Is your back pain playing mind games?

Does your thinking influence your back pain?



S.A.C. Dip (Diet, Exercise & Fitness), Advanced Human Anatomy & Physiology Level 3
@ActiveLouise
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23 February 2018

Does your thinking influence your back pain?

Research has shown that those who have confidence that their spine is a sturdy, reliable structure are relatively immune to stressful injury.1 Mental habits are incredibly strong constructs – what we think we have the ability to manifest in ourselves and even our environment around us. That’s not to say that back pain is all in your head, of course not, however, it is important to consider the possibility that it can be very much affected by what goes on in there!2

Over 80% of people experience back pain at some point in their lives, the most common causes of lower back pain include disc injuries, sciatica, lifting heavy objects or non-specific back injury.3 However, despite its glaringly obvious regularity, people with back pain respond in very different ways and this is due, in the most part, to variations in psychological attitudes and perspective. 

According to Harvard Medical School, when your physical movement is restricted psychological distress can occur which can worsen the pain. They found that pain actually has the capacity to rewire your brain. On first experiencing back pain your pain-sensitivity brain circuits are activated however, when pain perseveres over a longer period of time, the brain switches from pain circuits to the circuits that process emotions.4

How you feel mentally can influence how you feel physically meaning that emotional stressors such as anxiety,  stress,  low mood or depression can also negatively affect how you process and cope with pain. For a more in-depth look at how our feelings are related to our joint pain check out my blog ‘Are your emotions to blame for your joint pain?’

When it comes to back pain we can often easily fall into negative thought patterns which can fuel a cycle of anxiety and frustration. This is usually caused or amplified by our inability to control our distress and pain. As a result, anxiety and stress stimulate our sympathetic nervous system (or, our fight-or-flight response) which then triggers the release of the inflammatory hormone cortisol which can make our pain even worse.

Some easy and natural back pain relief

A recent study investigating a technique called mindfulness-based stress reduction, or MBSR, found that mindfulness can help reduce back pain and improve emotional control by increasing blood flow to the frontal lobe of the brain.5 Mindfulness involves focusing on the breath and separating yourself from negative mental thought processes.

Don’t be afraid to get moving and exercise a little if you have back pain. Although it may be the last thing you feel like doing, gentle exercise can actually help to provide some relief. Swimming and walking are great options to consider for back pain relief and a little bit of movement truly does go a long way. For information and handy hydro exercises you can do in water read my blog ‘Lower back pain? Don’t take paracetamol, go swimming!’ 

For some more simple exercises you can try for back pain out of the water have a look at my easy exercises for back pain. Stretching is another great tool you should definitely consider incorporating into your life as it involves minimal weight bearing. My absolute go-to favourite stretch for back pain has to be cat/cow, it is the perfect way to keep mobility and range of motion throughout the entire spine. To learn how to do cat/cow simply follow our short video below!

Stop negative thoughts in their tracks and choose again. Negative thoughts don’t do much to help us in the long-term, so be on thought watch and stop negative thoughts in their tracks! When you catch them, instead choose to replace them with more positive thoughts that make you feel happier. Watch out for self-talk that involves overgeneralising and finite thinking – using words such as ‘never’ and ‘always’ to describe your back pain, for example ‘My back pain will never get better and there is nothing I can do about it.’ 

Finally, time and time again we recommend calling on herbal remedies to help support and nurture your health and wellbeing. Atrosan is the perfect remedy to help relieve inflammation and back pain naturally. Containing extracts of the African herb Devil’s Claw, and advocated by our founder Alfred Vogel, this is definitely one helpful herb we shouldn’t be without!

1  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23208945
2  https://www.painscience.com/articles/mind-game-in-lbp.php
3  https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/psychology-low-back-pain-201604259537
4  https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/psychology-low-back-pain-201604259537
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4754498/

A.Vogel Atrosan Devil’s Claw Tablets

30 tablets

£ 12.99

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Relieves muscle & joint pain, backache and lumbago. Also available in 60 tablet size.
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