You may have heard it said that “pain is all in your head.” Truly, it’s the truth! Pain is information, nothing else. It is part of the body’s nervous system and acts as its defense mechanism. Something interfered with the body’s homeostasis, and the pain sensation triggers mental problem solving by sending impulses to the brain. The brain processes the information and selects a plan of action to restore homeostasis – or a return to a normal state of being – by removing the source of the pain. In this way, pain is a learning experience. If we burn our hand on the stove, we’re less likely to repeat the action.
Overcoming pain with no pills is possible
How Pain management techniques work
The Gate Control Theory is the basis for the Silva Method’s pain management techniques. The theory states that certain neurotransmitters excite neighboring cells into generating electrical signals, and certain neurotransmitters inhibit excitement and thus preventing the generation of electrical signals. In other words, for the electrical signals to travel from one cell to another and so forth down the line until they reach the brain’s pain centers, neurotransmitters have to relay that information to neighboring cells. However – the theory suggests that the spinal cord contains a “gate” that either closes or opens depending on the message being sent. This gate either enhances or prevents information from passing through.
These “gates” or gate-closing cells include neurons stimulated by gentle touch on the skin (one reason why a kiss is such a powerful pain relieving method given by a mother to her child). The brain, too, can influence the information it receives by determining whether the information is worth receiving or if it’s unimportant. The Gate Control Theory states that emotions, beliefs and thoughts play an important role in affecting the level of pain we feel from a certain physical sensation. For example – it’s not uncommon for athletes to be completely unaware of pain during intense competition, because their focus is completely engaged in the sport. What they are doing and thinking about is far more important than the pain – so their brain literally rejects the pain. When the event is over, though, the athlete’s attention may focus on the injury, and at that point he or she may collapse in excruciating pain.
Even our emotions play a role in our perception of pain. If you are arguing with someone and a wasp stings you on the leg, you may feel far greater pain due to heightened negative emotion than if you were walking hand in hand with your beloved, deep in the reverie of love, and got stung; and your pain level would be different still if you were at a funeral and got stung. If you are depressed, lonely, anxious or hopeless, your pain levels will increase dramatically.
Aside from kissing the “boo-boo” a mother talks soothingly to a child and attempts to redirect the child’s focus to something else – like picking out the best colored band-aid. She also reinforces the positive emotions of love and feelings of well-being by hugging and reassuring the child that everything will be okay. In many instances, young children spontaneously forget their injury (which according to them was life-threatening moments ago) when they are distracted by a puppy or some other object that delights or stimulates them.
Among adults, acts of heroism and selflessness “kill the pain” because we are so focused on helping the other person. It’s the same response as when intense fear is suppressed by someone running into a burning building to save a child.
In essence, it is often your attention to your pain that makes it worse. The reverse also holds. Focusing on the pain tells the brain “this is really important” and the electrical activity between the injured/afflicted area and the brain intensifies and the pain becomes worse. And if you add the emotion of fear to the mix, the brain becomes even more intent on reporting the slightest bit of pain – so even small injuries become monumentally painful (as is the case with small children who are often terrified of the bloody scrape that they got from a simple fall).
Ways to manage pain
Pain can be managed through shifting your focus, and thus closing the gate on pain. When focus is shifted to an activity that demands our attention, and especially if that activity is enjoyable, the sensation of pain diminishes. Scientists have found naturally occurring morphine-like substances in the spinal cord – and these natural painkillers are completely side-effect free and far more powerful than synthetic painkillers.
The Silva Method’s Glove Anesthesia technique is a powerful mental painkiller that you can use anytime in conjunction with shifting your focus away from the pain. It involves developing the “feeling” of anesthesia by mentally placing your hand in an imaginary container of ice water. The imagination is engaged to magnify the feeling of coldness and numbness. As you master this sensation, you move the “anesthesia” to various parts of the body; using the word “gone” further reinforces the effect. Again, this method engages both sides of the brain – the imagery of the right hemisphere and the language (“gone”) of the left.
When you are in a situation where you are suffering from pain, you can do the following for immediate relief:
- Change your emotions from negative to positive. This is also taught by the Silva Method, using the Three Fingers Technique.
- Apply the Glove Anesthesia method.
- Focus your attention elsewhere, preferably something positive that demands your full attention.
These amazingly effective mental control techniques can be used in case of injury, or to relieve pain due to illness or disease. In cases of severe pain (such as a broken bone) the use of medical painkillers in conjunction with mental painkillers will offer the most relief; and as the pain subsides a little, medicines can be replaced by purely mental pain relief.
