Taken from Live Longer Better in Cumbria Newsletter
Over the past 30 years, researchers have learnt a lot of new information about how our pain system works. The trouble is: this new science hasn’t trickled down to the people working with – or experiencing – pain.
We’re raised to believe that pain only happens when we’re injured, but the new science actually tells us that pain is about protection from danger, not detection of danger. We get pain when our brain wants us to stop doing something it thinks (rightly or wrongly) will cause more harm to the body.
In a nutshell, when pain is ‘persistent’ (or ‘chronic’: they both mean the same thing), it’s because this protection system has gone into overdrive, becoming oversensitive and overprotective.
So why does this all matter? It means that there are lots of ways to reduce the sensitivity of this protection system, if we approach it the right way. Understanding this science has been life-changing for people living with pain across the world.
We know that professionals across health, care and physical activity teams only get a small, if any, amount of training on pain: so we’ve compiled a list of quick and easy ways to get up to speed.
To learn more about the science of pain, check out the below:
• Watch: a 5 minute summary of how pain works, if you’re tied for time!
• Listen: to the Flippin’ Pain formula, a podcast made up of seven short episodes, available on the Flippin' Pain website and wherever you get your podcasts.
• Read: the Recovery Strategies workbook, or if you have extra time, read ‘Explain Pain’ by David Butler and Lorimer Moseley.
We're (Active Cumbria) running regular columns with Flippin Pain in this newsletter over the next few months. If this issue has been shared with you, why not sign up to receive future issues! Sign up here
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