Hi I’m Judy Dercksen, a family doc on a quest for chronic pain solutions. Chronic Pain is caused by one or more attacks on your body. Trauma is most likely when these injuries are associated with a feeling of lack of safety.
The injuries could be from something like a motor vehicle accident or serious illness, or it could even be from verbal abuse where words plant the seeds of fear or shame. The injuries can become part of the fabric of your being. How we understand the cause of our pain is an important part of the healing process.
No matter what caused the pain, when the pain is severe or persistent, the pain itself can interrupt healing. Significant pain causes stress. The stress activates the alarm brain, the limbic system. Pain is the message of threat or danger. So pain can cause alarm and alarm then causes more pain. We are then stuck in a vicious cycle.
The part of the brain responsible for ringing out the message of pain is also involved in inflammation and neuro hormonal activation, the word neuro representing the brain and nerves. Neurohormones affect endocrine glands changing our thyroid, cortisol, and sex hormones. So the whole body becomes affected. We can get brain fog, fatigue, and other body changes.
This sounds bleak, but chronic pain is so common there are now heaps of people who have found solutions to chronic pain. You too could help. Consider becoming part of a community of people seeking ways to heal pain.
Thank you
Judy