Chronic pain is a widespread issue across the United States and the world, affecting an estimated 20% of the adult American population living with chronic pain, according to the CDC. While many chronic pain patients work with their healthcare providers to develop an effective pain management plan, they often need to include in their treatment plans the powerful benefits of mindfulness and relaxation techniques. At Macomb Pain Management, we want to ensure all our patients have access to every available treatment option, including mindfulness and relaxation techniques. Let’s look at mindfulness and relaxation techniques and how they can work together with your pain management plan to provide adequate relief.
Chronic Pain and the Mind-Body Connection
Chronic pain is defined as pain that persists for three months or longer, and it can be constant pain or pain that comes and goes. Chronic pain can range from mild pain levels to severe and debilitating pain. The mind-body connection is the connection between our mental and physical health and explores how they can influence each other. When someone is living with chronic pain, it is sadly common for their mental health to deteriorate, which can, in turn, lead to the worsening of chronic pain symptoms. Understanding how the mind-body connection and chronic pain symptoms interact with each other is crucial to reducing symptoms of both chronic physical and mental pain.
What is Mindfulness?
The American Physiological Association defines mindfulness as awareness of one’s internal states and surroundings. Mindfulness and relaxation techniques include meditation and breathing techniques to calm the body and reduce the activation of brain networks associated with chronic pain. In one study done by UC San Diego, patients with chronic pain were taught how to practice meditation and rated their chronic pain levels before and during meditation. The results for this sample group showed a 32% decrease in reported pain levels for the test group. There have been additional studies done that have shown that practicing mindfulness may be able to reduce chronic pain levels in patients.
Using Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques to Reduce Pain Levels
When someone practices mindfulness and relaxation techniques like meditation and breathing exercises, they can alter how the brain processes pain signals. This is done by activating areas of the brain associated with cognitive control and deactivating areas of the brain associated with the self-referential processing of pain. Studies have shown that when we practice mindfulness, the anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula sections of the brain are activated, and other areas of the brain that process pain signals, like the somatosensory cortex, are calmed. For many patients, mindfulness is an effective way to decrease their pain levels, particularly during a chronic pain flare-up. There is also evidence that practicing mindfulness can reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, two conditions that often accompany chronic pain.
How to Learn Mindfulness Techniques
While learning how to practice mindfulness and other relaxation techniques can be difficult, various resources are available to help you get started. Several apps are available for free that have guided meditation sessions you can listen to, and other resources are available for free online. The STOP technique is one example of an easy-to-learn mindfulness technique that can help to calm your body during a chronic pain flare-up. It involves the following steps:
- Stopping what you are doing
- Taking a deep breath
- Observing your thoughts and physical feelings
- Proceeding mindfully with the intention
Contact Macomb Pain Management today to learn more about how mindfulness and relaxation techniques can be incorporated into your chronic pain management plan.
Learn More About Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques for Chronic Pain at Macomb Pain Management
If you want to learn more about how mindfulness and other relaxation techniques can be incorporated into your pain management plan, contact Macomb Pain Management at (248) 844-8281.
