Relieve Pain With Mindpower
Stanford University research says to reduce pain focus attention elsewhere, perceive the pain as weak, and see soothing images
Research subjects have learned to control pain by applying mental pain interventions while viewing a computer image as feedback of the pain.
It is possible to reduce and control pain with your mind. Researchers at Stanford University found that people could be trained to reduce their perception of pain using mental interventions coupled with visual feedback of the pain. That's good news for the millions of people who suffer from chronic pain. For most of us, pain management is a matter of taking a couple of aspirin. But those with chronic pain find that over the counter pain medications are often insufficient and the more powerful pain medicines have potentially serious side effects.
If you've ever had a lingering pain and just "wished" it would go away, perhaps you were close to a solution and didn't realize it.
At Stanford, pain feedback was provided by a new research tool called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). An fMRI machine can provide real-time feedback by displaying a representation of the level of blood flow in the area of the brain that perceives pain.
Research subjects were taught several techniques for mental pain reduction. Using these techniques in combination with the visual feedback of their level of pain allowed them to effectively focus their intervention efforts and reduce the pain.
This most recent application of biofeedback, the ability to apply mental control over physical functions, furthers research understanding of pain, pain management, and the power of the mind.
While this doesn't mean you can lay on a bed of nails or walk barefoot on hot coals at your next party, it might offer non-drug relief for everything from your stress headache to your chronic back pain.
Of special interest is that some research subjects were able to control their pain without the benefit of the special fMRI equipment and its computer imaging of pain. Once they learned some mental interventions they were able to reduce pain without the feedback of an image of the pain.
The interventions they learned to use were:
- To shift attention from the area of pain to some part of the body furthest away from the painful area.
- To concentrate attention on something pleasant: favorite music, a good story, or recollection of pleasant experiences.
- To relax using deep breathing and meditation techniques.
- To re-calibrate the level of pain; rather than thinking of the pain as severe or debilitating, they thought of it as harmless, weak, or non-threatening.
- To visualize soothing or healing processes at work on their pain.
Our minds are very powerful. Learning to harness this power can bring personal growth and development and, as we're learning, even better health.
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