A Totally Oversimplified Explanation of Pain

The experience of Pain is a message. It occurs in the brain, but we usually "feel" it somewhere else. The message can have more than one meaning. I can mean - stop doing the thing you are doing. It can be letting you know that you have injured yourself. It can be a wake up call that something is going on in the body that shouldn't be. And it can be a reminder of past problems from yesterday or from years ago. Pain is frequently an indication of an imbalance of some sort; structural imbalance, chemical imbalance, functional imbalance, even energy imbalance. Some pain is acute and dissappears somewhat quickly; some pain is chronic and just won't seem to go away. Although it can be difficult to speak in terms that separate "us" from our bodies, I would maintain that one of the primary roles of the nervous system is the protection of the entire organism. The Pain response is one mechanism that the system uses to get the body or brain to react in a way that protects the well-being of the organism. If I twist my ankle and it now "hurts" when I put weight on that leg, I will sit down or walk with a limp. In either case, I will minimize the action that brings the feeling of pain. In short, I am saying that pain stops us from doing certain things and causes us to do other things instead (I would not choose to walk with a limp).

At Massage on the Move, the premise of our therapeutic services is that the very first issue we must address is Pain. Until the pain goes away, we cannot begin to address posture and structural imbalances, Range of Motion improvements, or strengthening and rebalancing muscles or other functional systems. Pain is the big flashing red light that stops us.

We take a diversified approach to situations involving pain. Using Massage Therapies, Aromatherapy, ETPS (Electric Therapeutic Point Stimulation) with Acupuncture protocols, the MyoKinesthetic System, as well as conventional muscle stim, hydrotherapy, and microcurrent technologies; we approach each individual client situation uniquely. We supplement these therapies with Active Isolated Stretching & Strengthening along with exercise and nutritional programs. One of the problems with being human is that we are all different. Sure we have similarities, but when it comes to the details, none of us are entirely the same. As we go through life, we further differentiate ourselves from one another by all the experiences and exposures we accumulate. Unless we take an individualized approach to our asessments and our therapies, our chances for success are greatly reduced. Pain, Range of Motion, Strength, Flexibility, and Balance are the five pillars around which we address the issues of our clients. These five areas apply to all individuals regardless of age, physical condition, or athletic ability.

Headaches

We all get headaches from time to time. They may be a mild distraction or a completely debilitating condition. Sinus headaches behind the eyes; throbbing headaches in the temples; back of the head; front of the head; all over the head...and what do we do? Nine times out of ten we reach for the medication - over the counter medication or stronger prescription medication. Does that make the headache disappear? Not in most instances. The pain pathways are merely compromisd by the medication. The source of the pain has not changed; you just can't feel it. But more damaging - the other physiological effects of that source of pain have not changed either. Damage may be occuring elsewhere in your body, but because you have "shot the messenger", bigger issues may be looming and your condition may go from acute to chronic.

We do not believe that your body wants you to have a headache. We do believe that your body would like you to stop the activities that are resulting in the stress and tension which subsequently cause dysfunction elsewhere in the body. So that raging headache that forces you to go lie down in a dark room definitely does the trick - stimulus:response. Massage on the Move employs neuromuscular techniques to address headaches. Usually we have only to deal with the soft tissues and nerve roots of the cervical spine. A few simple assessment techniques are utilized to determine with more precision the area we are going to address and the techniques we are going to utilize. More often than not, the headache will disappear during the first session. In the case of more chronic conditions, it may be necessary to schedule multiple visits (remember, we visit you) until the headaches no longer return.

Back Pain & Neck Pain

Back pain is the most common pain complaint in the United States. Much like headaches, most of us have experienced back pain at one time or another. Unlike headaches, we don't have as many medication choices and unless we are taking a narcotic, the pain is not masked and we suffer. Also unlike headaches, back pain, especially sever back pain can put us out of commission for extended periods of time. Neck pain, although extremely uncomfortable, tends not to immobilize us the way back pain does. Without getting up on a soap box here (we save that stuff for the Blog), I will simply say that the number one way to mitigate back pain from my point of view is to lose weight. In this life, gravity is NOT our friend. That's all I will say for now. Our approach to both back and neck pain is generally the same as with headaches. The assessment is more comprehensive because we are dealing with a larger portion of the body. We detrermine exactly where we want to apply the therapy and in what combination. I wish I could state that back pain goes away after a single session without returning, but that is usually not the case. If it does, we consider it very lucky. By using a diversified approach combining modalities, and sessions that scheuled fairly close together, we find that the "neuro-muscular retraining" can be acheived in the shortest possible time. Our goal is to have longer and longer periods between visits until the pain is completely gone. If you are wondering why we did not mention arms and legs or hands and feet, it is because we find that upper extremity issues are usually linked to the neck and upper back, and that lower extremity issues are frequenly linked to the lumbar and sacral (lower back) regions. Our therapies are applied to neural pathways, nerve roots, and Acupuncture meridians. With only a few exceptions such as scar tissue and trigger points, we do not apply therapy directly to the area of perceived discomfort.

Specific Solutions for the Specific Issues of Every Individual

As we stated above, each individual client of Massage on the Move who has come to us with a pain or injury issue gets personalized services and therapies. Even though complaints may sound exactly the same, we have learned that the underlying issues are not exactly the same. We humans are perpetual stimulus response machines, and the numbers of stimuli and the numbers of responses occuring at any given moment is inconceivably large. Attempting to determine what brought us to this point is an exercise in futility. Everything is interconnected. If we believe that the body is designed to take care of itself, our best efforts will concentrate on providing new stimuli which initiate a cascade of positive responses. You are your own healer; we merely do our best to facilitate the process with a little help from modern technology.

I don't like to say we are "tricking the body"; I prefer to say that we are coaxing the body to respond in some way to what we are doing. By combining therapies, keeping in mind that every one of us is unique, we improve the odds of getting the initial response that we'd like. All we are trying to accomplish is to have the body take a few steps in the "right" direction. We rely on the body's inherent desire to acheive a healthy state to do the rest. Using Neuromuscular Methods like ETPS and the MyoKinesthetic System and supplementing those treatments with conventional Microcurrent and Muscle Stim therapies while inserting Swedish or Deep Tissue Massage and Stretching into the mix gets us started toward the place we'd like the body to go. It is a remarkably powerful and effective protocol, completely non-invasive and drug-free.