What is pain?
“Pain is normal. Suffering is optional.” -Author Unknown-
Pain is subjective. Pain is hard to describe. But the sensation of pain is important. It alerts us that something is wrong in our body. A sharp pain in the shoulder after push ups? A “hot spot” ready to blister after a long run.? Even poor body alignment can signal pain receptors that your knee joint may be overload.
Chin Meng Ching, the late t’ai chi ch’uan master, stressed in his writings that a variety of joint problems and pain can result from ignoring foot-knee mechanics.
So what is pain exactly? Pain is a “noxious” stimuli being picked up by your nerves. A bump, bruise, scrape, strain or twist can all be considered noxious stimuli.
Pain is also what we feel when that twisted ankle or “popped” knee becomes hot and inflamed. Our perception of this pain can range from discomfort, distress to perhaps agony, depending on the severity of the stimuli.
Your pain can be acute (pain begins suddenly and is usually sharp in quality) or chronic (pain that persists despite the fact that the injury has healed).
Acute pain, like that newly sprained ankle, tells us that we’ve been hurt or on that road to getting hurt. This is the time to take action, to contact your medical professional and begin to manage your symptoms to encourage healing, speed recovery and to avoid further injury and chronicity.
Chronic pain needs TLC, too, but the treatment varies from acute pain symptoms. We’ll discuss acute vs. chronic treatments in upcoming feeds.
