There are many ways your body communicates to you. The awareness of your body has great reward in nurturing. Some would disagree and continue to mask pain with medications, but I think they are running from it. I learned you can’t heal it unless you can feel it. Don’t get me wrong there is a need for pain medication, you just can’t live on it without repercussions. Feeling discomforts and pain or just fatigue are clear signals of dysfunction or damage. Find out what it is. I speak with my patients regularly about the quality of pain to help diagnose problems since there are many qualities of pain. Is it burning, sharp, stabbing, dull, throbbing, ache, electric shock, cramping, numb, pins and needles, tingling, or just sore? Each one gives me more information and I can narrow down the problem. Nerve compression or pressure on a nerve can be indicated by electric shock, burning, pins and needles, tingling, and numbness. Tissue damage or tissue stress, usually sprains(ligament) or strains(muscle or tendon), are usually indicated by sharp, stabbing, cramping, ache, and soreness, but are usually preceded by an incident (Did you hit the dirt?). If there is a timing to it, morning or night, or a body position associated with the pain we are looking at inflammatory processes or over-use syndromes. Everyone is different and experiences injuries with their own awareness and I have been fooled by this analysis, but it is a good rule of thumb and gives great preliminary information. That is why we do comprehensive exams and diagnostics, whether it be x-rays or MRI’s if our initial information is misleading . We must make sure the treatments we select for the problem are moving the patient to less pain and better function overall. The typical experience is to move from sharp to dull or from ache to soreness with tissue injuries and tissue stress. With the nerve impingement or pressure there is a retracing of symptoms. So you went from tingling to numbness to burning to weakness, you would typically go back through it. You would get function back, it would burn, it would get numb, then it would tingle, then go away. Weird but nerves are electro-chemical, so that must be how the process, function, and sensation are restored. You’ve got to pay attention and stay in touch to what you are experiencing in order to know if you are getting better or worse. You must experiment and challenge your condition when you are ready. Can you get out of the chair better, are you sleeping better, are you able to stand or walk for a longer period? What movement can you do that you couldn’t do before. Functional improvements are key and indicate a resolving of your condition.
What if I have pain for no reason? You are crazy, there is always a reason. There are more places to look. Bones, tendons, ligaments, and muscle are not the only pain producing parts of the body. There are organs: liver, lungs, heart, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, digestive tract, lungs, etc. The beauty of organ systems is they are usually in the same location, have specific everyday functions, and can be tested with blood tests or other diagnostics to evaluate their integrity. Don’t ever miss the normally recommended time for colonoscopy or mammography and get your blood tested just for your own curiosity if it hasn’t been recommended. One of our local hospitals has a low cost blood exam clinic quarterly. So check your local hospital’s website for clinics. Listen to your body, get adjusted, and optimize your health!
“Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”
Jim Rohn
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