Day 1317 | A Back Update
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I know I dropped a hint awhile ago about a new strategy for my back pain...well, I'm finally ready to share what's been going on around here. Forgive me for the delay. **And this is a long one so feel free to skip if you have no interest. Ha!**
The short version of the story is that the best cousin ever (which will forever be her title now that I've got some back pain relief) heard this interview on WPR where Dr. David Hanscom, a neurosurgeon, was discussing the relationship between your brain and chronic pain. I'm not going to go into all the details here because, frankly, I'll sound like a fool and will not do justice to the actual science behind what's going on. I'll just throw this quote out there from his website:
By using a multi-pronged approach to calm and re-route your nervous system, you can minimize or eliminate your pain.
So what he claims happens with folks experiencing chronic pain (and not just back pain!) is that your brain is on high-alert when it comes to the pain your body is experiencing. Because of past trauma, your brain and the neural pathways have been trained to freak out any time the slightest discomfort is sensed. His theory, then, is that if you can train your brain to calm the f down (excuse my language), you can get relief from your pain. The same philosophy is proven to work with folks suffering from anxiety, depression, TMJ, etc.
I know this sounds crazy. It couldn't have been my brain all along, right?!? I haven't been spending a crazy amount of time + money trying to get relief when the solution was so incredibly simple, right? I know.
So how do you retrain your brain? Good question. And it's not one I'm going to answer. In fact, I'm still reading the book and learning about the program myself. The bottom line is that it's about creating awareness in your life, stopping your mind from focussing on the pain, and expressive writing (among other components). That's the big kicker for me.
Expressive writing is the reason I'm putting my all into this program. The book (and podcast) suggested that you spend 15-30 minutes twice a day writing anything that comes to your mind. It could be related to the pain, or your to-do list, or something that's stressing you out, or just nonsensical gibberish. Whatever's going on in your head. At the end of your writing session, you rip up the paper and throw it away. By doing this, you're creating a separation between your thoughts and your brain and then "filing them away"--again, I'm no expert here so take that for what it's worth.
So I did it. Day one: I wrote for 15 minutes one morning instead of jumping on my inversion table. I wrote (mostly about my pain and frustration with the whole process) and then I tore the paper up and threw it away. Again, I know this sounds crazy...but I went to take a shower afterward and the sharp pain in my back that usually accompanies me when I bend over to get conditioner wasn't there. It's been years since that has happened. No joke.
Now I'm about ten days in. I've been writing twice a day for [about] fifteen minutes and my back does feel better. I am still close enough to the pain that I can realize how many times a day I'm surprised to not be feeling the shock of pain when I twist or bend over or reach for one of the kids. I was able to go sledding the other day. I shoveled [minimally] to get into my driveway one morning. I made the boys' bunkbed (my least favorite task, by the way). I've been carrying the laundry basket. It's been unbelievably eye-opening and spirit-lifting for me.
I'm definitely not cured. Definitely not. But there is relief. And this expressive writing is only one piece of the puzzle. There's a lot more to Dr. Hanscom's method that I need to fully invest in: forgiveness, awareness, relieving anxiety, not focussing on the pain, not talking about the pain, etc. And I'm going to do it because what do I have to lose? This is the most progress I've made in years and I'm determined not to go backward.
Some helpful links:
The podcast episode
The book
The website
If you're interested in talking to me about this. I'm happy to share my experience further. But I'm not talking about my pain anymore. Because that's my new life.
Side note: I don't think I ever reported back after my MRI with the findings. The official report from the radiologist was that I had disc degeneration between the L4+L5 vertebrae and Spondylosis (which is just a fancy catch-all word for "back pain"). Basically, there's no glaring physical problem that is causing my pain. Something like 95% of back pain doesn't have a diagnosable cause (reassuring, right?). Maybe receiving this information put me in the right place to be open to a different treatment path. Maybe I needed to know nothing was seriously wrong to be able to climb out of the whole of pain. Here's hoping.
A new podcast
As a not-so-unexpected tie-in, you can listen to me talking about this new-found relief in our latest podcast. I offer some other interesting life updates as well (oh, and so does Mary Catherine).
