When pain is a pain

Nobody likes pain, but without this important communication tool, we’d be in big trouble. Pain is an alert system letting us know that something is wrong. Whether it is warning us that we are touching a hot stove and will get burned, or an organ that is in trouble sending out its red flag telling us there is some internal threat going on that needs attention, we’d best heed the warning. But when it is unrelenting, it can be a pain to have pain because it inhibits us in our life.

There are as many causes for pain as there are ways to respond to it. Some can tolerate grand levels of pain and be able to push through it, while someone else is incapacitated by it. There are also different classifications of pain.

First is acute or chronic. Acute is sudden onset — short-lived or can be the beginning of chronic pain. It’s usually the result of tissue damage such as fracture, torn ligament or strained muscle. It can also mean organ damage. Cancer, ulcers, irritable bowel, etc. are examples of organ damage. Chronic means that you’ve had pain for a while — it is long lasting. It is usually associated with a disease such as arthritis, auto-immune disorders, fibromyalgia or unresolved tissue damage.

Pain is generally associated with inflammation. Like pain itself, inflammation is important as it is a normal response of the body’s and is essential to healing. However, runaway inflammation can become chronic, and the pain associated with it can be severe. Localized swelling is a normal healing response contributing to the pain and is usually associated with inflammation.

Chronic pain can be anywhere from dull, nagging and simply annoying, to extreme, needing medication or aggressive pain management. About 70 percent of those who manage their pain with medication have breakthrough pain — meaning the pain flares even when on medication.

Within the chronic pain category, is also nerve pain. Examples include diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuralgia (shingles), trigeminal neuralgia (facial nerves), stroke, tumor, chemotherapy or radiation therapy. These are generally severe burning, numbness or sharp pains that can have a significant negative impact on lifestyle.

Most people when they think of alternative solutions to pain, they think of acupuncture. Well researched and validated in regards to pain, acupuncture is increasingly becoming the treatment of choice for both chronic and acute pain. Acupuncture helps to reduce the runaway inflammation and swelling and promote healing. Although we don’t quite understand the full mechanism in acupuncture’s ability to trigger and support healthy healing response, the brain mechanism is pretty well understood.

Acupuncturists don’t just treat the pain. They treat everything else going on at the same time. When it comes to non-injury related pain, knowing all symptoms helps to determine causative factor, and when that is treated, the patient, not just his/her pain, improves. However, injury-related pain is very responsive to acupuncture treatments as well.

So when pain becomes too much of a pain in your life, it is time to consider acupuncture!

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Holly Carling is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist, Doctor of Naturopathy, Clinical Nutritionist and Master Herbologist with nearly four decades of experience. She is currently accepting new patients and offers natural health care services and whole food nutritional supplements in her Coeur d’Alene clinic. Visit www.vitalhealthcda.com to learn more about her, view a list of upcoming health classes and read other informative articles. Carling can be reached at (208) 765-1994 and would be happy to answer any questions regarding this topic.