14/02/2022
What's fear got to do with pain?
And, why does FEAR increase our sensitivity to pain, therefore increasing our pain response?
Our brain's job first and foremost is to protect us. It's a survival thing. Back to the sabre tooth tiger days, if we didn't respond appropriately in a given situation, it's likely we would die. Simple as that. So our brain tends to shoot out the fear response even if the more appropriate response might be general concern or shock. Because, the brain reckons, it's better to protect first and deal with the fallout later.
But what does that have to do with pain?
Well, fear (a brain response) causes our bodies to respond accordingly. It tells us to get ready. We might have to run, fight or hide. Our heart rate goes up, breathing rate goes up, blood rushes to our periphery (limbs) so we can run if needed, we get a surge of adrenalin and cortisol (stress hormones) and our senses are on high alert - so we can respond...
Those hormones ⬆️, also stop our digestion and turn off our parasympathetic nervous system - or, the calming part of our nervous system. Those hormones also increase our inflammatory responses - so targets specific areas and inflames them. That might be your joints, or your back, your muscles or your head (or perhaps all the above).
So then the apparent fear goes away, but our body doesn't settle like it should, we still have things on our mind, maybe some niggling stressors or even deep held fears - like having that tough conversation with your boss or your partner, or jumping out of a situation that you know isn't right, or deadlines coming up that you cant avoid. But right now, it's easier staying there, cause the courage isn't quite strong enough. So the subtle stress and fear lingers, and lingers. And those body responses continue. And your brain becomes more sensitive and starts to over respond to every little ni**le, that in a non-stressed body would just be considered minimal.
A big part of learning how to live with and manage chronic pain, is understanding why your pain is there in the start.
And by this, I mean what was happening, before you got fibromyalgia or before you hurt your back at work or before you were diagnosed with arthritis. How stressed out was your body > or fearful was your brain and nervous system. So we work out the causes and then we use some specific strategies to help the brain soften and settle, so that the hyper-responsive state is normalised.
OR, if we flip that concept around - remember the last time you felt completely relaxed and at peace... maybe on holidays...
How did your body feel?
What happened to your brain fog?
What did you notice with your energy levels around that time?
Does this make sense? ⬇️🙋🏻♀️.
