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Pain: “I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means”

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Princess BrideWhat does the Princess Bride have to do with pain? Well, nothing, but there is nothing like a good Princess Bride quote to brighten the day.

A couple of months ago I was in Copenhagen, taking in the sights, doing the tourist thing. After about an hour, I noticed that my low back was bothering me.  But, I knew that I had it not actually hurt my back.  Instead, it was just my body’s way of getting my attention that something else was wrong.  How do I know this?

Because I know that pain lives in the brain. And you do, too.

You have probably heard the stories about something called “phantom limb pain.” It’s one of those “this makes no sense” stories about how an amputated limb can still be hurting – even years later. Or, this story about how a nail went through the shoe, missed the foot, but was still incredibly painful. In both cases, the brain is interpreting something that isn’t there as pain. It’s a little something that Z-Health calls “signals and interpretations.”

What was going on with my back is really no different than the phantom limb pain or the nail through the shoe. I was tired, jet-lagged, and frankly hadn’t been moving enough past couple of days prior. So, I knew that for me all I needed was a little bit of mobility work. Fortunately, I know what my happy drills are, so I stopped on the street, did a couple of those, and my back pain instantly went away.

What about YOUR pain?

You are one of those people and has a “trick knee,” chronic low back pain, a weird left hip, or regular headaches, right?  Yes, you may have an old injury there, but that injury healed long, long ago. At this point, that is simply an area that we call “practiced pain.” Pain, just like everything else, is a skill. So, when your body needs your attention, it goes to the body part it know you will listen to the fastest. You can kind of think of it as the batphone from your brain to your body. Sneaky, huh?

I mention headaches, and that may have gotten your attention. Because unless someone hit you upside the head with a baseball bat, there’s no real good reason for your head to hurt. So, what do you think a headache is? Practiced pain.  This study done at Boeing showing that the only commonality between the people in the study with low back pain was that they all hated their jobs. That should give you pause.

So what can you do about it?

Since pain is your body’s way of getting your attention, pay attention. It may be telling you:

  • It’s time to eat
  • It’s time to sleep
  • It’s time to take a break
  • It’s time to get up and move
  • Or, even, it’s time to quit your job

I tends to fall in the camp of movement solves most problems, much like eating your veggies and getting enough sleep. So, my suggestion to you would be to get up and move more.

Filed Under: Neurology

Nail goes thru shoe, misses foot, foot still hurts

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Nail through shoe I love it when stories like this come out, it is a great demonstration of how the brain controls pain and the pain response. Even though that nail looks like it went directly through this man’s foot, it did not, it went between the toes, and yet he experienced SEVERE pain, as if the nail went through the foot bed.

Although a really annoying fact of life, pain lives solely in the brain, and is a figment of our imaginations. Pain is an interpretation of what signals our nervous system receives. In this case, it certainly LOOKS as if the nail has gone through the foot, so the pain signal goes to the brain, because the body wants to get our attention that we need to do something about it. It’s the same mechanism that is behind phantom limb pain and all sorts of other body responses “that don’t make sense.”

The body desperately wants to survive and be efficient and will do whatever it takes to get our attention. Because people respond really well to pain, that is an easy mechanism for the body to use. You can think of it as the body saying, “psst, hey you, something is wrong, and I need to you to stop your busy life and take care of it.” If you ignore the signal, the pain will intensify.

It’s one of the reasons why Z-Health works so well – pain is a signal, so to get rid of the pain we need to simply change the signal in a positive manner and the pain will go away. It’s why I can mobilize a hand to make shoulder pain go away, why working on a collarbone makes a hip feel better, etc.

So, the next time you are in pain, it may be that the nail really is going through your foot, or it may be something else entirely. Just don’t take it too literally.

Filed Under: Neurology

Move It Monday – Seeing is Doing

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Healthy MondayWe are in the midst of the holiday season, when the imaginations of young and old alike come alive.

Not just a new-agey concept, visualization is an important part of moving well. When we take the time to visualize our movements, the nervous system remembers what we visualize in order to assist us the next time we go to make the motion.

I recently used visualization to help me with my shoulder rolls — I was doing well on one side, but the other side was really loud and the form was awkward. I knew what I needed to do, but my body wouldn’t do it. Then I went on a business trip, and while I was gone I’d regularly take a few minutes to think about what exactly was supposed to happen, in slow motion, envisioning how the mat would feel against my shoulder, back, and opposite hip and how I would come back up out of the roll.  I came back from my trip, tried a roll — and the form was significantly improved!

How you can use this:

  • It has to be a movement you already have SOME skill at, otherwise your body can’t channel the existing neural connections to strengthen them.
  • Think about the motion in a really slow speed.
  • The more details the better — it will seem more alive and real to the nervous system. For my shoulder roll, I thought about where I was going to place my hands and the diamond shape they formed, how I would tuck my head, how the mat feels when it hits my shoulder, the slight noise as I hit the mat, the lighting in the room where I practice, etc.

This week I want you to visualization work on one skill — be it your running form, kettlebell swing, military press, squat, or vertical jump. Take a few minutes to practice every day on the bus, during a break, in the gym locker room, or before you drift off to sleep. Your nervous system will thank you!

Filed Under: Neurology

Toddlers and pets smarter than adults?

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I was at dinner last night with some friends, and their 13-month-old son had broken his leg in an accident (hairline fracture). His injury was less than 48 hours old, yet he was in a great mood, laughing crawling all over the place, and generally just being a happy kid. His parents were talking about how normally he’d be trotting all over the place, but how small children, unlike the rest of us, are smart enough NOT to push through the pain. They readily recognize their limits, and simply stop. Interesting, and true.

Earlier this week, my puppy (OK, she’s 12) had major surgery. Same thing. She knows what she can and cannot do right now, and simply refuses to do what she can’t. Unfortunately for me, mostly what she has decided she can’t do is get DOWN from places she has climbed up in to (and she’s 65 pounds). While she lacks the common sense not to put herself in to those positions to start with, at least she knows when to call for help.

Pain is a signal from the body that something is wrong. It is meant to get our attention and get us to slow down. It’s asking our brain to stop whatever it is doing and pay attention, figure it out, and make it go away.

Both the 13-month-old and my puppy are listening to their bodies and recovering beautifully. Gotta love the nervous system!

Filed Under: Neurology

Mirror Neurons

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As our population ages and functional MRIs begin to become common, more and more attention is paid to the brain and how it functions. Recently it seems there has been quite a bit written about mirror neurons, including this morning in Wired magazine.

Mirroring behavior, body position, tone of voice, and other characteristics has long been taught as a means of building rapport — in my mentoring program we devote an entire workshop to discussing mirroring and how to use it. Everyone mirrors the people around them, whether they are conscious of it or not. And, some mirror more strongly and more easily than others.

In Z-Health we are always reminded that we need to own the movement because our clients will mirror us. They are learning from us, and will do exactly what we do. In this case, “do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t do any good, because our bodies can’t help it.

I was recently reminded just how true this is with a relatively new client. He mirrors really strongly, and I can tell exactly how good my form is based upon how well he is doing. I’m used to clients doing what I do (and I find most of my bad habits this way), but he has brought new focus to it.

Remember mirror neurons the next time you see someone moving poorly or behaving badly. Are they mirroring you or someone else? And, do you want to start mirroring what they do?

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