Pain- Your Alarm system

Pain is multifactorial: physical, emotional, spiritual and mental. Pain is REAL. When you are in pain, you are vulnerable. In the vulnerability there is a portal that opens any/all wounds that are waiting to be healed. At the moment of connection it can feel like you have stepped into a deep blackness. It is terrorizing and there is a chilling aloneness that cannot be described. Fear grips you as you cannot feel the ground beneath your feet. Your body tenses as a natural normal response to the fear and pain blocking the flow of vital life-giving oxygen and nutrients. Energy is blocked. The pain intensifies. The body responds by bracing to find relief and protection against the unseen forces that are assaulting it. Adrenaline and other hormones are released as "fight or flight" natural mechanisms kick in to help you escape. But there is no escape. Your own body is locked in a high intensity trauma state as though you are right in the middle of a pack of wolves that are coming to devour your flesh. This mechanism was pre-programmed to protect you from assault but it is stuck on "on". It is poisoning you. You sustain this high intensity assault for days…weeks…months…years. Permanent changes begin to occur. The muscles tighten and twist around the bones adding gnarling like that of a tree that has been battered by the wind. The pain receptors respond sending signals to the central nervous system more chemicals are released…muscles tighten. The body hardens against the unseen forces. You become trapped as your body twists in an effort to find relief. Most physicians are equipped to deal with the physical aspect of pain - searching for the physical cause and using a combination of medications and procedures to relieve it. There are a finite number of maladies that respond well to this medical approach such as an inner ear infection. Then there are other causes of pain that the clinician can diagnose, intervene and wait for the body to heal on its own (like a broken bone). The person who has these physical maladies may experience the accompanying emotional, spiritual, and mental aspects of the pain as well as vulnerability but generally it is short - lived as their physical complaints are acknowledged and validated by the treating practitioner. Appropriate medication is given pain relief is obtained and the situation is resolved. Unfortunately there are a multitude of chronic pain conditions that plague our society that cannot be resolved by the medical model that we have in place. There are many of these that have been neatly labeled and are easily diagnosed through a thorough medical exam with accompanying diagnostic tests (labs, x-rays) such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Because the clinician can find a measurable explanation for the patients' symptoms they find these pain syndromes easier to deal with even though they are ongoing and "incurable" conditions. The clinician feels he has a "handle" on these conditions. An understanding. A control. For the diagnostician who is treating a human being in pain, there are many layers that they are affected (physical/emotional/mental/spiritual) which may be opened for the clinician to experience as the patient in pain reflects the clinician's own vulnerability, fears, and inadequacies with the black abyss of terror and aloneness just one step away from them as well. You are not alone. There is seldom just one aspect of chronic pain to be treated. Clinicians are aware of this on a very basic level. Often they are unaware of the depth that they are treating the other components of pain (emotional, spiritual, mental). But they know it takes a combination of medications- many of which they are unsure about the exact mechanism for pain relief (like Neurontin, antidepressants and Lyrica). These medications clearly treat beyond the physical. But they fall short of addressing the other components as well. As the soul cries out for complete healing and pain continues despite basic treatments, the medical model then resorts to medications that are designed to bypass the brain and nervous system and shut down all reports of pain from the body so the patient is still in pain but just does not know it. These medications sold on the street are known as "illicit drugs" and the person who takes them are called "users" or "addicts". They are highly addicting and do not address the pain problem. They only address the physical part of perception, altering perception of everything, not just their pain. Blunting their perception of love joy and their interactions with the ones they love and leaving "something missing". The body continues to be gnarled tight with poisons coursing through their veins. Then the emotional toll of chronic pain sets in as the patient feels their pain is unseen unheard and their anger turns inward as they slip into depression, hopelessness and helplessness. The patient finds themselves surrounded by the most advanced medical system in the world that looks the other way with an occasional side glance at best as the practitioner has a moment of feeling helpless and hopeless as well. Judgment, blame and criticism sometimes replaces the uncomfortable feelings of the practitioner as they grapple with their own fears, inadequacies and helplessness: for to witness a fellow human being in pain brings forth or own pain indeed. Many times you are unaware of the depth of emotional, mental or spiritual pain. Even the physical pain screams at a level that few would even be able to tolerate. You know you have a high pain tolerance. You have learned to live out of your body. You began a slow release and disconnect from your body long before this new onslaught of pain. You did not even know it when it was happening. It usually starts at a “woundedness” that you experience when you are unable to verbalize your feelings. There is a trauma or event that touches through your being into your soul: a pain that is beyond the pain. Subconsciously you begin blocking it out. With the blocking, you eject from your physical body. You are “there” but not here. You experience your life from another vantage point: one that you can control. One that feels safe. Patterns emerge. These patterns are designed to protect you from pain. Patterns that save your life for the moment and are designed to be used on a short term basis until you can find a safe place to sit and experience the “woundedness” and heal it. You do not find that place of safety and the patterns of avoidance, denial and disconnection become chronic. You are told you have a “high pain tolerance”. You are tough. This begins to be a part of your identity. In the interim, your heart and soul are crying out to be seen. To be heard. To be known. But you can no longer hear. You can no longer feel the pain of the soul. Your body is an alarm system. It will notify you when something is wrong. If you do not heed to the warning, the alarm gets louder. Finally, you can become crippled. The alarm is saying “we have to change!” Change is available. I have experienced many clients who have experienced years of routine medical care that fell short of relief who have found change through different therapies that incorporate the mind/body and release decades of stored stress, pain and emotions that are related to the chronic pain. The tissues of the body store memories and pain. After working as a physician assistant in the medical field for more than 25 years, I realized something was missing. We were not treating the whole person. I began studying the body and learning new concepts that I did not learn through the present medical concepts. I formulated a series of techniques that bring relief in a natural way through releasing stress and pain that have been long-held in the body tissues through light touch therapy as a massage therapist. I treat the whole body and approach each client individually with a personalized approach to care. The majority of my clients has been in the medical system for many years looking for a solution to chronic pain, stress and depression and has given up hope. After one treatment, there is usually restored hope and relief as we establish long-held causes of suffering that have been missed through years. If you are ready for change, give me a call. Let’s get started to treat the whole body and find a place of relief. Kathy Conyers, LMT #59266 407-461-8897 Kathy worked as a physician assistant for 25 years and after realizing that the medical field was missing something, she went elsewhere. She studied Myofascial release as well as ancient healing modalities and now provides soft tissue body work to help clients suffering with chronic pain.