the first steps to solving your chronic pain issue

“I think it’s safe to say that most of us in this country are setting ourselves up for problems as we age. Our ballooning rates of allergies, obesity, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and chronic pain don’t lie. I’m seeing such a spike in patients with symptoms of inflammation that it’s becoming the norm, not the exception. The good news is, once we understand what causes inflammation and see how quickly our actions can either fan or cool the flames, we can begin to make better choices every day that bring us back into balance. At our medical practice we are convinced that the seeds of chronic inflammation (and a lot of other health issues) start with the gut — yet it is often the last place traditional practitioners look.”  OB/GYN Marcelle Pick from an article on her website called Causes of Inflammation

“Systemic disorders with possible involvement of the nervous system include a variety of diseases with presumed inflammatory and autoimmune pathomechanisms….   Timely recognition and treatment of CNS inflammation may improve or even reverse clinical symptoms and prevent secondary brain injury.”  From a study published in a 2013 issue of the Handbook of Clinical Neurology (Systemic Inflammatory and Autoimmune Disorders)

“The human body accumulates inflammatory battle scars as we age, whether through repeated assaults by microbial infections or chronic inflammatory diseases such as diabetes or atherosclerosis.  Under healthy conditions, microglia look placid. They sit evenly spaced throughout the brain, processes extended, quietly doing their job of scanning for debris. When disease kicks in, these calm cells can transmogrify and end up doing more harm than good.   Evidence suggests that the communication between the periphery and the brain occurs across an intact blood-brain barrier, although a transient breakdown in the BBB could facilitate enhanced infiltration of inflammatory mediators.  A leaky barrier is indiscriminate in terms of what it allows into the brain…..”   A description of MICROGLIAL CELLS and Leaky Brain Syndrome (similar to LEAKY GUT SYNDROME) cherry-picked from Jessica Shugart’s article for Alzforum called Systemic Inflammation: A Driver of Neurodegenerative Disease?

“Research suggests that systemic inflammation is a risk factor of chronic disease.  In this cross-sectional study, we found that a high diet quality is associated with lower systemic inflammation. As the incidence of cardiovascular disease and cancer is directly correlated with the levels of inflammation, our findings might indicate a protective role of high-quality diet.”  Taken from the abstract of a study (A High Quality Diet is Associated with Reduced Systemic Inflammation in Middle-Aged Individuals) in the January’s issue of Atherosclerosis“

Even though there is debate about the studies that claim 100 million Americans deal with some degree of CHRONIC PAIN, using the most conservative estimates available still puts that number at just under half that.  This means that if not you, someone you love or deeply care about is struggling with Chronic Pain.  Unless you have an extra special doctor, about all you can expect from the medical community in this situation is to be introduced to the “BIG FIVE” and eventually put into Pain Management.  Or you’re told you need surgery.  Sometimes it’s necessary; but when you actually look at THE OFFICIAL STATISTICS on drugs and surgery in general, it’s rather unnerving.

As I have shown you before, there are any number of things that can prove helpful in your quest TO SOLVE YOUR CHRONIC PAIN ISSUE.   In order to do things in a systematic and step-wise fashion, you are going to have to be honest with yourself.  Why?  Because you might actually be causing — or at least contributing — to your problem.  I would start by asking yourself three simple questions.  Is my pain local?  Is my pain systemic?  Might my pain be centralized?  Let me touch briefly on each of these.

• IS THE PAIN DUE TO A LOCALIZED PROBLEM?   Is your pain localized to one specific area, or does it move around and switch sides of your body?  Is your pain the result of an injury like an car accident, a sports injury, or a work-related trauma, or is it from something like FIBROMYALGIA?  Are there specific things you can do to reproduce it or make it better?  Could improper biomechanics (POOR ARCHES is a common one) be a contributing factor to your Chronic Pain?  Be aware that localized pain is almost always associated with some degree of JOINT RESTRICTION — even in people with seemingly “normal” ranges of motion (HERE). 

• IS YOUR PAIN DUE TO A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM?  Sometimes this can get a bit tricky because systemic issues (INFLAMMATION is one that should come to your mind immediately) have the ability to fuel local problems — particularly tricky when you consider that Inflammation itself always leads to the SCAR TISSUE or TISSUE DENSIFICATION that the medical community commonly refers to as ‘FIBROSIS‘.   You should also be aware that the more healthcare you are subjecting yourself to (ANTIBIOTICS or NON-ANTIBIOTICS, medications of ALL KINDS, surgeries) puts you at a greater risk.   Do you have digestive problems or bowel issues?  This is critical to address, considering POOR GUT HEALTH is being linked to almost any health problem you care to mention.  Are there things that trigger your pain such as stress, CERTAIN SMELLS, or CERTAIN FOODS?  To find out whether or not you are systemically inflamed, just take this simple DO-IT-YOURSELF TEST.  Although dealing with the body’s systemic problems will certainly help most localized problems, it rarely solves them.

• COULD YOUR PAIN BE CENTRALIZED?  Even though this is a form of “systemic” problem, believe me when I tell you that it is worse — far worse.  If you want to read more about this and see just how difficult it can be to both diagnose and teat, go HERE.  It might it be worth it to try TISSUE REMODELING as it can sometimes be difficult to know what you are really dealing with (HERE).  However, if you truly have Centralized Pain, it is critical that you deal with it in similar fashion to the way you would deal with Systemic Inflammation.  You should also plan on finding a good FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGIST.

The bottom line; far too many people treat their pain as multiple local problems, when the reality might be far different (HERE).  Not only can you never really make your pain / problem worse by dealing with Systemic Inflammation, you have the potential to help yourself solve THIS LIST of problems as well.   If you are looking for an EXIT STRATEGY as far as your Chronic Pain and Chronic Illnesses are concerned, THIS is where you need to go next.