What is Pain?

This week I was honored to be hosted by the Natural Pain Sufferers Network as their keynote speaker. The group is founded and managed by Dee Washington and their goal is to find natural healthcare solutions to manage chronic pain. The complaints I heard around the room ranged from knee pain to blood pressure so high it causes constant headaches. I listened as they discussed supplements, creams and medications they had tried to relieve pain and as the meeting continued this way, I knew I had an important message to share with them. 

I heard their stories of searching and many times succeeding in finding the latest and greatest to ease their pain; but not once did I hear any of them discussing the cause of any of their ailments. Surely they would be concerned with what was causing their pain, not just to eliminate the symptom? As their meeting wound down, we moved into the media room where I was to speak in front of the group. 

What were they expecting to hear from me? They had little information about chiropractic thus far in their journey through pain and what they did know was that "it was worth a try for that pesky neck or back pain mister or misses so-and-so had a few months ago."

I was ready to tell them the chiropractic story.

I spoke to them for an hour about the same things I talk about in my practice every day: the amazing healing ability of the body! What is pain? Pain is a part of the nervous system's communication system letting us know that something is going wrong in our body. If we simply quiet that signal with medications, supplements, potions and lotions, we are not ever addressing the cause of the pain. What's even more important to consider is that pain is rarely an early indicator for a problem in the body. By the time our pain receptors are activated sending signals to our brain to say "Houston, we have a problem," the detrimental process has been set in motion. 

I spend my days and many evenings re-aligning my practice members' spines so that their bodies can heal and repair. When the spine is out of alignment and there is pressure on the delicate nerves that carry vital information between our brains and bodies, many processes throughout the body are disrupted, sometimes even without signaling pain receptors! Yes, my practice members' pain goes away, but what I think about is all the problems that hadn't caused pain yet - if they only knew how much healthier they really are. 

I have extremely high hopes for this group of pain sufferers! They are ready to add chiropractic care to their healthcare regimen so they can get their bodies on a path to health and I'm excited to show them how strong they really are when they let their bodies do the work!

(Blogger's Note: Since my Roswell Patch readers are still a little shy, I was able to get some questions from the Natural Pain Sufferers Network meeting this week so I'll be posting those questions with answers this week!)