by Will Meecham, MD, MA
Chronic pain can be a pain, but it can also be a path. By working with physical discomfort, people can learn to see life in a new light. The journey through pain can lead to unshakable satisfaction and new plateaus of success.
Don’t get me wrong; we’d all rather live without chronic pain. Those who suffer from ongoing physical discomfort become discouraged and depressed. But if you can teach clients to understand and cope with pain, you can instill the hope and motivation needed to rebuild happiness. Bodily treatments that relieve discomfort will be all the more valuable when offered with suggestions for managing somatic complaints.
What’s more, in addition to relieving symptoms, well-rounded approaches teach new attitudes toward life and strife. Mastery over pain translates into profound acceptance and insight. As we all know, suffering overcome fuels wellbeing and wisdom.
Here are some steps to realigning one’s relationship with pain:
- Explore the discomfort. In meditation, in quiet moments, or at those times when pain seems to blot out every other experience, it helps to objectively observe the
sensations. Find words to describe their quality, their location, and their magnitude. “I have a throbbing, deep ache at the base of my skull, about five out of ten in intensity.” By calmly exploring the pain rather than running away, we diminish the emotional reactivity that is a primary source of distress. - Recognize the origin of suffering as mental. Of course pain hurts, but the agony we endure is often psychological more than physical. The discomfort takes on negative meaning, until undesirable but tolerable physical sensations breed psychic misery. We feel cheated; we feel unable to enjoy life as before; we feel doomed. These feelings and thoughts are the ultimate source of unhappiness in chronic pain patients. The pain itself is unpleasant, but if it can be viewed without an overlay of pessimism and bitterness, it is far more bearable.
- Learn to consciously diminish the discomfort. Although it is important to courageously explore painful sensations, it also helps to learn how to modulate them. We know many techniques that help. Gentle stretching can alleviate musculoskeletal pain. Heat or cold may soothe many forms of discomfort. Remaining as active as possible is vital. Powerful mental strategies can also be employed, like focusing on non-painful body parts and letting the ease of those areas spread. Or visualizing pain as a glaring light, then reducing its intensity by dialing down an imaginary dimmer switch.
- Remember that there is more to life than pain. Distracting ourselves is often the simplest way to reduce discomfort. Pursue any activity that brings pleasure, or simply remember an enjoyable experience. Life is never only pain. There is always its opposite, either nearby or in memory. DonÕt get lost in pain. Maintain a wider perspective.
- Realize that living well despite chronic pain helps us accept life with fewer preconditions. If we learn to be happy regardless of physical distress, the realization that joy can be found even in the midst of hardship generalizes to other areas of life. There is less need for material and social rewards, and less demand for circumstances to line up just right. We work with the present moment, and its challenges, to build fulfilling lives.
- Devote time to helping others. When we reach out to people facing difficulty, our own problems diminish. There is the benefit of context: suffering can be seen as more universal and less personal. There is the value of comradery: joining or forming a community of struggling people makes life more bearable. And there is the value of feeling useful: no matter what limitations we face, there are always ways to help others. A kind word, a gentle smile, or a sincere holding of hands can go a long way toward easing the burdens of those who are suffering. By helping, we recognize our ability to make a difference in the world. Life regains purpose.
- Accept help from others. It is tempting to remain stoic and refuse assistance. While self-reliance has a role in life, so do community and humility. By recognizing when we need a hand, and graciously accepting it, we can use our difficulties to provide opportunities to others who might like to feel needed. This can be a gift in its own right. People feel better about themselves when they feel useful.
- Find benefits in pain. Find meaning. After we take the steps listed above, we discover that pain has led to new layers of wisdom. We have learned to enter the body fearlessly, to separate physical pain from mental reaction, to take control of sensations, to view situations broadly, to accept life on life’s terms, to concentrate on others, and to enter community with humility. These are all vital and transformative lessons. They are the upside of pain. If we learn them well, we can consider our lives successful despite our discomfort and limitation.
These suggestions are simple in isolation, but powerful in aggregate. Taken together, they can completely alter a person’s interpretation of pain and its consequences. The result, of course, is true healing.
Initially educated in zoology, biophysics, and neuroscience, Dr. Will Meecham later trained as an ophthalmologist and reconstructive surgeon. He practiced as a Kaiser oculoplastic specialist until degenerative neck disease forced him to abandon his career. In working through chronic pain and physical limitation, plus considerable stress and grief, he found acupuncture extremely helpful. He was delighted to learn what the Chinese have known for millennia: acupuncture not only reduces muscle tightness and skeletal discomfort, it also centers and calms the emotions.
After experiencing how acupuncture relieves pain and promotes mental health, Dr. Meecham decided to pursue training as a physician acupuncturist. In his free time he enjoys outdoor activities including hiking, canoeing, and snowshoeing, and he is an avid writer and poet.
