Common Pain Myths and Facts

John Paul Guidry DPT CSCS

The International Association for the study of pain defines pain as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. While some may argue that this definition needs to be tweaked I think it is a good starting point in understanding what pain is. Pain is our body’s alarm system and although it can be unpleasant it is 100% necessary for survival. In this article we will address some common pain myths that I hear from both the general public and in the medical community. Most patients that I see do not have an accurate understanding of what pain really is so hopefully today we can clear up some of these misunderstandings.

Myth 1: Pain is associated with damage Pain is 100% of the time an output of the brain. Your brain can magnify or reduce pain based on the perceived threat of the situation you are in at that moment in time. It may or may not be associated with damage to tissue in the body and the level of pain is not well correlated with the level of tissue damage. Most injuries heal within 3 months’ time so pain that lasts beyond this time frame is unlikely coming just from the tissues. Medical imaging can be a good tool these days to quickly discover a serious condition or injury. The downfall of these great tools is that it does show everything even if those results may not have anything to do with the pain a person experiences. There are multiple studies out there demonstrating MRI results of various parts of the body with things such as disc bulges, arthritis, spinal stenosis, meniscal tears, and rotator cuff tears in 40-60% of people with no history of pain in those areas. Another good example of this is phantom limb pain, which is pain experienced in a limb that has been amputated. Not only is there no damage to be associated with the pain there is no physical body part there as well, yet the person still feels pain in that amputated limb. These are both good examples that illustrate you can have damage without pain and pain without damage.

Myth 2: Pain is all in your head If we go back to the statement that pain is 100% an output of the brain, this is not to be confused with saying that pain is in your head. Pain is a very real experience 100% of the time and each person’s pain is a very individual experience, which is why it can be hard to understand what a person in pain is feeling. Although psychological variables such as anxiety, depression, your social environment, anger or fear can affect your pain levels the pain that you feel is still very real.

Myth 3: You need specific exercises in order to get out of pain for a certain area of the body A common misconception is that people with back pain need to do core strengthening exercises. Studies have shown that general exercise such as walking is just as effective as low back specific exercises for decreasing back pain. In reality, the best treatment to help you get control of your pain and restore function is education, movement based exercise, graded return to activity and manual therapy. A proper dose of each differs from person to person, so it is important to find the right medical practitioner to help guide you along and eventually progress you to having full control of your own treatment.

These are just a few of the many common pain myths out there. For more information on what we have to offer or for more information on pain and recovery please visit my website at www.guidrypt.com.