Hello all - Brooke here (hii!!)!
I wanted to do a post/commentary about PAIN and PAIN MANAGEMENT with a little bit of a different perspective/spin.
I have been so inspired to write this by all of your social media posts as there are so many of your partners on pain medications and navigating chronic pain. I see a lot of questions on our private group about different tips to handle chronic pain and nerve pain etc and I feel like it would be wonderful to make a thread about addressing the underlying root causes of pain that could be contributing heavily to inflammation which creates more pain and the vicious cycle.
As we all know, prescription medications only cover up the symptoms.. they do not solve anything. I am sure there are plenty of you who are sick and tired of the endless cycles of medications, and having to layer more and more on top of each other in order to help. Yes - these medications are 100% necessary for many especially in times of crisis.. but there are many other ways of looking at pain that allow for mind expansion and perspective shifts that may allow for healing. I understand that the western medical field does not really support root cause healing unless the issue is created by acute problems, but, I believe this is incredibly important if you're committed to really healing from within.
As someone who has lived with a C4 quadriplegic for the last 8+ years, I have seen in real time how if the root cause of pain and inflammation is not addressed, the body will just move the pain around and other issues will arise. Think about it this way - pain is really the only way the body can communicate with you if something is wrong. Factor in a Spinal Cord Injury and the incoherence of the nervous system that comes along with that, and you have a LOT going on as far as the body "talking".
Unfortunately, pain has been incredibly demonized and shunned in western society, and every "solution" seems to work to shut the body up from what it is trying to say. I am sure a lot of you are met with a shoulder shrug and a renewed prescription for stronger pills when you have gone down the path of trying to sort out what exactly is wrong. Could it be that the body has something incredibly important to say and will not stop until it is being listened to?
This perspective is not new - and is present in a lot of medical disciplines including Functional Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, and even Plant Medicines. Unfortunately most of these disciplines are not even discovered until all options are addressed in Western Medicine OR until nothing has helped, or even made things worse.
I wanted to invite you all to go down the rabbit hole a little bit with me and look at some of the root cause approaches that are SIMPLE to follow and incredibly effective. The goal is to put the body in a state of health and homeostasis, so that it can heal itself and direct you to what it needs without being confused or suppressed.
These are in my opinion some of the most effective ways to treat pain at the ROOT, so your partner (and you) can return to whole health..
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Trauma work and release - continuous emotional work is the foundation of somatic healing, body based trauma work, yogic healing and general awareness/mindful based practices. The body stores emotions/traumas not just from your past experiences, but from other people as well. This energy gets stuck and is held in the body until it is consciously and continuously released. This isn't "woo woo" magic stuff.. this is the foundation of most meditation practices, yoga Nidra, some religions, as well as Neuroscience and proven in many many scientific studies. I see this work in real time almost daily for myself and my partner. Because our partners have SCI's and are largely sedentary, it makes it so these emotions get built up in their bodies more than your average person. This creates spasms as well!!! All the more reason to focus on this more than anyone else. The mind can direct all of this healing with intention alone.
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Reduce your "toxic load." There is a plethora of evidence on how the chemicals that you ingest, breathe in, put on your skin, and clean with affect your body and create pain and inflammation. Reduce what you can, and do some digging as to how rampant chemicals are in our daily lives. Chemicals impact our neurological systems as well as create thyroid and hormone imbalances.
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Diet is the foundation of everything. If you clean up your diet and eat anti inflammatory foods, while reducing the amount of food additives you consume (read your labels!!) you will drastically reduce the amount of pain in your body. This is absolutely key after an SCI as it is the foundation of health.. there is little these guys can control now that they're injured but what they put in their bodies is the one thing they CAN control. I can recommend the Terry Wahl Diet for MS and other neurological conditions (overfeeding the body nutrients and reducing toxic food load).
Once the body is cleaned out and all the toxins are released, the diet is on point and you're continually working with their emotions, then you can try some natural alternatives/supplements to medications like Serrapeptase 120,000 IU, Oils, Cannabis, Herbs, Supplements and more. Natural alternatives to medications only work when your system is cleared out of all the junk that was stored in it before.
Hopefully this post helped to open your eyes a little bit if you are struggling with pain after Spinal Cord Injury! If you have any stories or a view you would like to share with us about this, please email wagsofsci@gmail.com
*this article is for information purposes only and is not meant to be medical advice.
