How do I know if my pain system is being over protective?First things first: get yourself thoroughly checked out by a qualified health professional. They will know the right questions to ask and tests to do to make sure you have not got a serious condition. Most people reading this will have seen not one but many health professionals. Having a serious condition doesn’t mean that this stuff doesn’t apply, it just means you have to do other things as well to treat the condition. Once you have been cleared of a serious condition, you are set to go! Practice makes perfect! If you have had pain for more than a few months, then your pain system will be more efficient at producing pain. This is what happens over time – your system becomes more sensitive. It learns pain. Nerve cells in your spinal cord and brain change their properties to be more responsive. Exactly the same thing happens when you learn a new skill, such as playing the piano – nerve cells change their properties to be more responsive. The process is the same. The nerve cells involved are different.
You will know your pain system is becoming overprotective when:
Your body starts to feel more sensitive than it did.
Activities that used to cause a little pain now cause a lot of pain.
Activities that were usually not painful, start to become painful.
These things also happen straight after an injury you might be able to see how excellent they are at protecting your tissues. They often resolve when the tissues heal. However, when the pain remains and the sensitivity sets in, it can feel like your injury is getting worse, but that is actually very unlikely.
Other signs your pain system is becoming over protective include:Your pain might spread, or it might move from one side of your body to the other, or from one location to another, or new spots become sore.
Your movement system starts to get in on the act. Remember that movement is another great way to protect. You might find some movements become more difficult. You might feel stiff.
You might have muscle spasms. They can be really frightening, particularly if you don’t understand them or know what caused them. They are another way your body protects a painful area. They are almost never a sign that you have damaged something.
You might even find you become more sensitive to things that don’t seem related to your body – loud noises, unusual smells - slightly annoying people can become very annoying people.
All these things show that your system is ‘on alert’. Pain can actually be turned up and down by your thoughts, feelings and other things going on in your life – things that actually have nothing to do with the painful body part!
Pain scientists understand how this works and it actually makes terrific sense. However, many people don’t understand it – even some health professionals. One thing that we know absolutely for certain, 100%, is that an over protective pain system is NOT a sign you have a weak personality or a weak mind; it does NOT mean you are going crazy and it does NOT mean your injury is getting worse or your body is falling apart. It means your body is doing too good a job of protecting itself.When our pain system becomes over protective, it stops us doing the movements, activities and other things and that are actually necessary for recovery.But we know you can’t ‘just beat pain’ because this sensitive system that is producing pain is also the system that helps to make you you! Everyone can learn new ways of retraining their pain system to be less protective. So, now is as good a time as any to get started.
