Skip to main content

Ways To Improve Pain Threshold

As a chronic pain sufferer, you might think that you are stuck in a hopeless situation; believe it or not, that is not the case!




According to WebMD, many factors play into an individual's pain threshold. The most significant factors cited are the following:

1) Genetic variation: 
Each of us has a unique genetic makeup; no two people are alike. The five senses vary from person to person. The pain threshold follows the same rules as the rest of our being determined by genetic code.

2) Gender: 
Males seem to have higher levels of beta-endorphins than do females. As you might recall from prior blog posts, endorphins are naturally occurring pain killers.  If a male and female suffer exactly the same injury, this suggests that the female would feel more pain.  Interestingly, the female pain threshold seems to increase near the time of childbirth.

3) Fluctuation of pain threshold:
It appears pain threshold and stress levels are intricately linked. Life events such as the death of a family member or friend, job loss, can lower the pain threshold.  Chronic stress seems to make the problem even worse.

So....what to do???

After reading this post so far, you might think that you can't do anything about improving your pain threshold. After all, no one can change their genetic makeup or gender (at least not by the hand of nature!). We really can't control these very stressful life events either...

What you can control is how you respond to the stress of life, and there are many methods to help you achieve that goal.  Aside from taking medications, it is possible to use many holistic approaches.  
Mediation is an excellent example of this.  The mind-body connection is real, however intricate. Most people have the ability to meditate; it does not require any physical stamina. Even if you have a very disabling chronic pain condition it is still possible to meditate. If you want to take this a step further,
yoga and tai chi add the exercise element to the meditative benefits of meditation.   Learning hypnosis for self-use or cognitive therapy may also be of help.

Last but not least, you need to be your own advocate!  When you visit your doctor or dentist let them know that you seem to be extra sensitive to pain so that they can plan accordingly to make surgeries and medical procedures less painful for you.





Realistically, this might not mean that you live disease-free or pain-free for the rest of your life.  Keep in mind that the efforts you put forth are worth it, and that the improvements you feel will make a difference in your quality of life.


Sources: WebMD; Everyday Pain Management Ideas;Wikimedia
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Living with Chronic pain hits the big screen!

Been to the movies lately?  Jennifer Aniston is on the big screen in a recent release titled "Cake." Her character, Claire is a victim of chronic pain...she belongs to a support group, where all of the members are coming to terms with the suicide of one of their members.  Of course, she also takes pain medication and addiction is another of her problems...and of course there's more! I guess I am writing this post just to bring readers' attention to the fact that Hollywood has become aware of the crisis that is chronic pain.  This movie is a testament to that. People that don't have to live with this kind of pain don't fully understand the whole story.  Maybe this movie will shed some light on the issues. Here is the official trailer for the movie: Sources: prweb;NorthJersey.com;YouTube
Post a Comment
Read more

Effectiveness Of Ozone Injections Is No Longer Up In The Air

Most of us know someone who has osteoarthritis, if we don't have it ourselves.  Joint replacement surgery is a pretty common remedy when the joint becomes severely damaged and the patient is in a lot of pain.  With risk of complications from such a surgery, perhaps an alternative treatment should be tried first. One such remedy is the injection of a synthetic version of collagen(e.g. Synvisc®) into the affected joint.  This procedure restores the cushioning to a joint that has degenerated over the years. It can diminish the pain substantially and help put off joint replacement surgery for months to years.  The biggest drawback is that these products are expensive.   GoodRX , a web site that can be used to estimate the cost of medications, estimates the cost of these products to be over $1,000 each. Here's another example--and I am not sure how widely accepted this protocol has become since study authors introduced it in November 2015.  Are you r...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fibromyalgia Week: Day 2

Tender points...click caption for WebMD animation Tender points are a unique feature of fibromaylgia.  There are 18 such points on the human body (9 pairs as shown).  Using special technique by hand or a dolorimeter, a fibromyalgia patient will experience pain in at least 11 points, and there will be at least one painful tender point in each quadrant of the body! One study found that up to 96% of fibromyalgia patients suffer from sleep disorders. It is believed that this is responsible for a deprivation of delta sleep, during which human growth hormone is produced. This hormone is essential to tissue repair. Other common problems in fibromyalgia are fatigue, concentration/memory ("fibro fog"), and depression.  There is no doubt in my mind that just enabling the patient to sleep well on a regular basis would be of great benefit! It is not uncommon for fibromyalgia patients to have coexisting conditions--some of these are lupus, disease, irritable bowel syndrom...
Post a Comment
Read more