Holistic Pain Management is a newly emerging discipline emphasizing an integrative approach with a goal of reduction of chronic pain and suffering. Many people are unaware of non-pharmacological treatments for chronic pain. We want to do more than manage your pain. Our goal is pain elimination.
It is recommended that patients always see a physician to rule out or diagnose any medical pathology as well as work with a nutritionist to make sure they are eating properly to maximize health, healing, and vitality.
Causes Of Pain
Several patients can have pain and symptoms in the same location yet have different causes. Pain/symptoms may be a result of structural, biochemical, energetic, mental and/or emotional stressors.
Myofascial Pain
Fascia is a web of connective tissue that spreads throughout the body in an uninterrupted three-dimensional web from head to toe. Fascia encases all muscles, bones, nerves, and organs in the body. When fascia becomes restricted, it may create adhesions, which can result in loss of range of motion or pain. Trauma and inflammatory responses create myofascial restrictions that produce crushing tensile pressures on pain sensitive structures. This pressure acts as a “straight jacket” on muscles, nerves, blood vessels, and bones producing symptoms of pain, headaches, and restriction of motion. Because of its continuous uninterrupted nature, a restriction in one area of the body can likely influence other areas distant to the site of the injury. It is important to note that myofascial restrictions do not show up on x-rays, MRIs, or other medical tests. Myofascial restrictions can be caused by physical trauma, postural imbalances, old injuries, repetitive strain, surgery, adhesions, trigger-points, emotional stress, or other factors.
Integrative Bodywork/Manual Therapy- A whole Body approach:
The body is a complex system of interconnected parts. It is necessary to use a whole body approach, because we are comprised of complex interrelated systems. Restrictions, tightness, or imbalances in any part of the body may potentially affect other parts. Therapy sessions are designed to release restrictions in the soft tissue (muscles, connective tissue, nerves) and craniosacral mechanism to allow the body to move freely, as well as balance the nervous system. When balance is restored , improved health and a sense of well-being is a natural byproduct. Treatment sessions are tailored according to individual client needs. While symptoms often change rapidly, we do not focus on symptoms, but rather the body’s self corrective mechanisms and its ability to adapt. This creates a higher level of organization and improved functioning on many levels.
Innovative therapies such as Myofascial Release, Craniosacral Therapy, visceral manipulation, and positional release are known for their ability to promote relief from chronic muscular, neurological and/or myofascial pain as well as relieve stress related conditions.
Chronic Pain
"The source of all this pain in millions of people varies widely. As bodies age, strains and injuries heal more slowly or poorly. Repetitive-motion strains and stresses accumulate and are the source of numerous job-related injuries resulting in chronic pain. Disease-related pain afflicts those with cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and many other human maladies. Chronic pain can result from major trauma in accidents or as a result of surgery, persisting long after the initial injuries or conditions have been treated and are ostensibly healed." - Dr Kamau Kokayi, MD
Integrative Medicine Pain is a signal to let the mind know that something is wrong.
Chronic pain persisting for three months or longer, can leave a person depressed, distracted, unproductive, unfulfilled, and exhausted.
Chronic Pain- Is it all in my head?
Often people experience chronic pain that is not related to any known physical problem or they may continue to experience symptoms after the injury has healed.
This can be very frustrating to patients because, despite all of their symptoms, nothing shows up on medical tests. These people are often told "It's all in your head", "It is psychosomatic".
There is a growing body of evidence that supports the concept that pain may develop as a result of prolonged stress, unexpressed emotions, and past physical or emotional trauma. This may cause a "bracing" or "tightening up" on an unconscious level, which causes the muscles to contract and tighten, putting pressure on pain sensitive structures, creating many bizarre symptoms of pain, weakness, neuropathy, nervousness, irritability, and loss of motion. Additionally, traumatic events can be stored energetically and physiologically on a cellular level and become "trapped" in the nervous system if not dissipated or released. Peter Levine PhD, a trauma expert, explains how this happens in his book "Waking the Tiger". This can sensitize the brain keeping a person in a constant state of sympathetic arousal. This keeps the body on high alert and does not allow for recovery.
Dr. John Sarno, a medical doctor from the Rusk institute in New York, is a pioneer in mind/body pain relief. His book "Healing Back Pain" as helped shed light on on how unexpressed emotions can cause the muscles to tighten an cause many types of pain syndromes and neuropathies.
A Mind/Body Approach
After ruling out organic causes, It is not necessary to always know exactly where the pain is coming from or delve into the emotions, but rather bring awareness to the body/mind complex. Mind/body practices like breathwork, mindfulness meditation, imagery, cognitive-behavioral approaches, and energy medicine combined with manual therapy /bodywork can help release the tension patterns in the body. This may lead to the source of the pain and can be part of a comprehensive treatment program. Additional benefits include:relaxation, improved focus, and overall wellness. If you live in New York and want to relieve your chronic pain, please contact my office.
Postural Re-Education
Neuromuscular/postural re-education can also significantly reduce pain symptoms by learning to use the body with correct alignment and awareness. Movement awareness, positional release, relaxaton techniques, and myofascial stretching combined with manual therapy help a client become aware of areas of tightness/restriction and inefficient movements that impede smooth functional movement. It is also important to be aware of repetitive stress from poor ergonomics.
Stress and The Mind/Body Connection
- Many doctors believe that as much as 80-90% of all illnesses are stress related. Stress can come from any change that the body has to adjust to. The deleterious effects of stress on the body have been well documented. When an individual is highly stressed for long periods of time, the neurochemistry is altered, affecting the brain negatively. Evidence shows that chronic stress actually shrinks the brain and causes physical damage to the body. Long-term overproduction of stress related chemicals could lead to hardening of the arteries, diabetes, digestive disturbances, osteoporosis, migraines, and many other diseases. It is important to be aware of developing stress patterns. Often times, the effects of stress are insidious. We live in a stressful world but how we interpret or manage the stress is up to us. Bodywork and mind/body practices are powerful tools to help remove the destructive effects of stress.
- In the last few decades, Western science has been proving that the mind and body are inextricably linked. In fact, researchers and scientists have discovered that our emotions are processed in our bodies and minds simultaneously (Pert, 1986). It has been said that the body is the subconscious mind and that the body does not lie (Pert, 1986). The body has innate wisdom. Even slight thoughts cause a physical response. Your body attempts to carry out the physical equivalent of your thoughts by activating your nervous system, and adjusting your muscle tension.
- Physical injuries or trauma leave an indelible imprint in our bodies. This is sometimes referred to as cellular memory. Unconscious thought patterns are stored in our bodies and are largely based on past conditioning, unresolved emotions, or trauma. These limiting patterns impact our movement, behavior, health, and overall well-being. The power of words, imagination, and touch all produce physical, emotional, and mental changes. Therefore, it is necessary to use a holistic mind/body approach to allow the healing process to take place.
- Through bodywork and mind/body practices we can improve awareness, thus enabling us to get in touch with blocked energy, postural/structural imbalances, repressed emotions, limiting beliefs, and subconscious bracing patterns that are holding us back or impeding good health.
"No problem can be solved from the level of consciousness that created it"- Albert Einstein
*This website is for informational purposes only. It is always recommended to visit your physician to rule out any underlying medical condition or pathology.
copyright 2009 Walter Blick Therapy, Myofascial Release and Craniosacral Therapy: New York, New York
Chronic Pain- Break the Cycle
