Pain

Up to your Neck in Pain – Try Yoga

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“For many people, managing pain involves using prescription medicine in combination with complementary techniques like physical therapy, acupuncture, yoga and massage. I appreciate this because I truly believe medical care should address the person as a whole – their mind, body, and spirit.” – Naomi Judd

 

We all have to deal with pain. It’s inevitable, but hopefully mild and short lived. But, for many, pain is a constant in their lives. The most common forms of chronic pain are back and neck pain. Indeed, back pain is the number one cause of disability worldwide. In addition, neck pain is the number three cause of chronic pain; affecting more than a quarter of Americans. People who experience chronic back and neck pain are limited in their daily activities and may compensate in order to walk, run, sit, etc. and the compensatory postures can produce further sometimes different problems.

 

There are a myriad of causes for chronic back and neck pain, including something as simple as improper positioning while sleeping, or even sitting or standing with bad posture. It can also occur due to injuries, accidents, heavy lifting or other spinal issues. These types of pain are not only a problem for the individual but are also costly for society as they constitute the largest category of medical insurance claims.

 

Just as there are many different causes there are also a plethora of treatments for back and neck pain. The most common is the use of drugs, including over –the-counter pain relievers and at times opiates. These are helpful but have limited effectiveness. Sometimes the pain can lead to surgical interventions that can be costly and are not always effective. So, alternative treatments such as acupuncture have also been used with some success. Yoga is another promising alternative treatment for back and neck pain. Many forms of yoga focus on the proper alignment of the spine, which could directly address the source of back and neck pain for many individuals.

 

We’ve seen in previous posts that yoga can be effective for the relief of chronic low-back pain

http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/11/23/treat-back-pain-with-yoga/. Indeed, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) which includes yoga practice is effective for low back pain (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/10/17/control-low-back-pain-with-mindfulness/).In today’s Research News article “Effectiveness of Iyengar yoga in treating spinal (back and neck) pain: A systematic review”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1124994394191152/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4278133/

Crow and colleagues review the published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the application of yoga for the relief of back and neck pain. They found that yoga produced clinically significant improvements in pain intensity. There was clear and strong evidence for effectiveness on the short term. Only three trials had long-term follow-up but were supportive that yoga has sustained effectiveness.

 

Yoga has many positive benefits for the physical and psychological well-being of the individual and can even provide spiritual benefits. It is generally safe when taught by well-trained yoga instructors, but can still have some adverse effects and practice needs to be tempered with moderation and caution. The present review, hiowever, provides strong support for its use in treating chronic back and neck pain.

 

So, practice yoga and relieve chronic back and neck pain

 

“The practices of Yoga equip us with tools for transcending this suffering – and for transcending our moments of happiness, too. Even moments of elation, contentment, and joy carry the future pain of their termination, after all.”  – Sharon Gannon & David Life

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Treat Back Pain with Yoga

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 “Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” ~B.K.S. Iyengar

 

Low Back Pain affects a wide swath of humanity (6% to 15%) and is the leading cause of disability worldwide. It affects almost everyone with 80% of the population experiencing back pain sometime during their lives. There are varied treatments for low back pain including chiropractic care, acupuncture, biofeedback, physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, massage, surgery, opiate pain killing drugs, steroid injections, and muscle relaxant drugs.

 

The therapies are sometimes effective particularly for acute back pain. But, for chronic conditions the treatments are less effective and often require continuing treatment for years. Obviously, there is a need for effective treatments for low back pain that are low cost and don’t have troublesome side effects. Since many yoga poses focus on stretching and strengthen in the back, it makes sense that yoga practice when done properly should be helpful for low-back pain. Indeed, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) which includes yoga practice is effective for low back pain http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/10/17/control-low-back-pain-with-mindfulness/.

 

In today’s Research News article “Evaluation of the Effectiveness and Efficacy of Iyengar Yoga Therapy on Chronic Low Back Pain”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1120568141300444/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4393557/

Williams and colleagues examine the effectiveness of 24 weeks of Iyengar yoga practice on adults who have been suffering from low-back pain for longer than 3 months. They randomly assigned participants to either yoga practice or to receive standard medical care.

 

They found that the pain sufferers who participated in yoga had a 42% greater reduction in pain intensity than the group receiving standard medical care. This resulted in a trend toward a greater reduction in the use of pain medications in the yoga group. Importantly, the yoga participants showed a 24% greater improvement in their ability to carry on with normal activities, with a larger number of yoga participants having a clinically significant decrease in functional disability. In addition, the yoga participants showed a large, 47%, reduction in depression levels in comparison to the standard medical care participants. These effects were produced without any significant adverse effects and were still present 6-months after the conclusion of the active treatment.

 

These results confirm that yoga practice is a safe and effective treatment that produces long-term improvements in chronic low-back pain and in turn improves the patients’ abilities to carry on everyday activities and in turn reduces depression. This also appears to reduce the individuals use of drugs to treat their pain symptoms. Yoga has so many beneficial effects (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/category/contemplative-practice/yoga-contemplative-practice/) in addition to the assistance with pain that it would seem to be an almost ideal treatment.

 

So, practice yoga and improve low-back pain and disability.

 

“Hatha is the sanctuary for those suffering every type of pain. It is the foundation for those practicing every type of Yoga.” ~Svatmarama

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

Control Low Back Pain with Mindfulness  

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“When I was able to concentrate I had a great experience. The only time I had a sensation is when I was concentrating on my lower back. I felt like something was happening to that section of my body and … the pain would disappear”

 

Low Back Pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide and affects between 6% to 15% of the population. It is estimated, however, that 80% of the population will experience back pain sometime during their lives. There are varied treatments for low back pain including chiropractic care, acupuncture, biofeedback, physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, massage, surgery, opiate pain killing drugs, steroid injections, and muscle relaxant drugs.

 

The therapies are sometimes effective particularly for acute back pain. But, for chronic conditions the treatments are less effective and often require continuing treatment for years. Obviously, there is a need for effective treatments for low back pain that are low cost and don’t have troublesome side effects. Mindfulness training has shown promise in the treatment of a variety of pain conditions (see links at the bottom). But, there is a need for testing with chronic low back pain patients.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effectiveness of mindfulness meditation on pain and quality of life of patients with chronic low back pain”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1103506393006619/?type=3&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4479890/

Banth and colleagues compared the meditation and body scan components of an 8-wk Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program to medical treatment as usual for chronic low back pain in women. They found that treatment as usual had very little if any effect. But, the mindfulness treatment markedly reduced pain by the end of the 8-wk treatment period. In addition,, the pain was reduced further for the subsequent 4-wks to the point where the pain scores were nearly cut in half. They also observed a large improvement in both mental and physical quality of life. These are remarkable results and suggest that mindfulness training is a safe and effective treatment for chronic low back pain.

 

Pain usually has a physical cause but it is greatly affected by the psychological reaction to pain. Mindfulness training is thought to modify pain sensitivity by both affecting the psychological and physical aspects of pain. Mindfulness training appears to uncouple the pain from the emotions and thought process such as worry and rumination that accompany chronic pain. These psychological processes can have the effect of amplifying the perceived pain. So, uncoupling them from the pain can greatly reduce the perceived pain. In addition, mindfulness training appears to reduce the nervous systems response to painful stimuli by reducing the activity of the brain areas that normally respond to painful stimuli.

 

So practice mindfulness and control chronic pain.

 

“There is a way to work with all this, based on Buddhist meditative practices, which can liberate you, to a very large extent, from the experience of pain. Whether or not you can reduce the level of sensory pain, the affective and cognitive contributions to the pain— which make it much worse—usually) can be lessened. And then, very often, the sensory component of the pain changes as well.” – John Kabat-Zinn

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

MBSR is effective in reducing pain http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/mindfulness-the-pain-killer/ and headache pain http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/09/07/headaches-are-a-headache-reduce-them-with-mindfulness/

Teenage meditators have reduced pain sensitivity http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/07/pain-is-a-pain-relieve-it-with-meditation/

Yoga reduces pain from arthritis http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/14/age-healthily-yoga-for-arthritis/

 

Reduce Fibromyalgia Pain with Mindfulness

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“I wake up tired, I stay up tired, I go to bed tired. I wake up in pain, I stay up in pain, I go to bed in pain. I wake up with hope, I stay up with hope, I go to bed with hope.” – FibroColors

 

Fibromyalgia is a mysterious disorder whose causes are unknown. It is characterized by widespread pain, abnormal pain processing, sleep disturbance, and fatigue that lead to psychological distress. Fibromyalgia may also have morning stiffness, tingling or numbness in hands and feet, headaches, including migraines, irritable bowel syndrome, sleep disturbances, thinking and memory problems, and painful menstrual periods.

 

Fibromyalgia is very common affecting over 5 million people in the U.S., about 2% of the population. The vast majority of fibromyalgia sufferers are women, roughly 7 times more prevalent than in men. Although it is not itself fatal, suicide rates are higher in fibromyalgia sufferers. The symptoms are so severe and debilitating that about half the patients are unable to perform routine daily functions and about a third have to stop work.

 

There is no cure for fibromyalgia and the treatments are aimed at symptom relief. Drugs from simple pain killers to antidepressants are used and can help. There is a need for other treatment options. In a previous post it was discussed how mindfulness practice can be effective for the symptoms of fibromyalgia (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/mindfulness-the-pain-killer/). There are a number of other complementary and alternative therapies that might also be effective.

 

In today’s Research News article “Overview of Reviews for Complementary and Alternative Therapies in the Treatment of the Fibromyalgia Syndrome”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1098448550179070/?type=3&theater

Lauche and colleagues review the literature on the use of complementary and alternative therapies such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, biofeedback, homeopathy, etc. for the treatment of fibromyalgia. They found that the published research indicates that tai chi, yoga, meditation and mindfulness-based interventions, hypnosis or guided imagery, biofeedback, and hydrotherapy were consistently effective while homeopathy and phytotherapy produced very inconsistent effects.

 

It is interesting that mind body techniques in general appeared to have positive effects especially on pain and, importantly, tended to be more effective than the usual treatments for fibromyalgia. A common feature of these practices is that they tend to calm the sympathetic nervous system which is involved in physiological activation. It is possible that this is a key to producing some relief of fibromyalgia symptoms.

 

But, mind body therapies have a large number of effects that may underlie their usefulness for fibromyalgia. They tend to promote emotion regulation, allowing the individual to experience their emotions but not overreact or react inappropriately to them. Since, fibromyalgia tends to produce emotional distress, the improved emotion regulation produced by mind body therapies could be a key to relieving the symptoms.

 

In addition, mind body therapies are known to alter the nervous system processing of pain stimuli, reducing the intensity of pain and the reactions to pain. This effect of these therapies directly affects a central symptom of fibromyalgia, pain. There are also other effects of these therapies such as improved attention and increased focus on the present moment that may also have effects on the symptoms by reducing worry and rumination. It remains for future research to clarify the most important consequences of mind body therapies for the treatment of fibromyalgia.

 

So, practice mindfulness and improve fibromyalgia symptoms.

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

 

 

Reduce Pain with Meditation

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“Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain.” – Joseph Campbell

 

Pain can be difficult to deal with, particularly if it’s persistent. But, even short-term pain, acute pain, is unpleasant. But acute pain is an important signal that there is something wrong or that damage is occurring and some form of action is needed. It’s an important signal that is ignored at the individual’s peril.

 

So, it’s important that pain signals not be blocked or prevented. But, it would be useful to establish a method to lower pain and improve recovery from a painful stimulus. Contemplative practice has been shown to be useful for both chronic and acute pain (see links below). But the question remains as to how much practice is needed to assist with pain.
In today’s Research News article “A Brief Mindfulness Meditation Training Increases Pain Threshold and Accelerates Modulation of Response to Tonic Pain in an Experimental Study”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1089069581116967/?type=1&theater

Reiner and colleagues examine whether a very brief (2-week) meditation practice can reduce pain in an experimental situation. They found that a brief meditation reduced the perception of pain by increasing the level of stimulation required to produce pain and by decreasing the time it takes to recover from the painful stimulus.

 

How does a 2-week meditation practice change the perception of pain? One way is by altering the brain’s processing of painful stimuli. It appears that meditation practice results in an uncoupling of the brain areas that process pain stimuli and the areas involved in the conscious appreciation and reactivity to pain. Also, meditation practice by focusing on the present moment, letting the past recede from attention, may promote recovery from pain. Rather than continuing to think about past pain and thus prolonging the experience, meditation may lead the individual to focus on the present when the painful stimulus is absent. This may allow the individual to let go of the pain faster.

 

Regardless of the mechanism the results are important in that meditation appears to reduce sensitivity to pain, but still allows the pain to be experienced. So the individual will be less uncomfortable but still able to respond appropriately to the painful stimulus, thus preventing further injury. The results also indicate that it doesn’t take years of meditation practice to provide the relief from pain. Two weeks of practice was sufficient. That such a brief practice still is effective is quite remarkable and suggests that the benefits of meditation can be obtained fairly soon after initiating practice.

 

So, reduce pain with meditation, even with only 2-week practice.

 

“There is no pain so great as the memory of joy in present grief.” – Aeschylus
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

 

LINKS

Meditation reduces pain sensitivity in adolescents

http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/07/pain-is-a-pain-relieve-it-with-meditation/

Mindfulness Based Stress reduction (MBSR) improves quality of life in fibromyalgia patients http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/mindfulness-the-pain-killer/.

Yoga improves quality of life with arthritis pain http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/14/age-healthily-yoga-for-arthritis/

 

Headaches are a Headache – Reduce them with Mindfulness

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“To diminish the suffering of pain, we need to make a crucial distinction between the pain of pain, and the pain we create by our thoughts about the pain. Fear, anger, guilt, loneliness and helplessness are all mental and emotional responses that can intensify pain.” ~Howard Cutler

 

Headaches are a headache and can be disruptive to our productivity and happiness. The most common form of headache is tension headache constituting 90% of all headaches. Occasional headache is a common ailment but when it becomes chronic it can be quite disruptive to the sufferer’s life. Chronic tension headaches affect about 3% of the population.

 

It has been demonstrated that mindfulness training can help with a wide variety of types and sources of pain, for example it has been found to be effective for fibromyalgia pain http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/mindfulness-the-pain-killer/, a particularly difficult pain to treat. It has also been shown to be effective for migraine headaches.

 

In today’s Research News article “Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Pain Severity and Mindful Awareness in Patients with Tension Headache: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1083903811633544/?type=1&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4332994/

Omidi and Zargar test the application of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for chronic tension headache pain. They found that MBSR produced a clinically significant reduction in pain and also increased mindfulness in these patients.

 

There are a number of ways that MBSR training could be producing the reduction in tension headache pain. MBSR was designed for the reduction of stress and has been shown to be very effective. Since, tension headaches are often precipitated or amplified by stress, the reduction in responsivity to stress produced by MBSR would be expected to help reduce pain.

 

Pain itself can amplify pain by producing a fear of pain which can cause the individual to not only suffer from the current pain but add to it with worry about future pain. Many pain patients ruminate about their past pain which can also produce worry and stress and make pain worse. Indeed, meditation has been shown to reduce pain by decreasing catastrophizing. (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/08/07/pain-is-a-pain-relieve-it-with-meditation/). By helping the individual focus on the present moment mindfulness training can reduce the rumination about past pain and the expectation of future pain, reducing currently experienced pain.

 

Mindfulness is known to affect the brain’s processing of pain stimuli, blunting the neural activity associated with pain. This by itself could be responsible for the reduction in tension headache pain. Mindfulness also increases relaxation and reduces activity of the segment of the peripheral nervous system that’s responsible for activation and tension. This reduces the response to pain allowing greater relaxation and less pain. Mindfulness also increases awareness of one’s internal state. This self-monitoring could lead to better self-care and early intervention for a tension headache. Finally, mindfulness improves emotion regulation. It allows the individual to more effectively respond to emotions. This would include the emotions elicited by pain and those that can precipitate a tension headache. In this way, responses to pain and the intensity of the pain can be mitigated.

 

Regardless of the mechanism, mindfulness training is clearly an effective strategy for dealing with chronic tension headache pain. It remains to be seen if a simpler mindfulness training than MBSR might also be effective. MBSR requires a considerable commitment of time and energy and the presence of an instructor. This is not always practicable with the busy lives that many people lead. So, it would be better if a simpler training would be equally effective.

 

So practice mindfulness and make a headache less of a headache.

 

“When our pain is held by mindfulness it loses some of its strength.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

 

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Have a Healthy Relationship with Mindfulness

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Relationships can be challenging especially when one partner has medical needs that need to be provided by the spouse. This puts great strain on a relationship and engenders a wide range of emotional responses from compassion, to guilt, to anger, to depression.

In a previous post we discussed how mindfulness training can be employed to help relieve pain http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/mindfulness-the-pain-killer/. But, how does mindfulness affect pain in a social environment? In particular, can mindfulness in a caregiver make it easier to assist a chronic pain patient? In today’s Research News article “Spousal Mindfulness and Social Support in Couples with Chronic Pain”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1070466376310621/?type=1&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4013202/

Williams and colleagues explore this very question and find that spouses with high mindfulness were better caregivers.

When a spouse was high in mindful non-judging and non-reacting they were much less likely to meet a spouses behavior with negative responses. Spouses who mindfully act with awareness are perceived by the pain patient as more responsive, providing more support, and less negative. These characteristics are very important for maintaining a positive and supportive environment. Hence, the spouse’s mindfulness has a big impact on their ability to maintain an atmosphere conducive to effective assistance with chronic pain. It is always good to have empirical evidence, but the results here are not surprising. They fit with how mindful people act in general. They are more positive, empathetic, less critical and handle stress better.

Mindfulness has been shown to increase emotion regulation, the ability to feel emotions fully and to effectively respond to them. A spousal relationship, especially when taxed by one partner having a medical condition, can be full of emotion. For a healthy relationship these emotions must not be denied or suppressed but fully felt yet without allowing them to produce behaviors that would make things worse. This emotion regulation characteristic of mindful individuals may underlie why they can be effective caregivers.

Another stress of caring for a chronically ill person is that the caregiver can perceive the future negatively. It would be easy to catastrophize, by seeing things to be bad and getting worse leading to an intolerable situation. This could lead to a feeling of hopelessness. In addition, the interactions with the ill spouse can then be colored by the vision of a terrible future. Mindfulness, by focusing the caregiving spouse on the present moment and appreciating what is right in front of him/her can mitigate catastrophizing. This has been well documented in the research literature. This obviously would lead to better interactions and more effective caregiving.

Finally, caregiving can be very stressful. This can lead to negative emotions and can be detrimental to the caregiving spouse’s health. Since mindfulness training has been well documented to reduce responses to stress, both emotional and physical, the impact of the stress on the mindful spouse would be mitigated.

So, be mindful and have a better relationship even when your spouse is ill.

CMCS

 

Age Healthily – Yoga for Arthritis

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Yoga arthritis

Arthritis is a chronic disease that most commonly affects the joints. Depending on the type of arthritis symptoms may include pain, stiffness, swelling, redness, and decreased range of motion. It affects an estimated 52.5 million adults in the United States. It is associated with aging as arthritis occurs in only 7% of adults ages 18–44, while 30% adults ages 45–64 are affected, and 50% of adults ages 65 or older. Due to complications associated with arthritis, the lifespan for people with RA may be shortened by 10 years.

The pain, stiffness, and lack of mobility associate with arthritis produce fatigue and markedly reduce the quality of life of the sufferers. It can have very negative psychological effects diminishing the individual’s self-image and may lead to depression, isolation, and withdrawal from friends and social activities. It even affects the individual’s physical appearance. As the quality of life deteriorates the individual can feel a loss of control and become anxious about the future. Stress can build and influence the individual’s attitude toward life and can lead to frustration, anger, and hopelessness.

Arthritis reduces the individual’s ability to function at work and may require modifications of work activities. This can lead to financial difficulties. The normal chores at home may take much longer to accomplish and the individual may need the help of a relative or caregiver. Hence, it can produce stress on the entire family system.

It is obvious that there is a need for a safe and effective treatment to help the suffer cope with the disease and its consequences. Increasing exercise has been shown to increase flexibility and mobility but many form of exercise are difficult for the arthritis sufferer to engage in and many drop out. Recently, yoga practice has been adapted for the treatment of arthritis sufferers.

In today’s Research News article “Yoga in Sedentary Adults with Arthritis: Effects of a Randomized Controlled Pragmatic Trial”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1068583096498949/?type=1&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4490021/

Moonaz and colleagues tested 8-weeks of yoga practice for the treatment of rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. They found that yoga improved physical activity and physical and psychological health, and the quality of life of the arthritis sufferers. Yoga increased walking capacity, flexibility, pain, general health, vitality and mental health including reduced depression and negative emotions. In addition the positive effects were still present 9 months later.

It appears that the positive effects of yoga on the psychological health of arthritis sufferers was due to the reduction in physical symptoms and their consequences. All of this, of course, increases perceived quality of life. In addition, participation rates for yoga were higher than those for other exercise programs. This suggests that yoga is not only safe and effective for the treatment of arthritis but it is also acceptable producing better adherence to the regimen.

In addition, yoga has been shown to help individual age healthily in other ways. It decreases cellular ageing

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1053553098001949/?type=1&theater

http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/aging-healthily-yoga-and-cellular-aging/

and protects the brain from age related degeneration

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1050712994952626/?type=1&theater

http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/age-healthily-protect-the-brain-with-yoga/

and decreases age related physical decline.

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1015482441809015/?type=1&theater

http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/age-healthily-yoga/

So, practice yoga to deal with arthritis and age healthily.

CMCS

 

Pain is a Pain – Relieve it with Meditation

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In a previous post we discussed the application of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for the relief of pain in adult women.

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1039886436035282/?type=1&theater

It was demonstrated that the combination of meditation, body scan, and yoga contained in MBSR was effective for pain management.

Not everything that is effective with adults is also effective with children and adolescents.

Hence, it is important to establish if mindfulness training is also effective with adolescents. In today’s Research News article “The Effects of Mindful Attention and State Mindfulness on Acute Experimental Pain among Adolescents”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1064279593595966/?type=1&theater

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4027879/

Petter and colleagues investigated whether a very brief mindfulness session would affect pain sensitivity in 13-18 year-olds. Although the brief manipulation was not effective, they found that adolescents who were meditators and high in mindfulness had significantly lower pain in a standardized pain manipulation.

Hence it appears that mindfulness is associated with lower sensitivity to pain even in adolescents. It is noteworthy that meditation practice alone was associated with the reduction in pain perception. Hence, although the other components of MBSR, body scan and yoga, may also be helpful, they are not necessary for pain relief.

McGrath and colleagues then addressed how mindfulness might produce lower pain levels. They found that mindfulness reduced catastrophizing, the tendency to magnify the threat value of pain, to feel helpless in the face of pain, and to ruminate about pain. It was this reduction in catastrophizing that produced the pain relief. In other words catastrophizing mediated the effect of mindfulness on pain. These findings complement the theoretical work which places catastrophizing as playing a central role in adolescent chronic pain.

Hence, it appears that in adolescents pain is magnified by catastrophizing. In this form of thinking, the presence of pain brings forth unsettling memories of past pain and rumination about future pain. The individual then becomes focused on the pain and thoughts about the pain. This form of thinking builds on itself in a vicious cycle of catastrophizing magnifying pain which in turn magnifies catastrophizing.

Mindfulness can break this vicious cycle by focusing the individual on the present moment. This reduces the amount of thinking about the past and future which is the source of catastrophizing, which then tends to reduce the perception of pain. Hence, mindfulness emphasizes present moment awareness, reducing catastrophizing, and in turn reducing pain.

Mindfulness training is also known to directly affect the brain pathways and cortical areas that underlie pain perception and thereby reduce the magnitude of the pain signal in the brain. In addition, mindfulness reduces the emotional reactions and the arousal response to pain. This also mitigates pain perception.

This is important to discover a method to treat pain without drugs. The prescription pain medications, primarily opiates, are addictive, disorienting, and very dangerous with thousands of deaths each year attributable to overdoses of prescription pain medications. Mindfulness training is a great alternative, effective and safe. But beware, it has such positive benefits that it may become addictive!

So, practice mindfulness and stop pain being a pain.

CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies

Mindfulness, the Pain Killer

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Many people have to deal with pain on a daily basis. Most use prescription medications to help. But, these drugs are dangerous and over 12,000 people a year die from overdoses of these powerful pain killers. In addition, there are a number of disorders that do not respond well to these drugs. One of these painful disorders is fibromyalgia.

In today’s Research News “Mindfulness meditation alleviates fibromyalgia symptoms in women: Results of a randomized clinical trial.”

https://www.facebook.com/ContemplativeStudiesCenter/photos/a.628903887133541.1073741828.627681673922429/1039874742703118/?type=1&theater

It is reported that Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) reduces symptoms of fibromyalgia, including perceived stress, sleep disturbance, and symptom severity, but not pain or physical functioning. This study and prior research suggest that mindfulness is a safe and effective treatment for this painful disorder. It is not a magical cure, but can be of great assistance in coping with the disorder.

MBSR contains both meditation and yoga practice. Prior research suggests that both may be helpful with pain management. Yoga exercises may help reduce fibromyalgia pain. Yoga has been shown to reduce pain, fatigue, depression, and improve sleep and energy. But, it is unclear whether meditation and yoga practice act in the same way, synergistically, or additively. Regardless they seem to work; but how?

Mindfulness practice and particularly MBSR appears to calm the sympathetic nervous system, reducing stress. This benefit can lead to a lowering of resting heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and relax muscle. Mindfulness promotes deep muscle relaxation which lessens tension and irritability. With the reduction of the stressful effects of pain, the pain becomes more manageable. The physiological relaxation itself can stop the pain from amplifying itself through the induction of the stress response.

Mindfulness practice can also help manage the psychological effects of pain. When pain is consistently part of the day, the individual starts to dwell on it. This in turn produces stress and anxiety about the present pain, as well as a dread concerning future pain. Mindfulness training can help patients learn to direct their attention away from pain. By focusing on the present moment, thoughts of future pain are removed.

Mindfulness practice can promote relaxation and awareness of what is actually transpiring. This can reduce the distressing thoughts and feelings that come with pain and prevent them from making the pain worse. Mindfulness training can enhance body awareness, which may lead to improved self-care. All of these effects of mindfulness training can help with the pain management.

Mindfulness training is known to produce changes in the nervous system that may provide benefits for pain patients. The changes appear to result in an inhibition of the central nervous system’s ability to perceive pain, reducing the sensations the patient actually feels.

So practice mindfulness to assist in pain management.

CMCS