Chronic Pain Management

Understanding Pain

Pain: An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.   

-World Health Organization

Today pain is understood to be one of our body's protective mechanisms. When our bodies detect a situation that could potentially result in injury, such as touching a hot stove or sharp knife, we experience pain. This pain tells us to change our behaviour quickly to protect against injury. Usually pain from a small injury like a burn or cut will last for a short period while the body heals or once the dangerous situation has passed. In some more serious traumatic injuries, the pain experience doesn't end once the body has finished healing.

If you have experienced a traumatic injury, such as a car accident, you likely know that the pain can last months or even years after the accident. However, we know that most of our body's tissue can naturally heal from injury within 6-8 weeks. So what is the reason for pain lasting months or years, and sometimes becoming even more painful than when the injury first occurred?

Nerves are our body's messaging system, and they tell us all about sensations like touch, movement, heat, and pain. When we have an injury that takes a long time to heal, the nerves tell us about our pain very often for weeks. With weeks of practice sending pain signals, nerves get very good at it; sending faster and more intense signals every time. This can change our pain from only occuring after over-working or over-stretching injured muscles to occuring during simple actions like walking, sitting, or even just trying to sleep. When pain occurs during safe activities, it isn't serving to protect us anymore and takes away from our ability to enjoy life. When pain has reached this stage, usually after lasting for over 3 months, it is referred to as chronic pain. There is no benefit or purpose to having chronic pain, so it is important to receive treatment for managing this disorder of the body.

How a Pain Professional Can Help

Living with chronic pain is unpleasant and often causes frustration when others don't understand why or how you have pain. Sometimes friends, family, healthcare workers, or insurance companies may disregard your pain experience, saying things like:

"You don't look injured, is the pain even real?"

"You've been complaining about this pain for so long, can't you get over it by now?"

"You have a chronic condition, there's nothing we can do about your pain."

If you know your pain is real, how come it's so hard for others to understand?

Pain is subjective, this means everyone experiences it in a unique way and for different reasons. Since no one else can feel your pain, you are the expert and no one will understand it quite as well as you do. However, this doesn't mean you have to face your pain alone.

As a kinesiologist specializing in chronic pain, I will guide you through the many treatment options that are available. The treatments for chronic pain that have been shown to be most effective at reducing pain and restoring function to daily activities like walking, running, sit-stand transitions, sport, etc. focus on behaviour change. As the expert on your condition, you will be free to choose what changes are best suited to your lifestyle and goals. This could involve multiple of the following:

• Therapeutic exercise and stretching

• Ergonomic pain reduction strategies

• Aquatherapy

• Correction of muscle imbalances

• Pain education

• Community-based training

• And many more...

Let's tackle your chronic pain together.