In the Autumn newsletter, we looked at the western or reductionist method of treating pain. You can read the article here. We learned how this approach can work very well for pain where specific causes can be identified and treated. For example, arthritic hip pain can be completely alleviated with a total hip replacement because the arthritic joint surfaces are removed. Once the surgery has fully healed, the pain is gone. Unfortunately, this approach can fall short if the causes of pain are complex.

Thirty-five years ago, shortly after graduating PT school, I had a patient who suffered from back pain. I will call her “Joanie” (not her real name). She told me her pain had started on her wedding night. As we worked together over several sessions, she shared that it was her husband’s second marriage. He had four adult children. One was incarcerated, one was drug addicted, and the other two had additional challenging problems. When her back hurt, she went into her bedroom, closed the door, and lay down for a few hours. 

Even as a newly graduated P.T., I could see that her back pain might be serving a purpose. It gave her permission to withdraw from a chaotic  and distressing situation. My heart sank as I realized that treating the structural problems of muscle spasm and weak abdominals might not be enough. This turned out to be true. Although her muscles improved, her pain did not. Because the structural issues were only a part of the problem, physical therapy only partially helped. 

The idea that pain can serve a useful purpose may sound a bit crazy. Who would want to remain in pain? The answer is no one. For “Joanie”, perhaps having back pain was less onerous than living in her current home situation. I couldn’t know. What I could know was that there were many complex factors influencing her pain that might affect the success of my treatment intervention. The physical issues with her back did not tell the whole story. 

When we hurt, we want answers. More than answers, we want relief. It can be frustrating when those answers aren’t clear. If your back hurts and the MRI says your back is fine, you may feel depressed instead of relieved. In actuality, a normal MRI is a blessing! Yet you don’t have an answer for your pain and the prospect of continued pain is a depressing one. 

The value of understanding that pain can be due to multiple causes as well as structural issues is that it can broaden the scope of where you seek assistance and the types of interventions that may improve your pain. And it can also explain why some interventions don’t help or don’t help enough. 

It’s common to feel some resistance to pain being caused by factors beyond the physical. The idea may feel invalidating, as though the reality of your experience is being doubted. Resistance may create an obstacle that blocks your expanding understanding of yourself and what you may be experiencing. Yet seeking causality in every part of yourself corroborates what we know to be true; that we are all complex and unique, and every part of us deserves attention and good care.

A holistic, non-diagnostic modality like Zero Balancing can be very useful in this type of situation. Read the next article for more information. Click Here