Pain is NOT Your Problem!”-A Missoula Chiropractor Says Pain is Only A Symptom!

Chiropractic patients commonly seek out care for an ache or pain. Understandable isn’t it? Patients believe that as soon as their pain is gone, they will be better. The irony is patients do not actually come in because of pain. People in pain become patients when pain starts to prevent them from activities they love to do. Pain becomes a motivator to take action so they can return to a certain quality of life. The wellness revolution is in full swing. As we gain a stronger understanding of human potential we see a tremendous capacity for longevity and the expression of vibrant life. Scientists have discovered isolated populations of people that live extremely long lives without any evidence of disease (120-150 years). Most people will spend more money on their “health” in the last two weeks of their life than they do their entire lives!Dr. Eric Plasker said it best, “Many people spend the first 50 years of their lives ignoring their health while they accumulate wealth, only to spend the next 50 years losing their wealth to buy back their health. Knowing that your longevity potential is 100 years gives you an opportunity to place your health at the top of your value scale.”

The drugs and surgery boat is sinking when it comes to pain management. As a society we are fed up with the helplessness often associated with pain. The medical profession leaves us feeling as if our hands are tied. Their stance is either live with the pain, take a drug to dull the pain, or roll the dice and have surgery. “Maybe” it will help you feel better. They miss a great opportunity to educate the public. Perhaps the medical profession “misses the forest for the trees” at times. Do not be confused, this is not a medical bashing article. They do incredible work! There are many heroes in medicine. This article looks at the philosophies of two models of health care. In particular, we discuss the first branch of philosophy known as metaphysics. Metaphysics meaning what is the nature of reality? The medical study of the nature of health separates the human body into organ systems, cells, tissues, biochemical pathways and asks is there too much or too little of something? Their solution is often medication. They ask what can we put into this persons’ body chemically, or remove surgically so that homeostasis can return?

According to the chiropractic model of health care, the body is a self-healing and self-regulating “organism.” We are more than the sum of our collective parts. Our cells, organs, tissues, and emotions work together dynamically to create a complex thriving being. We cannot be reduced to a double blind randomized control trial. The paradagm ignores the essence of our existence and dominance on the food chain. We have the capability of complex thought and emotions. We belong in a holilstic model of health because our the nature of holism is founded in the dynamic interaction of the three facets of the human creature. These include structure (cells, organs, bones, muscle, tissues, nervous system), biochemistry (chemical reactions within the body, the food we eat and air we breathe) and emotions (thoughts, stressors and “self-talk” which include the 2500 words per minute running through our brains that tell us who we are and what we are capable of). One system or facet of health cannot be considered without taking into account its effect on the other systems. Each system depends vitality of the other. When all systems are firing synergistically, the body thrives.

The three facets of health (structure, biochemistry and emotions) are interdependent. As stress accumulates on one of the systems, say emotionally, it has a deleterious effect on the body. The emotional stress can actually compromise the integrity of the structure of the musculoskeletal system. Quite often, this shows up in the office as pain. To a medical doctor, the pain is the patients problem. Medicine treats the symptoms. The answer to the M.D. comes in the form of anti-inflammatory drugs and pain killers. Metaphorically, the doctor has just put a band aid on the pain and blown the diagnosis. The doctor has taken the batteries out of the smoke detector and the house is still on fire. Does the patient feel better? Perhaps for a while. Is the problem taken care of? NO WAY! Damages are silently accumulating because the fire is still burning. So the pain comes back and often worse. Their answer is stronger drugs or worse, surgery. Chiropractors treat the cause of the problem. The symptom was pain, however the real issue was emotional stress and more specifically the inability of the body to cope with the stress. There is a cause and effect relationship here. The cause is the emotional stress or disturbance to the nervous system which prevents the patient from coping with the stress. The effect was the pain. The role of the chiropractor is to remove interference from the nervous system so it can neutralize the emotion, cope with the stress, and heal itself. Is it surprising that emotions cause elevated blood pressure or changes to the biochemistry of the body? Not now!

It is the fundamental answer to the confusion associated with chronic pain and it is the title of the article. Pain is NOT your problem! It is not! Pain is an invaluable protective mechanism. It is a symptom which functions to prevent further damage from occurring in the body. Pain only makes up 10% of the nervous system. The majority of the nervous system operates silently and thanklessly. When the health of the body is threatened, pain is there to warn us to “listen up!” Society demands productivity, it is no secret. We have been methodically trained to ignore pain. We learned from an early age that pain equals weakness. Our mothers, fathers, teachers, preachers, coaches and big pharmacy told us to “suck it up, walk it off, be tough, don’t rub it, take an aspirin etc…”

*Whisper* we were LIED to! This is a dirty little secret. We never learned to question the origin of our aches and pains. We were never taught sensory acuity to our bodies. You probably believe it is normal for aches and pains to appear out of the blue sky. This is absolutely not true! These aches and pains only seem random for an externally driven person. The eternal victim and “why me” type of person. The external person blames the state of their heath and their circumstance on bad luck, bad germs and bad genes. When we have aches and pains on the outside, this is a mirror image of what is going on within our bodies. Aches and pains serve as progressive sirens. They warn us to listen up because the health of the system is compromised. The longer you ignore the root cause of the problem, the louder the sirens get. If you suffer from chronic pain, you have struggled with implementation of a proper exercise and nutrition program. You have not taken into consideration how your emotional health and stability influence your physical state. As an externally driven person you have been unaware of these contributions to poor health because nobody has told you. Forgive yourself. More importantly stop feeling sorry for yourself. Because I care about you so much and you deserve to express and experience life at an optimal level pay attention. Take massive action and challenge yourself.

Your pain is the wake-up call demanding that you change your life and take control. As you work to isolate the “why,” you will be forced to change your environment and your behavior. In doing so, your understanding of health will expand and it will never be able to contract to its original size. You cannot unring a bell! You become a stronger and more internally driven person the more you choose to embrace the process. This creates knowledge. Knowledge plus experience equals personal power!

When you decide to invest in chiropractic care, this is a proactive and preventative action. You consciously choose to live internally and to break free from the belief system you used to cling to. When you pay for a gym membership, it does not come with a guarantee that you will get leaner and stronger by joining. You know that a clean bill of health doesn’t come with purchasing the membership card. You intuitively understand that you have to show up, sweat and participate! Just like life! You are either the “observed” or the “observer.” The “observed” live internally and consciously. 100% of my patients pay cash for their care for this very reason. They value their life and choose to live optimally for as long as possible. No different than the gym membership, my educated patients appreciate that in order to get the most out of care; they must be committed to their health and to the journey of wellness. Wellness does not have a pinnacle. There is no point where you have “made it.” The value and results last as long as you are on the journey. Only life has an absolute destination. What we do before our imminent demise is human potential. Whether or not we choose to live internally, and hold ourselves accountable to achieving said potential is free will!

Dr. Shaun Stuto is a Missoula Chiropractor and the founder of Transormation Chiropractic in Missoula, MT. Call TODAY and Schedule an appointment (406) 728-1250