High Impact Chronic Pain

Please complete the questions below and then print them if you want them for your healthcare provider. After printing them, then have a look at the score. None of this data is collected on this website.

Chronic Pain causes physical and psychological stress. Please answer the questions by thinking about how you are affected in the past month. This information and your score is not stored or sent to anyone and will disappear immediately after you check your score.

The pain is there all the time or comes so often is bothers me a lot

I worry the pain will not go away or worry it will get worse someday

Pain makes it hard to pay attention to anything else, like my surroundings and people around me

I can't keep thoughts of pain away or I think about it often and have to push it away.

My pain causes me to have a pounding heart or nausea or trouble breathing or sweating

I avoid activities because I believe it makes my pain worse

I avoid going to places, meeting with people, interacting with other because of pain

My memory is affected by pain

The way I see myself has changed, I don't feel in control, capable, or strong anymore. And/Or Pain has changed the way I see the world - it feels like an unfriendly or dangerous place now.

I blame myself or someone else because my pain is not improving

I have strong negative feelings like fear or anger or guilt or shame because of the pain or my ability to function.

I have lost interest in activities that I used to enjoy because of the pain

I feel cut off or distant from other people because of my pain

I have trouble experiencing positive feelings. It's hard to feel happy or loving. Hard to find fun.

I have irritable behavior or angry outbursts or act aggressively because of my pain

I take too many risks or do things that can do me harm. The pain has made me reckless.

I am very cautious when it comes to doing things because I don't want to increase my pain

My body is very sensitive. Even a light touch causes me pain

I have difficulty concentrating or learning new things

I find it difficult falling asleep and/or wake often from pain

If your score is 31 or more, it means your alarm system is hyper aroused. Your Alarm System is functioning like someone who has post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.

If possible, find a pain partner, or a friend or family member who can help you learn about chronic pain. Chronic pain causes brain fog. Read the information slowly. One section at a time. Return to it over and over until you have absorbed the information. Don’t click on links until you thoroughly understand this very long complicated page. 

Inflammation

Remember it’s not all in your head, but working on the brain’s alarm center will help lower inflammation and the brain’s stress response.  

High alarm causes the muscles to tense, which then causes more pain. Tense muscles lead to Fascia sticking together. You can hear fascia crunching, creaking, snapping, popping and making a noise louder than MC Hammer and the Beat Boys.

It is possible to heal this sticky fascia, but it is hard. In the beginning, you have to move your body for a few minutes every 30 minutes, if possible. Soon, you’ll feel better and be able to do it less often, until eventually a few days a week of walking, yoga or Qi-Gong will be enough. 

Chronic Pain is different from Acute Pain

Chronic pain is complex. Most tissues, including bone, heal within three months. Most often, the body heals itself, with or without the help of healthcare providers.

The reasons pain persist are as varied as the organs in our bodies, but the answer lies with the body (as noted above with inflammation and other body stress) but more importantly, the brain affects healing.

Alan Gordon mentions 44 sites in the brain that influence healing. His book, The Way Out, shows how information about the brain’s wiring can lead to healing.

We know stress, like the stress of PTSD, and chronic pain changes the wiring in the brain. 

Negative thoughts, emotional stress, burdens in our life, these all influence pain. But we change the way we experience pain by rewiring our brain. Positive thoughts, being curious about your brain, examining your pain with as little fear as you can, will lead to a different pain experience and you can even become pain free.

Our search was expanded. The biopsychosocial management approach was essential. Bio refers to tissue, psycho, meaning of the mind and emotions, and social, meaning the surrounding environment, friends, family, or other potentially toxic sources.

The biological cause was clear. Initially, the acute pain had come from the fracture. Pain signals from the tissues traveled along her spinal cord to reach the brain, Pain Grand Central Station, the Limbic system. This alarm center of the brain warned her of danger. This acute warning is a very necessary protective mechanism. For some reason, after three months, it was still ringing out danger messages.

There are many ways to Calm the Alarm, but most importantly, you have to keep an open mind and give it a decent try. 

Start with Step 2.

Do the short chair yoga exercises that are on the bottom of the page – do at least 3 times per week in the day.

Do the evening QiGong at night as often as possible. You can find it in the middle of the page. More or less. 

Good luck with Step 1.

Judy