Pain is unpredictable. Sometimes you can still do so many healthy things, stick to all the rules, and still be in pain. Why is pain so unpredictable, and what can you do about it?
The unpredictability of pain
As you may know, there are many things associated with pain. Not only information from your body, but also your thoughts, attention, feelings and actions determine the pain. This is (unfortunately) such a complex whole, that it is very difficult to always know where your pain comes from.
There can be anything that convinces your alarm system that there is a threat. A negative thought, the stress of a day, a certain connection (association) that your brain makes... Without any damage in your body!
What doesn't help?
It often doesn't help to look for a cause for a long time. By thinking too long about the cause of your pain, you pay a lot of negative attention and thoughts to your pain. The more often you do that, the better your brain gets.
What also doesn't help is not doing anything at all anymore. By not doing anything you give the pain as it were 'right'. While chronic pain is often a false signal!
What does help?
As I mentioned above, thinking, attention, feeling and doing play an important role in pain. What can you do about it on a bad day?
Thinking: Try to remind yourself that pain is not the same as damage. Your brain wants to warn you, but may be wrong!
Feel: How can you positively influence your feelings? Maybe by listening to music, distracting yourself or using Reducept?
Attention: Less attention for the pain, means less burden. Which ways of distraction work for you when you are having a bad day? Maybe it helps to look for others, or are you just someone who prefers to be distracted by nature?
Do: And maybe the most important thing, keep doing things. By not doing anything, you agree with the pain. By doing too much you have a chance of overburdening yourself. So try to find the middle.
Hopefully these tips, and the other blogs, will help you get through your bad days!
Tips for a bad day
