What Really Is Pain? Understanding Pain as a Signal and Protector
What Really Is Pain?
Pain is something we have all experienced at some point in our lives. Whether it was a skinned knee on your driveway as a kid or the chronic low back pain you’re experiencing right now, pain is REAL. However, it remains misunderstood by many. A lack of knowledge and understanding about what pain really is often leads to wasted time and money. Let’s dive into the true nature of pain, clear up some of those misconceptions, and learn how to manage its effects.
Pain Does Not Always Mean Tissue Damage
One of the biggest pain misconceptions is that pain automatically means tissue damage. Many think, “my _____ is in pain, so my _______must be hurt or injured.” However, pain and tissue damage are not the same. Take a common injury, such as a disc bulge. Did you know that roughly 40% of people with NO back pain show disc bulges on their MRI’s? This shows that pain does not always accompany damage, and damage doesn’t always lead to pain. For your long-term health, we must start to see pain as what it really is—a signal and a protector.
Pain Is a Signal
We are constantly surrounded by potentially harmful factors like a piece of broken glass or a hot pan. When your body senses these environmental dangers, it sends a powerful pain signal to your brain to get you out of harm’s way. For instance, touching a hot pan causes your body to rapidly produce pain so that you pull your hand away.
Yet, we don’t have to be in a harmful situation for our body to reproduce that same painful response. The human body is excellent at conditioning itself, especially when it comes to pain. The more times your body is exposed to pain triggers, the easier it becomes to produce the same pain. This can be a vicious cycle, where chronic pain becomes persistent, even in non-threatening situations.
For example, you may always have an achy, sore neck at work. Even the thought of sitting at your desk can trigger that same pain. This conditioned response happens because your body remembers that the action led to pain before, even if no tissue damage occurred.
Pain Is a Protector
Pain is more than just a response; it’s your body’s way of protecting you. Your body doesn’t want to be damaged, so it uses pain as a way to avoid injury and promote healing. A small sprain may hurt at first, but your body is self-sufficient and likely repairs the injury within weeks. So, why do you still feel pain months or even years later?
Sometimes, Pain Is TOO Protective
Do you have one spot on your body that always feels tight, like your hip or shoulder? This could be your body trying to stabilize a weak area. Pain is your body’s way of saying, “I don’t like something you’re doing, and you might get hurt if you keep moving this way.”
Injuries heal, but the tissues around them often guard. After an injury, the surrounding tissues may tighten to protect the area, creating a painful response. However, even after the injury heals, those guarding tissues can stay tight, causing chronic pain. This learned protective response can result in abnormal movement, creating more pain even when the original injury has long healed.
In Conclusion: Pain Is your friend
Now that you have a better understanding of what pain is, it’s clear that pain serves as a helpful signal and your most powerful protector. By recognizing that pain doesn’t always indicate injury and can often be overprotective, you can begin to manage chronic pain more effectively. Stay tuned for our next post, where we will dive deeper into pain relief and share tips to help you live a life free from unnecessary discomfort.
