Why is Bowen good for Pain relief and what’s happening when pain hangs around?
Two things a true when it comes to pain.
- The pain that you experience in any moment is real,
- Our bodies remember our past pain even if we have forgotten the incident itself
However these statemens can both serve us well or hinder our progress.
One other thing to take into consideration – We are always healing.
Just because we can’t see it happening like a cut on your arm doesn’t mean its not happening.
Our bodies are constantly healing and regenerating.
As you may well know the job of pain is to help keep us safe.
Our brains file away what pain feels like when we hurt or injure ourselves. It then goes onto consider what threat there is to the body of injury as we move through our days.
Pain hangs around because your brain hasn’t got the message that there is no longer a threat. Even though healing has happened. This is often due to us being in a constant state of fight of flight due to high levels of readiness or stress we experience day to day. Especially in the current climate.
Our brains also determines the intensity of the pain we are experiecing via what is going on in our life at the time.
The biopsyhcosocial model of pain, takes into considersation the cognitive, emotional and behavioral components of what is happening in our life, as well as the current social, sociologicial, and socioeconomic situation we are in.
This acts to adjust our pain like the volume knob on a car radio.
For example, when doing an activity, that is engaging and you’re excited by the outcome, in a safe environment then long term pain is often less intense. The volume is turned down.
Compared to when we at a meaningless task, with no engagement, while feeling depressed in an unsecure space and situation. The volume is turned up.
Simply put, what we are doing, what we are thinking and how we are feeling, where we are and and our current situation plays a big part in the volume that pain is experienced at.
The good thing is many of these factors we have some control over.
What is also worth remembering is this
Our bodies are fundamentally strong and capable of getting better
What we are doing with a Bowen treatment is to help remove the chicken and egg aspect of recovery and pain relief. Circumventing the following conversation.
Therapist: By moving more your pain will lessen
Client: When my pain lessens I’ll move more
Bowen helps your body move back into a rest and repair state, reseting your nervous system.
Helping the brain adjust the threat levels, so that you can get moving again. This helps your body feel freer, move more, build up stregth and continue to heal and feel less Pain.
Each Bowen treatment helps reinforce this healing cycle.
Understanding the role of pain, how the brain is involved as well as what is going on within us and around us is great step.
Positive conversations, realistic goals with small steps and assessment with treatment help provide a framework for change.
If you’d like to know more let’s have a chat next time you are in, and we’ll see what shifts we can create.
Matt
References:
Pain and the brain | Julia Gover | TEDxNorthwich – Youtube – Here