I tripped over a drainage cover in my lawn and flew through the air like superwoman, went over the edge of the tier of my garden and down onto my ribs on the next level below. Luckily my face missed the pavement by inches otherwise I would have got broken teeth and a lovely grazed face. My superwoman arm took some of the knock but my ribs took the remainder and consequently they are really painful. Its really painful for me to cough, sneeze, laugh or to breathe!
Why am I telling you this? My accident was a one off and luckily I am still walking, talking and getting things done, if gently. But many people live every day with this type of pain which can drain the life out of you. It drains you because you can’t laugh without pain, you can’t breathe without the reminder of pain, and if you move you are in pain. All the things that normally bring us joy in our life now bring us pain.
In my case it won’t help to get upset or angry because it was my own silly fault. It also doesn’t help to get wistful about how it might not have happened if…… ………….It also won’t help to practice ‘I am over it’ (aka positive thinking) because clearly I am not!
How to manage intense pain
So what is the best practice to help us with intense pain? I have found that when my focus is truly absorbed in something else, it is difficult to get that focus split and notice the pain. For example if someone stood on my toe now, really, and I mean REALLY hard I wouldn’t notice my rib pain at all in that moment and for a while.
My focus is firmly on my foot! And that’s because our brain can’t respond well to two things going on at once. It can flick its focus back and forth, but when there is something really absorbing going on it will favor receiving sensory input from that. That could be another event creating sudden excruciating pain (the foot example), or if you’ve immersed in something that needs your full focus to do it. When you do this you actually remove your brain’s focus from the pain. In using this redirection of focus people have been able to walk on hot coals, lift cars and do all sorts of things that get them past their own pain. There are many reports of people who were able to ignore the pain from their serious injuries to help others when needed.
The role of focus in pain management
Our brain won’t naturally shut off the pain impulses from our body, but creating a strong focus through practice can really help. It helps our brain to naturally favor our chosen messages over these pain messages. If we must concentrate on the notes we must play next on the piano, or find the right words for this blog our brain is engaged in a primary focus. This blog is in fact my painkiller today and as I write and become more interested in what I am writing. As I do so, I am less and less focused on my rib area and the pain there, and more focused on the screen and my fingers and what my mind is trying to find words for.
If you suffer from chronic pain, one of the best things you can do is train your focus and concentration. This is so that you can redirect you can redirect your focus towards something other than the incoming pain impulses.
How to train your concentration
A good way to start training it is to get your brain focused on a memory that pleases you. Search to remember every detail and keep looking for more. Remember the smells, sounds, colours and textures that you experienced.
Make a mental picture of this memory, like a still photo that represents the highlight of this memory. Each time you notice your pain, focus on that picture and once again remember all the sounds, colours, smells, sounds etc associated with it. This won’t cure whatever is creating the pain in your body but it can help you to manage the pain.It also develops your imagination and ability to focus.
You can start to train your focus in that way. You can also apply your focus to other things that are productive or pleasurable, or both. For example, any of the following requires that you place your focus strongly on the present task: learning a musical instrument, making a worry doll, or any kind of craft making, playing a game either by yourself or with others, memory testing and so on.
This may sound simplistic but there are many people who manage their pain this way and don’t ever rely on painkillers. That’s not saying you must not take the odd painkiller, but we all know that taking them routinely is not good for your health. And there is always the possibility of addiction with opioid based painkillers.
When you don’t know the cause of your pain
Of course shifting our focus doesn’t cure the pain. If it’s not a purely physical case like mine that simply needs rest and time to heal, you also need to keep working on what is actually causing your pain. If you don’t know what that is, find out. Meanwhile to help you cope with your pain, try the focus exercise to help train your concentration. And take up an appropriate and pleasant past-time for you that demands your full focus.
Hidden causes of pain
If you don’t know what is causing your pain, here are some possible causes that many people don’t consider.
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Trapped emotional pain. This will often present itself off and on in your life, and is usually triggered by something happening in your current life. This reminds you of an upsetting incident in the past, but without you being aware of it. These emotional triggers are often carried from childhood. The initial event is usually not remembered but instead is repressed in the body, where it plays itself out. It expresses itself as tension and a buildup of blocked energy which results in physical pain. That is, until you get the original pain processed. In terms of symptoms think chronic fatigue, random aches and pains with no found cause, brain fog and loss of joy of life.
- Heavy Metal Toxicity If you have a lot of muscular or joint pain, palpitations, anxiety, brain fog, chronic fatigue, memory loss, and your immune system is compromised, consider the possibility of heavy metal toxicity. Seriously toxic heavy metals include mercury, lead, aluminium, cadmium and arsenic. Other metals can also become toxic to our bodies if we have too much in our system and we can’t process them e.g. Iron, zinc and copper. Mercury toxicity alone is linked to Multiple Schlerosis, Alzheimers and Dementia, Autism and Learning Disabilities, Brain Damage, ADHD, Bipolar, Depression, Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue, Tinnitus, Neuropathy and more.
Heavy metal toxicity is becoming more and more prevalent as our world, our food, water, air and other places of contact are being polluted. If your mouth has been filled with amalgam fillings, these are 50% mercury. Mercury is, according to the World Health Organisation, not safe at ANY level in the body
Amalgam Dentistry It is astounding that dentists in Ireland are still using amalgam fillings that have mercury in them, while other countries have banned these fillings. If you get them replaced ensure you go to a biodentist who will protect you with a dental dam, and give you charcoal to prevent you from further poisoning, when they remove them.
People often fall ill when they’ve had amalgams replaced due to the drilling dust that is absorbed, the release of mercury vapor and sometimes from swallowing of bits of the filling. At the time they usually don’t associate their symptoms with dentistry, instead thinking they have the flu or some other illness. But the symptoms tend to remain well past a virus end date.
If you have amalgam fillings and do any teeth grinding (which usually happens during sleep due to stress) more mercury vapor is released. The vapor alone can wreak havoc in our bodies. It affects our immune system, our cellular reproduction, and can really mess with our respiratory system, along with liver and kidney function.
I can just about guarantee your GP won’t know anything about the problem of heavy metal toxicity and how to detox, so don’t expect much help there. There are no standard blood/urine or stool tests that can show up heavy metal toxicity. It’s only when you have begun chelation that any kind of reading can take place and your GP won’t be able to help you with that. Chelation is where you draw the metals out into your bloodstream from where they have attached in your body.
Traditional medical systems have always been invested in the use of heavy metals through the use of thimerisol (another name for mercury) as a preservative in vaccines and anaesthetics. Aluminium is used as an adjuvant in vaccines. An adjuvant is a vaccine component that is supposed to boost the immune response to the vaccine. However, aluminium lodged in the brain over time, is now implicated as one of the causes for dementia and alzheimers disease.
Our bodies are usually very resilient. Luckily for us our bodies are incredibly resilient. If we are given half a chance we can often manage these toxins, but they are still stored in our body in places like your bones, fat, connective tissue and muscles. It’s certainly not healthy, but they are much safer stored here. It is when they make their way to your brain or organs that they can cause much more serious damage.This is why chelation must be undertaken extremely cautiously otherwise the mobilisation of mercury can cause a lot more damage.
Don’t undertake chelation without professional supervision Do some research to see if your symptoms match those for heavy metal toxicity and if they do, find a professional in your area, who knows about heavy metal detoxification and work with them.The safest protocol I have come across after much research, is the ‘Andy Cutler Protocol’. Go to www.maybeitsmercury.com to find out about his protocol. Please do not try to undertake chelation alone but enlist a professional who specialises in this area.
Chelation draws the metal out into the bloodstream or digestive system to get rid of it. Once mobilised it can move the toxins to your vital organs, including your brain. This can lead to even more serious health problems for you to deal with. If you are already really ill, and in brain fog etc, you really need an ally who knows what he/she is doing and the seriousness of this undertaking.
Your program must have a protocol to trap and excrete the heavy metals that you mobilie or you can make yourself worse. You cannot do heavy metal detox over night, or even within a month. It takes a minimum of 6 months and sometimes a lot longer. The metal has to be chelated at a rate that your body can bind and excrete it, and not so much that your liver or kidneys can get overwhelmed by the process. I repeat, do not try to do this on your own. This is one area where I believe you need expert advice and help.
3. Unexpressed Grief Another tricky cause of pain can be unexpressed grief. This can be due to a bereavement, but also any loss or change that you have no control over. As well as death, it includes events like having to retire when you don’t want to, divorce or separation, losing your home, losing your sense of self due to bullying or being made to feel incompetent, weak or useless.
Unexpressed grief can build up in your system due to any trauma that induced a sense of unfair loss. If you think of emotion as e-motion (energy in motion) you will understand that if emotion keeps building up in your system due to lack of expression, it has a cumulative affect.
The straw that broke the camel’s back
The event preceding the pain may not be the actual cause of the pain, but was the last thing to happen before your body said “enough is enough.” An minor event can act like the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back.’In these cases thank your body for giving you a clear message. Notice whether your pain diminishes each time you express your feelings about your loss.
What is a Healing Crisis?
Your symptoms may feel worse for a while when bringing up emotional pain. Don’t be worried about this. If you have been stockpiling grief and unresolved issues from childhood and throughout your life your great pain may feel overwhealming. And it may make your symptoms feel worse for a couple of days. As long as your medical tests show there is nothing physical causing that pain, this is probably a ‘healing crisi’. Know that this is good work and will eventually lead to your symptoms calming down.
How to begin your road to wellness
Our bodies are complex and usually don’t have one cause for becoming greatly upset. Your body is trying to get you to notice something when it gives you a pain signal. It is then your job to listen to this information and use your intelligence, your contacts and your research, to prioritise what intervention you will pursue.
Why you need the Medical System
I always advocate medical tests to rule out any life threatening or worsening condition, e.g. heart, kidney, liver, respiratory, digestive or brain dysfunction. Get clear of any possibility of growth e.g. an invasive tumor etc, and/or any potential damage that could be caused by avoiding medical help.
Once you have ruled out these things through appropriate blood/urine/stool tests, scans and xrays you can consider enquiry into the other more hidden causes I talked about.
The many ways to suppress pain
It is no fun being in pain. You can suppress it with prescription or illegal drugs or alchohol or through some other addictive substance. But this will not cure the problem and often causes far worse problems that destroy peoples’ lives. When you are in pain, seek the cause of your pain. If you don’t get anywhere, enlist the help of an ally who can help you through the complexity of all of the information that is out there.
Your body always wants to help you
Don’t ignore the place for medical intervention. It is valuable information and can help you to work out what to do next. Don’t try and do everything on your own.If you are particularly unwell you may not be thinking clearly about anything. Get help. Know that your body has the ability to heal itself. When it is not held back by every poison, energy or fear that is accumulated in your body it can regain its natural balance. It is an interesting road to embark apon. Don’t ignore what your body is trying to tell you. It is working for you, and it’s on your side, whether you appreciate it or not.
Katie Kalin is a kinesiologist with over 30 years experience working with groups and individuals. She runs a private clinic in Cork City and also does online kinesiology/coaching consultations.. Access one free half hour consultation with her through www.katiekalin.com
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