I find it interesting that the modern way of dealing with pain, regardless of whether it is a headache, as a result of injury, or chronic pain, seems to be to take a painkiller and power on. For me, pain is a signal from your body that something needs your attention. The more severe the pain – the quicker you need to take action. Its purpose is chiefly protective, acting as a warning that tissues are being damaged. It demands that you take action to remove or withdraw from the source. Sometimes the action required is obvious…if you touch something hot – you pull your hand away from the heat, but often with something like a headache, you may have to give some thought to what the cause may be.
I am not advocating martyrdom by any means. In this day and age there is no need for suffering. My message is simply this. First, what is the root cause of the pain? Find this out and you are well on the way to finding a solution. Leave this out and you have not solved the issue and your chances of a recurrence is higher. If one of the purposes of pain is to alert you to a problem and stop you from making it worse, what is the potential for creating more serious issues if you “soldier on”.
In my experience, ignore the niggles and they just keep getting louder. A few years ago I had a gouty toe – just a nuisance really. Of no real consequence, just annoying. I thought I had a pretty healthy lifestyle. Imagine my surprise when I learned that it is a symptom of an acidic constitution ( the perfect environment for cancer cell growth). That was a big enough incentive to look into what lifestyle changes I could make to modify the path of ill health I was heading down. I researched acid/alkaline diets and started to take note of what seemed to produce flare ups. For me alcohol and yeast appeared to be triggers, so I reduced those, increased alkaline foods and drank lemon water daily. Still if I am not vigilant with these things, that old familiar hot, sore toe will come right back.
For chronic pain sufferers, the answers will be harder to find. By definition, chronic pain (and illness) are almost always a product of less than optimal lifestyle choices. Now none of us are perfect, and there is a lot of conflicting advise about what “healthy living” looks like. In short – there is no “one size fits all plan” anyway. The answer lies in observation…what makes me feel better vs what makes me feel worse. This sounds simple enough but the problem is we have become quite oblivious to how we are feeling and get easily distracted by the activities of our day.
So…how are you? “Great thanks”. No really…how are you? Journalling is a great way to practise connecting your lifestyle choices with outcomes. This is especially true if you are writing a food diary. As well as noting your meals , snacks and drinks, add a few notes at the end of the day about your pain levels and emotions. Over time you may discover some links between headaches, general aches and pains and various other symptoms with your diet and water consumption. Pain and inflammation can be a symptom of a mild food allergy, exposure to toxins (so overburdened liver) or unbalanced gut microbiome. Find the cause…find the solution. And please, don’t wait until you are really suffering. Listen to the whispers, before they become screams.
For ideas on supplements, food and lifestyle tweaks that reduce inflammation, check out my page “Pain & Inflammation”.
Pain & Inflammation