How to Stop The Pain Cycle

Apr 11

Below is a graphic depicting The Pain Cycle. Chronic pain has many factors, two of which are how we feel emotionally and how we feel physically - Let’s break it down.

Chronic pain doesn’t make you feel good, so it makes sense that it effects you emotionally. It can cause anger as you think about what it has taken from you, anxiety or fear about being in more pain in the future, and distress in general. When left unchecked, these emotions lead to an overall decrease in mood and feelings of depressions. Research shows that low mood and depression lead to perceiving even more pain, meaning the pain you have is being dialed up even more by depression.

Physically, pain tends to decrease your activity because you don’t want to feel more pain or cause any damage. Unfortunately, this has the opposite effect as intended. When activity is decreased, your pain threshold also decreases. This leads to even less activity. Evidence shows that movement and exercise decrease pain, even though it doesn’t always feel that way. So when your doctor tells you to “exercise more” to help decrease your pain, they’re not exactly wrong. But, you do need more than some advice to actually make it happen.

This is where your brain comes into play. It is the hub of your nervous system and where most of your pain is processed. If your brain thinks it’s helpful to be in pain, it will continue to send pain signals. Your brain is constantly taking in your surroundings and making sure that you are safe. Sometimes this is very helpful, like when we twist our back and need to adjust to prevent damage. Unfortunately, it can get stuck in survival mode and keep the dial turned up on pain signals.

So now that we know all of this, what do we do about it? Just stop being depressed and get off the couch because your brain is making it all up? Absolutely not.

It takes time and effort to convince our body and our brain that living in chronic pain doesn’t need to be a vicious cycle. The pain you are experiencing is very real. You may have an old injury that never stopped hurting, or a pain disorder like fibromyalgia. Your brain isn’t making it up, but it can be a bit dramatic and keep the dial turned way up. This isn’t because you are doing something wrong or choosing to be in pain (no one chooses pain!). It is part of the mind-body connection. We have the ability to control the dial, which is great news! You may never be completely pain free, but learning how to go from a 10 to a 5 on the pain scale can make your life so much more enjoyable and fulfilling.

If you’re ready to start turning down the dial on your pain and taking back control of your life, here are some ways to do it:

1. Deep Belly Breaths
Also known as diaphragmatic breathing. I know it sounds cliché, but it is backed by science and available to you every second of every day no matter where you are or what you’re doing. Taking big, deep breaths while expanding the belly decreases negative emotions and calms you down. It tells your brain “I am safe” so it can chill out and stop sending so many pain signals. Fair warning - it isn’t going to work miracles. It takes practice and consistency, but over time it will become second nature to start belly breathing we you feel upset, angry, or tense. This stops The Pain Cycle in it’s tracks and keeps your pain levels dialed down.

2. Nutrition
Most people are aware that nutrition is important. But have you ever considered how much your eating habits contribute to your pain levels? When we eat a diet that is not good for our bodies - fast food for example - it effects everything, including how much pain we experience. I don’t believe in diet culture, mostly because fad diets just don’t work. What I do believe in is making smarter choices each day to give our bodies what it needs. Everyone has different dietary needs, but this is a starting point:

Use a food/mood journal to track how you feel after eating certain foods
Eliminate ONE thing at a time to see if it helps your pain levels. For example, cut out wheat for 30 days and see how you feel.
Add in as many fresh fruits and veggies as you can, especially leafy greens like spinach

3. Somatic Tracking
This takes practice, but it is so worth it. Somatic tracking is when you are in pain and instead of trying to block it out and not think about it, you notice it. Here are some questions to ask yourself as you focus on the pain:

Where is the pain located?
What does it feel like? Aching, throbbing, burning, pins and needles?
Does it move around a bit or stay in one spot?
How are the surrounding areas feeling?

It may seem like it would make the pain worse, but focusing on the pain and acknowledging how you feel can take away some of its power. Next time you’re having a pain moment, try it and see what you notice!

4. Lower Stress
Easier said then done, right!? But chronic stress is proven to be directly linked to chronic pain. When our nervous system is overwhelmed with stress, pain levels get dialed way up. Everyone knows chronic stress is bad, but actually doing something about it can be challenging. Here are a few ways you can reduce stress and dial your pain levels down:

Daily self-care (try my FREE 7-Day Wellness Challenge to get 15-minutes of self-care daily for an entire week)
Keep a gratitude journal and write in it each morning
Limit phone scrolling, especially in the evenings
Take 5-minute breaks throughout the work day to do belly breathing or gentle stretches
Have good sleep habits, like going to bed and waking up at the same time each day

5. Practice Mindfulness
Meditation is one way to practice mindfulness. But you can be mindful while doing just about anything! Being mindful doesn’t mean you have to sit cross-legged on a pillow. You can be mindful while doing dishes, walking your dog, or doing your favorite hobby. You just have to focus on the present and be fully in the moment. Here are some other ways to be mindful:

Color, draw, or paint
Listen to music
Go for a walk while noticing the sights, smells, and sounds around you
Be in nature

6. Time-Based Pacing
It’s easy to use your pain as a measure for when to stop doing an activity, which this is called PAIN-Based Pacing. But this tells your brain that every time you do an activity, it will hurt. To get out of this cycle, try using TIME-Based Pacing. If you know walking for 30 minutes is going to hurt, only walk for 20 or 25 minutes. Stopping before it hurts will signal to your brain the activity is safe. Eventually, you can even go longer than you could before because your brain will increase the threshold! Try this with different activities and see how you improve over time. You may even want to keep a journal or track your progress to see the results. Brain science is so cool…

7. Move Every Day
You don’t need to go from couch potato to a gym rat overnight. That is a recipe for more pain and feeling defeated. Take it slow and use the Time-Based Pacing method that was explained in number 4.

Dancing in your living room
Stretching
Yoga or Tai Chi
Lifting small weights while seated in a chair

Chronic pain steals so much from life. But there is hope and you DO have choices. If you found these tips helpful but need support, Chronic Pain Coaching might be a good fit for you. I will offer support and guidance as you learn evidence-based pain management tools and strategies while safely bringing them into your life. Click the button below to schedule a free 30-minute Zoom consultation with me.

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Resources

Sheng, J., Liu, S., Wang, Y., Cui, R., & Zhang, X. (2017). The Link between Depression and Chronic Pain: Neural Mechanisms in the Brain. Neural plasticity, 2017, 9724371. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/9724371

Lima, L. V., Abner, T. S. S., & Sluka, K. A. (2017). Does exercise increase or decrease pain? Central mechanisms underlying these two phenomena. The Journal of physiology, 595(13), 4141–4150. https://doi.org/10.1113/JP273355

Busch, V., Magerl, W., Kern, U., Haas, J., Hajak, G., & Eichhammer, P. (2012). The effect of deep and slow breathing on pain perception, autonomic activity, and mood processing--an experimental study. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.), 13(2), 215–228. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-4637.2011.01243.x

Abdallah, C. G., & Geha, P. (2017). Chronic Pain and Chronic Stress: Two Sides of the Same Coin?. Chronic stress (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), 1, 2470547017704763. https://doi.org/10.1177/2470547017704763