about the fire?

So why do things begin to hurt more when they begin to heal? There are two reasons. One, as you heal, or become more whole, you become more aware of your body and your self. With this increased awareness, the pain signals are experienced more. It is not that the pain is getting "worse"... you are feeling more. Healing is not about feeling better, it is about being better able to feel.

The more aware we are of the subtle signals of our bodies, minds and spirits, the more able we are to adapt to the changes in our environment. Would you rather hear the lion's roar miles away...or feel its breath on your neck? When we are more aware of the subtle, we have more room to make decisions. Our bodies give us such signals, but often they are ignored. Over time, the body must get our attention or more severe circumstances will ensue. We begin to experience pain...if we don't listen to this more advanced signal, the pain will increase to a point, but then suddenly stop. We have become numb. This part of us will surely die, unless immediate and critical action is taken. As that part, which has become so separate that it is unfelt, begins to become more whole with the body, the pain will return. Often it will be very intense, but as the healing continues it reduces and we begin to enjoy a finer quality of life. In order to heal, that part must be felt. We must be aware of it.

When I first began chiropractic college, I met a woman who was paralyzed from the waist down, with no feeling or movement in the legs. She told me that a heavy box, fell on her when she was five years old, and she was crippled ever since. Four years later, I ran into her again...literally. She was walking. I was astounded and asked what had happened. She explained that she was under intensive (treatment) and that over the course of four years, she got her legs back. I asked her what that was like. She said that it was the most painful experience of her life. First her legs began to tingle for about three months...then they began to throb for about six months...for almost ten months after that, she felt constant excruciating pain. Finally, the pain began to subside and she was able to feel her legs pleasantly and walk. I asked her if it was worth all that to get her legs back. She said she would have experienced it twice over to get her legs back.

What are you willing to feel in order to heal?

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Contact the office:
Dr. Larry Smith D.C., B.P.E.
Chiropractor

P.O. Box 307
255 Island Highway
Parksville, British Columbia
Canada V9P 2G5