Dooley Noted: 1/27/2016
Every day, I watch as people in pain enter my office.
Before the exam is even conducted, the language they choose can help determine the prognosis of their recovery.
“I have a disc herniation.”
“I have a bad back.”
“I have a meniscal tear.”
Many don’t even realize they are owning a diagnosis.
And the diagnosis may not even be a correct one.
They rarely say, “Pain appears when I do this.”
More often, I’ll catch them saying, “I have pain.”
Owning pain or a condition can make it seem like a marriage between you and your diagnosis.
But an amazing truth must be realized.
80% of us walk around with disc bulges and meniscal structural changes. Many of us would have a diagnosis, if we chose to use imaging to hunt for conditions throughout our bodies.
But not all of us exhibit symptoms.
If you are lucky enough to experience symptoms, your body actually had an initial alarm to tell you not to move into that painful range.
If ignored long enough, the body may start to change its structure in attempts to accommodate your demands.
And if your brain keys Into the alarm, the pain becomes a note of perceived threat that may stay around – even if the threat is removed.
So, one of the most detrimental steps you can take is marrying a diagnosis or assuming your pain is a determinant of condition severity.
Pain is perceived by the brain. And so much more than structure affects the way you perceive it.
Start with language. The brain deals with language, too.
Shift your vernacular to, “Pain comes when I do this,” instead of, ” I have pain.”
Don’t own it. Ever.
Please know you are not your diagnosis.
Take charge of your perceptions and learn how movement strategies may affect your pain.
And while you do it, change the language of your pain to see how that affects your perception of it.
These changes to the brain just may improve your prognosis.
As always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley
