explain
pain
6
section
115
page
So,
hurt does not always equal harm
(or ‘you can be
sore but safe’). Simply by reminding yourself of this each
time you are in pain can help reset the system; the
sophisticatedname for this strategy is ‘self-talking’. It also
means that you can be less worriedwhen you have pain.
But wait!
This certainly does not mean that you go out
and learn bungee jumping, decide towalk across town
or go on a ballroom dancingmarathon. Your body is not
prepared for such a big step and your already sensitised
nervous systemwill take drasticmeasures to stop you
doing that again. In fact, when the central nervous
system gets really desperate to prevent you from
damaging yourself, it can do all sorts of things – stop
yourmuscles fromworking properly, make you faint,
vomit or want to sleep all the time. The critical thing is
that these protective strategies are all being operated by
your central nervous system and not voluntarily by you.
When you understand that hurt does not equal harm, we
hope youwill also understandwhy your
nervous
system
will only let you increase your activity or
exercise level
gradually
.
A practical exercise:
Let’s say you are just sitting around and you feel some
pain. Think about it. Think about what you know about
pain. Think of what may have activated the alarm
systems. Reflect onwhat cuesmay have ignited the pain
nodes in your brain. Why has the orchestra started the
pain tune even though you haven’t touched the tissues?
Why now and not later? Get to know your pain and
certainly don’t panic. Use what you learnt in this book
to answer the question.
