Pain is a very unusual physical and mental sensation. Pain also comes in multiple levels, from itching, (which is the lowest form of pain) through to chronic pain which is the highest level of pain that can cause unconsciousness… Even so, there is still no way (yet) to scientifically measure pain, as everyone feels pain at different levels, and the only way physicians can find out what amount of pain a patient is in is by asking them to gage their pain on a scale of 1-10. 10 being the highest. Having two people writhing in pain, one may gage their pain at 8 and the other may say 10… So, you can see why pain is a difficult sensation to gage. How then can you control pain using ‘awareness’? Pain can only be managed by the brain… We have all read amazing stories of people having broken bones, lost limbs, etc, being able to crawl or drag themselves to a safe place or are able to alert passersby, and it’s only when they have found help do their chronic pain kicks in. This strange happening, occurs when the brain purposely cuts off pain, enabling us to survive until we have help. Knowing that the brain can block pain should help us manage the pain we are suffering. Most of the day-to-day pain we suffer is not severe enough for our survival brain-power to take over, but general pain can usually be managed by over-the-counter medication, rest and sleep. Some forms of pain can be reduced by trying to busy ourselves, whilst thinking about other things. Including being aware of the pain until we can block it by just being still and aware and telling ourselves that our pain could be worse.
Leave a Reply