If you have pain, you prefer to reduce it. Yet you often hear that dealing with chronic pain is important. That is easier said than done. The good news: if you manage to deal with chronic pain well, it can even be reduced!
What is meant by dealing with chronic pain?
Many practitioners who no longer know what they can do quickly say: 'you just have to learn to deal with it'. Without even knowing how to do it. Well-meant advice such as 'think of something fun' or 'pay less attention to it' is more likely to cause irritation than help.
Somewhere you can't blame those therapists. They are often not trained to teach others how to deal with pain. Still, dealing with chronic pain makes sense, because the right way of 'coping' can even lead to less pain. And that is what we at Reducept focus entirely on!
How you can reduce chronic pain by dealing with it differently
Pain occurs in the brain when your brain perceives danger. Pain is a natural protection. If you get pain from something, you don't do it again easily. Unfortunately, the brain is not always right. With chronic pain you often see that the damage in the body has already been treated, but the brain continues to create pain. We also say that the brain has become too sensitive.
The interesting thing is that not only your body plays a role in the pain the brain makes. How you deal with pain largely determines whether the brain remains in the 'danger position'.
Suppose you think a lot about your pain, think about it a lot and avoid movement. Your handling of chronic pain is then avoidable. By doing so, you tell your brain that it was right to cause pain. You behave 'according to the pain', which leads the brain to conclude that it was a good plan to make pain. The result: faster pain.
Another way is to be more active with the pain. Gradually pick up movement, or for example practise training attention and evoking positive thoughts. Not easy to do, but you do give the brain the signal to make less pain.
Reducing chronic pain in daily life
Actively dealing with chronic pain is a different way than we are often used to. Within the Reducept Method we fully focus on that goal. After years of treatment experience and scientific knowledge, the method has been put together. You can now try the method for a two weeks free of charge, so that you can follow my extensive pain course and train your brain with the Reducept app. We are happy to help you with it, because 'learning how to deal with it' is easier said than done.