What is Pain? And How Does Physical Therapy Help with Pain Relief?
What causes pain? Why am I experiencing pain? Why does some pain persist longer? If you ever asked yourself one or more of these questions, this blog hopes to provide some answers. First, let’s define pain.
What is Pain?
Pain is an early sign of warning that is essential to help us minimize contact with damaging or noxious stimuli. It is a normal human experience. Have you ever stepped on a sharp object or touched a hot surface? What happens when this occurs? Special nerves, called nociceptors, send information towards our brains to warn of damage. Our immediate response is to take our hand off the hot surface or take our foot off the sharp object. This is a withdrawal reflex that occurs after our brain receives the information to further protect us from harm.
The Most Common Type of Pain
Called nociceptive pain (naa·ki·sep·tuhv), this type of pain plays a role in sending warning signals to protect the body from further injury in response to a noxious stimuli or mechanical stress. These pain receptors, called nociceptors, exist in the skin, muscles, and joints.
Does Pain = Injury?
Pain can sometimes persist even without injury. This does not always mean there is damage happening in your body. This can happen due to many reasons. Think about pain like an alarm system designed to keep us safe from harm. With chronic or persisting pain, this can mean pain signals keep firing even after the body’s tissues have healed. So, why does this occur?
We have 400 nerves stretching 45 miles in our body. They send information back and forth to and from your brain. When you have an injury, your nerves become sensitive to protect you. With chronic pain, your nerves get stuck in this “sensitive” mode. Your body thinks this is a threat and will sound off your alarm. When your alarm goes off, your brain continues to process it as pain. What causes this? It is often unknown but can be due to many factors. These factors can include the environment you are in, stress, sleep, nutrition, physical activity levels, age, sex, trauma, cultural background, genetic factors, socioeconomic background and more.
Three Helpful Tips to Manage Pain
- Exercise – Exercise, including low to moderate intensity aerobic exercise, helps to release endorphins that make you feel good. Endorphins are hormones that increase feelings of well-being.
- Sleep – Research has shown that sleep has a significant effect on everyday life and overall health. Aim for 6-8 hours of sleep each day. Sleep aids in healing and allows for the body to recover.
- Nutrition – It has been shown that a low dietary intake of micronutrients, such as vitamins B1, B3, B6, B12, D, magnesium, zinc and omega 3-fatty acids are often associated with inflammatory pain. Dietary intake can also enhance function of the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems.
How Physical Therapy Help with Pain Relief
Physical therapists provide you with an individualized plan to help areas of your daily life that pain interferes. Physical therapists also provide you with safe and appropriate activity modifications that aid in performing daily activities. Physical therapy may also include therapeutic exercise, which provides general benefits associated with improved overall physical health and functioning. Your physical therapists will prescribe exercises to improve strength and flexibility while decreasing impairments. We have 5 convenient physical therapy clinics in Arizona ready to serve you. Contact us today to get started on your journey to living and feeling better- pain free!
References:
Woolf CJ. What is this thing called pain?. J Clin Invest. 2010;120(11):3742-3744. doi:10.1172/JCI45178
Bonezzi C, Fornasari D, Cricelli C, Magni A, Ventriglia G. Not All Pain is Created Equal: Basic Definitions and Diagnostic Work-Up. Pain Ther. 2020;9(Suppl 1):1-15. doi:10.1007/s40122-020-00217-w
Chen JS, Kandle PF, Murray IV, et al. Physiology, Pain. [Updated 2023 Jul 24]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK539789/
Geneen LJ, Moore RA, Clarke C, Martin D, Colvin LA, Smith BH. Physical activity and exercise for chronic pain in adults: an overview of Cochrane Reviews. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;4(4):CD011279. Published 2017 Apr 24. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011279.pub3
Louw A. Why Do I Hurt?: A Patient Book about the Neuroscience of Pain. Orthopedic Physical Therapy Products; 2013.
