Mind-Body Therapies for Pain
This article is used with permission from the new book, PAIN RELIEF in 4 Simple Steps by Jacob Teitelbaum, MD. If you’re interested in this topic and would like to see all the articles published so far, visit Healing from Chronic Pain, a Multipart Series.
Short and Sweet Summary
- The psyche and body are intimately connected. Taking care of either can help the other.
- For example, research shows that listening to the right type of music can be as, or even more, effective than pain medications.
- Hypnosis can alter both the volume of pain and how it’s felt (e.g., fuzzy or warm instead of painful).
- For those with severe emotional or abuse traumas, I recommend a very healing approach called Somatic Experiencing.
Music: The (Piano) Keys to Pain Relief
Pain has two key components. The first is that a signal gets generated and sent to the brain. This electrical signal is no different than the signal the brain receives for heat, softness, cold, or countless other sensations. For pain though, it is what the brain does with the signal after it is received that makes all the difference. This component is called “suffering.”
The brain is receiving far more information every second than it can possibly process. But it simply can tune out most of it.
So instead of the sensations being unpleasant, research has shown that by distracting the mind, it can simply ignore many of the signals, including pain. The good news? Numerous studies have shown that the volume of pain signals goes way down by using the right kinds of music as a distraction.
For most new pain medications, if they can get pain levels to drop by 30% in just a third of the study population, it is hailed as a great breakthrough.
On the other hand, research shows that simply listening to music (an inexpensive approach), can sometimes provide more effective pain relief than medications.
In one recent study, people with fibromyalgia pain simply listened to music each day. They found that after 14 days, pain levels went down an average of 40%!
Multiple studies show that music works for many kinds of pain, including cancer pain.
This doesn’t mean that listening to jarring music is the way to go. You want something that will carry your mind off, away from the pain. My recommendation? Multiple Grammy award-winning pianist Peter Kater’s music. In addition to being brilliant and beautiful, Peter Kater has an innate knack for understanding the role of sound in healing, and you will feel this as his music vibrates through your body. Listen to his music once a day and let it carry you away to a comfortable place of peace, ease, and bliss.
Hypnosis
Although a detailed discussion of hypnosis therapy is outside the scope of this book, it can also be very helpful.
Hypnosis can be helpful for pain. I have seen it decrease the intensity of pain, change its location, decrease the suffering associated with pain, and change the sensation so that it feels like warmth or softness instead of pain. Once you do a few sessions (tape the sessions for yourself), you can often do it at home on your own.
To find a practitioner certified in medical hypnosis, visit the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.
Mind-Body Approaches to Decrease Post-Op Inflammation
An important but little discussed area is how the mind guides our immune system.
I worked as a nurse at a Children’s Hospital to pay my way through medical school. When I was getting ready to be assigned to the burn unit, I asked my psychiatry professor to train me in hypnosis so I could use that technique to decrease the children’s pain during their dressing changes.
As an aside, he mentioned something that has stuck with me. That the blister that happens after a burn is the immune system’s response to a perceived attack. But what if you go into a simple hypnotic state right after the burn and tell your immune system, “Heal quickly. It is OK. There is no injury.”
There are good reasons that I am not a surgeon. For example, being a “butter fingers,” I tend to drop things and frequently burn myself. Since I have used this technique, I no longer blister after getting a burn.
I have also found that if I have surgery, including dental surgery (like molar extractions and dental implants, or root canals), I simply go into a quick hypnotic state a few minutes before the procedure. I let my psyche know that what will happen soon (I picture the surgical area in my mind) is friendly and will help us heal. That it is safe, OK to welcome it as part of ourselves, and to simply let it be.
When I do this, I have virtually no post-op pain or swelling. The benefits are quite remarkable. One can go into similar states through quiet prayer, meditation, music, or even nature. Ways that bypass the conscious mind, while simply giving yourself that suggestion repeatedly a few times a little bit before going into the procedure.
I would also note that our immune system is sensitive to whether we feel safe or under threat.
My recommendation? When what you are paying attention to leaves you feeling badly, including angry or fearful, turn it off. Doing so will not leave you uninformed, but simply less misinformed. As well as being much healthier and happier 🙂
General Mind-Body Issues and Pain
Although a lot is written about this, books by Prof John Sarno are a superb place to begin. A professor of pain management at NYU, he linked chronic pain with an unconscious psychological attempt to repress difficult emotions.
Interestingly, a lot of people find that when they do what his books recommend to become aware of these suppressed feelings, the volume of the pain often will diminish, and even go away. He has several excellent books on the topic.
Treating Severe Emotional Trauma and Abuse
Whether the trauma was during childhood or as an adult, research shows that it is associated with an increased risk of chronic pain. But it is not necessary to go hunting for old emotional pains. If they are asleep, let them be. But if the memories and feelings start surfacing, that is a sign that it is time to heal them.
And They Can Be Healed!
My books, From Fatigued to Fantastic and 3 Steps to Happiness, both discuss how to heal your psyche in detail. But I think it would be helpful to discuss two of the approaches here. The first is quite simple for day-to-day trauma release. The latter is for severe trauma, including abuse and PTSD.
Shaking Off Trauma with Trembling
How do mind-body issues interplay with pain?
In my book From Fatigued to Fantastic, I discuss what happens when the nervous system “freezes.” This happens during a trauma where you can’t fight and you can’t run, such as a child being beaten or otherwise abused by an alcoholic parent. When this happens, your muscles, and the fascia tissue that encases them, tighten up like a suit of armor. Meanwhile, your body goes into a hyperalert and numb mode. This mode persists until you do something very critical to reset the system and release the muscles and fascia.
Wondering what that is? It’s simple!
You need to “shake it off.”
In humans, after severe trauma, it is critical that the “freeze state” be shaken off with trembling. But not doing so leaves people in the “frozen” state with painful tight muscles for decades.
The technique is very simple—and free! Being aware of this, you may now notice that times come up where you feel like trembling. In the past you may have unconsciously and naturally suppressed it, because it felt stupid to tremble.
But simply let it happen. Explain to your spouse or family beforehand that you may have episodes of trembling, so they don’t get frightened when it happens. If you’re out in public, it’s okay to suppress it. The trembling will come up later when you are by yourself.
After each wave of trembling, you’ll find that your muscles feel looser and more comfortable, and you feel calmer and less numb. Occasionally, you may even have a mental snapshot of the trauma that was being released. Because most of us carry numerous traumas, this may go on over several years, releasing the traumas in layers. But over time, the trembling episodes may last for just a few seconds and be very mild. You’ll find that you look forward to them.
This trembling releases both the muscles and the fascia. These being tight are a primary pain trigger in most people with pain. Though often undiagnosed, muscle/fascia pain is the most common cause of pain.
I highly recommend the classic simple and priceless book Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine, PhD to better understand the simple power of trembling.
These are just the tip of the iceberg for mind-body options, but good places for people to begin. The next steps would include things like:
- Limbic system resetting with techniques such as DNRS or ANS Rewire.
- Trauma/PTSD release. Somatic Experiencing is a good way to begin.
- EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is a good way to eliminate anxiety and release stored emotional energies.
How to get pain-free, including with mind-body techniques, is discussed at length in my book From Fatigued to Fantastic (Penguin/Avery, 2021).
Somatic Experiencing: For Severe Traumas
For those with very severe histories of emotional trauma, I am happy to recommend Dr. Levine’s later book Healing Trauma. His Somatic Experiencing program provides a wonderful approach to this.
Their website can give you more information on the program and how to find practitioners. It is an in-depth program and I highly recommend it.
You’re Invited! Dr. Teitelbaum is now personally answering questions in his new Facebook support group: Recovering from Fibromyalgia, CFS, and Long COVID. The group is also open to anyone dealing with chronic pain or related health challenges. Join the community, ask your questions, and connect with others!