Venting the Pain

Is your pain burning, squeezing, stabbing, aching, or tingling? Is it dull or sharp? Is it constant or intermittent? Is it localized, diffuse, or traveling? If you have had longstanding pain, you may have used these words in an attempt to define your experience. We know that the simple word “pain” is grossly inadequate in describing the vastness and intensity of the pain experience. Recurrent or persistent pain is estimated to occur in nearly half the general population. It is important that you as a pain sufferer know the vocabulary of pain so you can understand the why and wherefore of your situation and communicate it accurately with your treatment providers.
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When a person is injured, family and friends rally around to offer sympathy, encouragement, and help with physical tasks. Everyone, including the patient, expects that this amount of assistance will only be needed temporarily, and that when the injury is healed, life will return to normal for everyone involved. But what happens when the injury results in longstanding pain and physical impairment? Or what happens when a person is diagnosed with a pain-causing condition such as degenerative disc disease, fibromyalgia, or migraines? If there are no crutches, casts, bruises, or bleeding to indicate that something serious is going on, bystanders usually assume that all is well. One of the most difficult features of chronic pain is its invisibility.
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It’s amazing how inconsistently many people breathe considering that if we don’t breathe at all we die. People in pain especially tend to hold their breath even though held breath diminishes blood flow thereby contributing to tense muscles and intensifying muscle spasms. Some people hold the breath “empty” after releasing air from the lungs, and some hold it “full.” What this means and why we hold the breath at all is a discussion for another article. Here we will focus on breathing awareness and some specific breathing techniques to reduce pain and promote general well being.
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