The newest definition of pain is “An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage”. Pain can be felt as tingling, stinging, burning, shooting, aching and even electric sensations. Everyone will experience pain differently.
The unpleasantness of pain is the very thing that makes it so effective and an essential part of life. It protects you, alerts you to danger, often before you are injured. It will make you move differently, think differently and behave differently, which makes pain vital for healing.
Pain usually resolves within three months, and on the rare occasion it lasts longer than that, it is called chronic pain. In this case any injured tissues have likely healed, so we are unsure why the pain persists. It can greatly effect peoples lives and relationships. It is very difficult to know exactly what causes pain, but we do know there are Biological, Psychological and Social factors, otherwise referred to as the ‘biopsychosocial’ model of pain.
Sometimes our practitioners will ask you about your lifestyle and some of the changes that can help your pain.
We may ask questions like:
‘Have you noticed any relationships between your pain and your lifestyle’?
‘What kinds of factors tend to increase your pain’?
If you are in pain and daily activities are being affected, osteopaths can help to resolve your pain and give you lots of helpful advice to a happier more active lifestyle.
