Dooley Noted: 3/19/2014
A few days ago, I had a very bad headache – the kind where you aren’t sure you can carry on with your tasks.
I had two labs to teach and morning and evening patients to treat. I had to pony up.
Since I know that most pain – and thus, headaches – have a component of hypoxia, I focused only on breathing as I trekked the seemingly endless staircase in St. Nicholas Park to the lab.
I repeated: “You are immensely bigger than a headache. Get oxygen.”
I breathed into the depth of my abdominopelvic cavity. I visualized all the tension leaving my head to return to my abdomen for strength to breathe.
I felt it creep from my jaw and throat to help me gain more air for my vessels and brain. If pain is energy, then I shuttled the energy to assure that pain perception diminished.
It did. I worked. Students asked. I answered. Patients arrived. I treated.
I gave no energy to the discomfort. I focused on breathing and answering their questions. As I checked in on myself, I noticed my headache disappeared somewhere in the midst of my altered focus from it.
You are more in charge of your pain perception than you might realize. In fact, I’ve never seen an awesome breather in an enormous amount of pain.
If you’re breathing, you’re okay.
Control the breath. Sometimes it might not be in your focus. Set alarms to remind you to do breathing drills.
Inhale for three. Exhale for six.
Get competitive. Prolong your exhale. Not only will this deliver more oxygen, but you will learn how much you are actually in control if you earn the control back.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley
More articles on pain and decreased oxygen:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12855324/
http://www.molecularpain.com/content/2/1/12
http://www.majidali.com/the_oxygen_view_of_pain.htm
http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Hypoxia.aspx