Chronic Pain Physical Therapy
Understanding Pain Is The First Step
-
It starts...
The brain creates pain in response to a perceived threat:
The nervous system sends sensory information from the body to the brain → the brain interprets that as a threat → the brain creates a feeling of pain.
It’s a way our nervous system evolved to protect us from harm.
-
Why am I still in pain?
If you’ve had pain for a while → the nervous system continues to send information to the brain, and becomes sensitized, sending more and more signals to the brain → signals become more generalized and diffuse →your brain perceives a continued, potentially more widespread threat → it causes you to feel more pain, potentially in more areas.
-
And thats not all!
The brain also interprets emotional and mental stress as threats → it creates more pain.
-
The cycle continues...
The more pain you feel → the more stress you experience → the more signals to the brain → the more pain the brain creates.
If you have a history of pain or emotional stress, you may have already started this cycle of increased nervous system sensitization (up-regulation).
You may be wondering what you can do to about this…
In essence, the brain and nervous system play a crucial role in our experience of pain.
Healing from pain requires a mind-body approach with the goal of calming the nervous system and training the brain to perceive safety rather than threat.
Working with integrative practitioners who understand this relationship can certainly help.
At HIPT you will work with a compassionate physical therapist to address both the physical impairments and the mind-body components of your pain
Receive specialized Manual Therapy that assists in calming the nervous system and harmonizing the body for improved healing
Learn accessible, practical skills to down-regulate the nervous system and heal from persisting chronic pain