Relieve Pain With Mindpower

Stanford University research says to reduce pain focus attention elsewhere, perceive the pain as weak, and see soothing images

Aug 23, 2006

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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The copyright of the article Relieve Pain With Mindpower in Personal Development is owned by Jerry Lopper. Permission to republish Relieve Pain With Mindpower in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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Aug 23, 2006 2:58 AM

Jerry Lopper :

I've had the experience of "healing" a minor ailment by refraining from focusing on it.

Have you ever experienced this?

Here's how it worked for me. I become aware of something different, an ache or pain, or maybe a swelling/itching. I notice that I'm frequently focused on it, thinking of it, touching the area, and looking at it.

Then I consciously change my focus to ignore it. Whenever I catch myself focused on the area I switch again. Soon I've forgotten about it and it seems to heal faster.

Have you had a similar experience?

Sep 15, 2006 5:41 PM

Melissa Dylan :

I do know that whenever I'm under the weather with an illness, staying home and focusing on "healing" often makes me feel more sick than getting to work and doing other things. Though rest certainly helps, there's a dwelling on it factor that makes it mentally seem worse than it is. It's a fine balance...

Sep 16, 2006 3:20 AM

Jerry Lopper :

Could it be that dwelling on an illness or injury sends it energy that feeds it?

Sep 23, 2006 12:18 PM

Paper Turtle :

I've done that, and it works. This last year I returned to college, and I just plain didn't have time to be sick or slowed down by some ache or pain. I would notice a feeling that something wasn't quite right but instead of wondering or worrying I focused on what needed to be done and how best to accomplish it.

I only got sick once, with a really short-lived cold, and that was druing the break between terms.

I also have chronic back pain. Most of the time I manage quite well using meditation and relaxation techniques--and simply forgetting about it because I'm involved doing something more interesting.

peace and love,
Paper Turtle

Sep 24, 2006 3:52 AM

Jerry Lopper :

That's a terrific example. My wife often does the same when her throat starts feeling sore or a cold is coming on she says "I just don't have time for this now and I'm not going there." The symptoms disappear. Mind over matter.

Sep 27, 2006 5:48 PM

Jolinda Cary :

I saw John Zulli (author of "The Mind Rules" speak recently, and what he says is sort of like the "don't think of an elephant" mind game.

If you tell someone not to think of an elephant, they immediately will. If you think about the pain, there will be pain. If you think about the healing, the mind will be "tricked" into healing.

This is an oversimplification, of course, but I think the bottom line is that our minds/brains have an incredibly powerful impact on the rest of our bodies - a connection that we are really just beginning to understand!

Sep 29, 2006 4:56 AM

Jerry Lopper :

The "don't think of an elephant" is a great analogy. We can control our bodies, more than we'd ever believe.

Before my latest physical exam I repeated an affirmation that went something like this: my blood pressure is xxx/yyy. These numbers were modest, but significant improvements over "normal" bp results.

The resulting bp reading was very, very close to the numbers I affirmed. Interesting.

Oct 2, 2006 7:51 AM

Judy M Merrill :

You have just focused in on why the history of wellness and medicine is rife with it being a religious and/or spiritual matter. It is not just the mind, but the spirit as well, that will heal what troubles the physical/material body.

God bless, J

Oct 3, 2006 4:25 AM

Jerry Lopper :

The Abraham material, by Jerry and Esther Hicks, makes the point that wellness is our inherent condition and being open and allowing supports good health.

Sounds easy, but sometimes is difficult.

Oct 3, 2006 7:30 AM

Judy M Merrill :

Spiritual Healing as a method is prayer and the laying on of hands. Both work to soothe and heal with energy. The healing must come from the one who is dis-eased. There is nothing outside ourselves (pill, potion, liquid) that will allow any disease to cure. Wellness comes from our own body, mind, spirit.

God bless, J

Oct 3, 2006 12:46 PM

Jerry Lopper :

I agree, but tend to combine spiritual healing with current medical tools and techniques. My intent is NO medication unless absolutely necessary.

What is your belief about using medical knowledge and practices?

Oct 10, 2006 7:07 AM

Jodee Redmond :

It's all very well and good to use techniques to cope with pain but pain exists to alert us to the fact that something is amiss. I don't have a problem with using whatever means are helpful to relieve pain as long as the underlying condition is also investigated and treated.

Oct 10, 2006 2:38 PM

Jerry Lopper :

Good point. The pain is an indicator that something is wrong. Changing your focus may allow for healing, but if it doesn't, or if the pain is serious, then medical attention is certainly appropriate.

Oct 19, 2006 10:55 AM

Judy M Merrill :

I would have to say that God created our medical professionals, just as He created the rest of us. Why not use what is a resource to our best advantage?

The problem comes in when we take too much chemical healing without a clear knowledge of its benefits and problems. For every clear benefit, there is a problem that has not been solved.

Like you it would have to ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY before I used chemicals. I would have to say, my body often indicates it is allergic to chemicals in many forms.

God bless, J

Oct 19, 2006 9:07 PM

Jolinda Cary :

Oh wow!
I'm interested in hearing more about these positive affirmations.

Has anyone else had a similar experience using positive affirmations?

John Zulli talks of Vietnam prisoners who were in isolation and played golf in their minds while in captivity. When they returned to the states, they played a BETTER golf game than they ever had before.

Amazing.

Oct 20, 2006 3:40 AM

Jerry Lopper :

Hi Jolinda

I'm racking my brain for a single source of positive affirmations and what comes to me is the work of Abraham-Hicks. Esther Hicks channels information from the spirit world, which she names Abraham. The messages are focused on the Law of Attraction and how we manifest what we think about.

This may be a bit broader than you were alluding to, but it's a very comprehensive view of visualization plus ++.

Oct 20, 2006 3:42 AM

Jerry Lopper :

Spiritalk

Are you familiar with Pranic Healing? I attended a brief presentation on it last weekend at the Universal Light Expo in Columbus, Ohio and am intrigued. I got a book out of the library and just started it.

Oct 20, 2006 7:47 AM

Judy M Merrill :

Wayne Dyers works tend to this type of mind over matter.

Norman Vincente Peale wrote Power of Positive Thought in the 50s.

Depak Chopra wrote Timeless Mind, Ageless Body (the seniors loved it!)

I think with a little effort we could find the sciences that are showing mind power as well.

Biologist Dr. Bernard Grad, McGill University, Montreal did experiments with adding healing to plants to test its power.

Dr. Omoto is recently in the news for his work on water.

God bless, J

Nov 2, 2006 12:50 PM

Richard Kent Matthews :

Affirmations work. . .all the time. Why do they sometimes seem like they're not working? Because most of us don't undertand the dynamics. And there is nothing supernatural about them. I, too, have ready Hicks' and Dyer's works. They are on the right track, and they share a crucial point: affirmations work according to natural law. When they are understood, like any natural process, they can be used simply and easily.

Here is the secret: remember that you are affirming all the time. Your life is a direct result of your continual affirmations. Check out what you are constantly saying to yourself. As you begin to listen to that conversation more attentively, you will notice patterns. Those patterns, repeated over and over in word and practice, produce your life experiences. They are your beliefs. You respond to your surroundings and incoming data according to your beliefs. And I am not necessarily talking religous beliefs, although they certainly play a major role. I am also talking about what you believe about the world around you, the people in it, and most of all, about your own ability to cope with what you think you see, Years of feeling like the victim make everything appear the victimizer. Believing you're not smart keeps you from being smarter. Unloveable mindsets produced unloveable actions.

Change your thinking, change your life. Begin by commiting to the practice of watching what you tell yourself over and over again.

You have talked yourself into the world in which you currently reside. You can talk yourself out of it, if you are not happy with it. But chances are, it's comfortable, habitual, and easy, even if it hurts. Even what you've just read will probably go onto the trash heap.

Your work is cut out for you.

Nov 3, 2006 3:56 AM

Jerry Lopper :

Well said. I totally agree. My ongoing and underlying life themes are:
What an Adventure!
and
Life is Easy

And it is.

Nov 3, 2006 8:10 AM

Judy M Merrill :

I, too believe we are affirming all the time by our thoughts, words, actions. A conscious effort to change our thought patterns by ritually opening every day with a positive affirmation can set the tone for our day. It can be a good place to start that change on ourselves we desire.

God bless, J

Nov 3, 2006 3:15 PM

Richard Kent Matthews :

Spiritalk, you've connected with me many times over the past few years so you know that I always comment with complete respect. So, with that in mind, I respectfully submit to you and all reading this that, as good as starting one's day with a positive affirmation can be, it is equally important to commit to a new practice as well. It's too easy to slip into the same habitual patterns, even unconsciously, without making the effort to change a direction. For instance, I wake up at 6:50 am almost every day. I get up, put on coffee, feed my cat, and turn on the Today show. I also create a verbal affirmation over coffee. The affirmation always involves something I can do during the course of the day to physically reaffirm the affirmation. If my affirmation is something like "Today I see everyone around me as expressions of Life, of the Creator. And I treat them accordingly," then I will seek to consciously practice those words. I will smile more, help where I may not have, listen with more attention. At the end of the day, I check myself to see how well I have actually practiced my affirmation. If I don't feel like I did as well as I could, I may well use the same affirmation the following day. Now, I am not doing this to make myself feel guilty or add stress; I am seeking to change a habitual pattern. After all, selfishness is at the core of everything we do ultimately, but we can use that quality in good ways. We just have to make it a practice.

Follow?

Nov 4, 2006 2:58 AM

Jerry Lopper :

Richard
That's a wonderful suggestion. It's an affirmation plus feedback. I like it.

Nov 4, 2006 6:53 AM

Judy M Merrill :

Lip service without action is the downfall of many a good idea! :) I must remember that when suggesting the consicousness tools we can all use.

So true! We need to follow through with the affirmation. The words themselves will not get the job done.

God bless, J

Nov 4, 2006 9:16 AM

Richard Kent Matthews :

A lot of people misunderstand the Biblical injunction that faith without works is dead. They think it has to do with salvation when in fact, it means what we've been writing about: what you say is hot air if you don't back it up with action. I believe that's what Unconditional Love is. Committed action without harming and expecting nothing in return. It's a hard path, but utlimately worth the effort. Interestingly enough, the biggest payoff is to the giver!

Nov 5, 2006 3:16 AM

Jerry Lopper :

Choosing to love unconditionally, and expressing that choice to my loved ones is the greatest gift I have given them and myself. It's amazing how that choice freed me. No longer did I have to keep score and monitor conditions. I simply love.

You're right, the greatest payoff is to the giver.

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