There is an enormous number of people that are living every day with persistent pain. Because our medical system isn't very well equipped for dealing with problems that are not visible via Xray or MRI these people are often told that they need to just live with pain and try to ignore it the best they can. Living with pain can be a dangerously slippery slope that becomes harder to deal with as more time passes because, just like anything, we become "good" at having pain over time. When we get good at something it gets locked in and becomes something that we do subconsciously.
Our mind and body are always trying to simplify and streamline all of our tasks and processes. Vision, smell, hearing, motor activities as well as pain are all processes that when practiced over a long period time become refined and improved to the point of mastery.
In most cases this is actually a good thing! Practicing your craft and skills makes us better athletes, workers, and students. But there are times that this can backfire against us.
Such is the case of persistent pain. When we have pain for a long period of time we reinforce the neural pathways and neurotags in our brains which make the pain experience occur easier and more efficiently. Therefore it is easier for us to feel this pain in the future and our system becomes more sensitized to the pain.
Therefore, it is not a good idea to "train the pain". Knowledge of what is happening to cause the pain and understanding the mechanism in which pain operates within YOUR individual system is extremely important to combat pain.
Call Precision Physical Therapy if you are dealing with a persistent pain for over a year. We will perform a full body evaluation and work together to understand your pain and the best way to manage it.
Dr. Eugene Katsnelson PT, DPT
Owner/Physical Therapist
Precision Physical Therapy
10-14 Saddle River Road
Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
(201)468-0282
ykatsnelson@precisionptnj.com
