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This title quote “This isn’t something they’re doing; this is something that happens to them.” comes from a neurologist named Mark Hallett, who joined what is now the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (Ninds) as its clinical director and chief of the Human Motor Control Section in 1984. Doctor Hallett is talking about movement disorders, which are involuntary movements of parts the body. The quote is taken from a fascinating article a by Dan Hurley, May 15, 2019 in the New York Times called "Was It an Invisible Attack on U.S. Diplomats, or Something Stranger?". The article makes some compelling links between the mysterious symptoms experienced by U.S. diplomats in Cuba in 2016 and movement disorders. Please see the link to the article below. The term movement disorder is a very broad category that covers many types of afflictions such as stroke, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or certain other involuntary body movements that may be cause by stress or psychological state.  This article has led me to think about Tension-Based Pain in a similar manner to movement disorders. The involuntary tightening of muscles in the body, back shoulder, legs, etc. is also a form of movement disorder. A movement disorder can be any unnecessary, involuntary action, such as a twitch, a cramp, or tight neck or back muscles. People who have restless leg syndrome (RLS) sometimes describe it as an uncomfortable sensation of an uncontrollable urge to move their legs. So, what is the cause of these movement disorders? My opinion is that these involuntary muscle movements are simply an over stimulated sympathetic nervous system enacting the body's fight-flight-or-freeze response. The good thing about Tension-Based Pain is that we have some control over our lifestyle, environment, and our reactions to it. We can also find ways to control our muscles through deep relaxation techniques including breathing exercises. Taking control of our muscles, and managing our negative emotions can be difficult at first, but the pay-off can be well worth the effort in the long term. All the best in your healing, peace... #Backpain #Low-backPain #Mind-body #MovementDisorder #RestlessLegs #RLS #Stress #Tension-Based Pain
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 One of the most debilitating facets of Tension-Based Pain (TBP) is that the involuntary tightening of muscles in the back, neck, shoulders, etc. cause a lack of blood flow, which depletes oxygen in those muscle structures. Over a period of time this state of chronic hypoxia will weaken the muscles and will eventually cause them to spasm and fail.
If you are a sufferer of TBP you may have experienced episodes of sudden, and very severe pain after doing something as benign as sitting in a chair or bending down to put on your shoes. The pain may be startling in its intensity, and frightening. That is a message that tells you that those muscles are in crisis, and they do not have enough oxygen to be able to operate properly. Are you walking around today with tight muscles in your back, neck, shoulder, or legs? Is this a chronic problem, and have you experienced one of these terrifying pain incidents? If so, you are probably at risk for more of these episodes in the future, maybe today, tomorrow, or next week, there is no way to know for sure. What will change this situation for you? You can:
The condition is an involuntary muscular response to stress. It is the classic flight-or- fight response turned on in the body - all the time. There are two things that can be done in order to help make sure you are no longer the walking wounded. 1) Understand, and deal with your negative emotions, and 2) use deep muscle relaxation techniques to restore proper blood flow, and oxygen to the troubled muscles. All the best to you in your healing.  When we’re at the starting line in a race, or we get ready to run across a field at a park, or at the beach, something happens - our body prepares us for action. Our brain sends messages to the muscles in our legs, back and other parts of the body to contract, and get ready to go... So, why do our back muscles tense up when we are sitting in a chair? Why do our shoulders and neck get tight for no reason at all? Why do our calf muscles cramp up while we are asleep, or lying in bed? These things happen because our brain is reviewing what it perceives to be our current condition - it’s assessment is that we are not safe - we need to get ready to run... The flight or fight response may be engaged around that clock, as we try to deal with our overwhelmingly stressful, modern lives. Muscles that are overwrought with tension will restrict blood flow, and oxygen. As the state of hypoxia continues, muscles become weaker, they may start to twitch, spasm and then fail. Do you have pain all the time, but you don't know why? Do you have pain when you're are at rest, or even when you are sleeping? Do you have stress that never quits? If this sounds like your life, take heart, because lifestyle changes can let you step out of your flight or fight existence, and you can learn to manage your tension, and negative emotions. It can be done. Would you do me a favor and share this post with others, and hopefully it will help them too...  There are many types of pain we may experience, but the two forms of pain we most commonly experience are External Trauma, and Internal Trauma. External trauma is just the way it sounds - something from outside of us comes in contact with our bodies, and causes us pain, such as a burn from an accidental brush with something hot, or the pain we feel when we stub our toe.
Internal trauma is pain that is generated from inside of us. This is often the pain experienced from tension, that causes involuntary muscle contractions, which reduces the amount of blood flow to those muscles. A frequent manifestation of this is low-back pain, which is a common place to experience these involuntary muscle contractions. After months or years of a lack of oxygen (hypoxia) to the muscles, spasming will occur, and the muscles will fail, because they don't have enough blood flow to operate correctly. The explanation of the problem is quite simple, and the solution may be more complex, but internal trauma can be halted, and the muscles heal quickly once they are free from the involuntary muscle contractions. #low-back pain, #mindbody #hypoxia #internaltrauma  What does stress do to the human body? The American Psychological Association describes negative effects to nearly every structure in the system in its article "The Stress Effects on the Body".
The article outlines chronic painful conditions disorders of the musculoskeletal system, respiratory system, long-term problems for heart, blood vessels and the cardiovascular system, adrenal glands and endocrine system, the liver, gastrointestinal system, esophagus, stomach, bowels, nervous system, the male and female reproductive system, sexual desire, menstruation, menopause, etc. Stress can sometimes seem like a force that we are powerless to overcome, but the stress we experience most commonly comes from our minds. That stress is then converted into involuntary muscle contractions in the body. The blood flow, and oxygen to those muscles will be severely reduced in a constant state of muscle contraction. Over time the muscles will eventually spasm and fail due to lack of oxygen. Once the constriction is gone, the blood flow and oxygen return to normal, and then the pain will be gone. What can we do to make sure stress doesn't destroy our good health? A few things can help:
Peace to you all in the New Year!  The following explanation may seem implausible to some of you who are suffering from chronic low-back pain, neck pain, or shoulder pain:
I would have found this hard to believe myself years ago, until I realized the syndrome of TENSION-OXYGEN DEPRIVATION-MUSCLE SPASM-MUSCLE FAILURE was MY syndrome, and sadly it effects millions around the world. You will not find "TENSION-OXYGEN DEPRIVATION-MUSCLE SPASM-MUSCLE FAILURE syndrome" in any medical textbook. It's just a simple description of the problem. Thankfully, I found a way to halt this syndrome, and quickly ended two decades of debilitating pain. Anyone can do this for themselves... It will take a bit of your time, and attention, but there are few things more important than having the skills to make yourself pain free... Of course every individual is unique, and if you are experiencing pain you should see a doctor or health care professional to rule out any underlying condition that requires treatment.   There is an interesting study found at The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) called the “Effectiveness of mindfulness meditation on pain and quality of life of patients with chronic low back pain”, which concludes that mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) is effective for chronic low back pain (LBP).
How does mindfulness meditation help chronic low pain? It lessens the tension, which releases the tight muscles, and allows for proper nerve innervation, and blood flow to the low back. Once the tension is relieved the body will do what it is intended to do - effectively oxygenate tissues, deliver nutrients, and remove waste products from all the body. As you can remove the impediments, stress and tension, your body will come into balance, which is the the state it is always seeking. See the study below. PEACE... Maybe you have a "old" injury that continues to bother you long after it should have healed? That is sequelae, a condition that stays with you after a previous disease or injury.  In the 2015 study below, researchers conclude that stress modulates the perception of pain, which results in either stress-induced pain or hyper sensitivity to pain. The state of our mind dictates the way we perceive our bodies overall status. The impression of 'stress' for the individual is subjective, so a situation that may be stressful to one person will have no effect on another. We absolutely have control over our reaction to the events in our lives, and we should make good use of it to manage our pain, and direct the quality of our mental state. - PEACE  Pain, what is it, exactly?
Pain is a feeling we experience from an early age, and it is the most common symptom of disease. Pain is a mechanism that protects us by alerting us to bodily harm. Outside of the sensory nervous system function itself, pain can be an emotional feeling that is subjective to each individual. The mind has it's own psychological interpretation of the experience of each pain episode. In my own pain story I was unaware of my emotions during these pain events, and did not understand that they were integral to my syndrome. My emotional lack of awareness caused me decades of pain and suffering. The day that I truly understood that my mind; negative emotions; and the tension they produced were the cause of my pain - EVERYTHING changed. Within weeks I had taken control of my emotions; tension, and the result was a near miraculous healing. Decades of medical treatment brought me no closer to a cure than if I had never gone to a doctor at all. I literally gained no insight whatsoever to the cause of, or cure for my pain in all of those years. The Healthcare Providers I visited all those years were sincere in trying to help me, but sadly they were completely ineffective in providing a cure. In my situation, pain was a simple lack of oxygen in my muscles caused by tension. The muscles were tight, blood flow was reduced, oxygen was reduced, and pain resulted. When those muscles were starved of oxygen chronically, they eventually failed. That all sounds very serious medically, but the truth is, as soon as the blood flow is restored the muscles quickly return to normal. The body is always healing, always ready to heal, and it will heal as soon as we remove encumbrances to our health. If you are in pain, don't give up, and keep seeking methods to overcome your body's distress. Pain is a message, keep listening, and try new approaches until you are healed.  A. B. Frost - Published in Harper's Magazine 372, vol. 62 As I've traveled along this pain 'journey' I have gained some perspective about people who experience pain. I see certain patterns emerge, and it is quite simple to see these 'archetypes of agony' repeating over and over in the population. Spend a little time doing some people watching, and you will start to spot them too.
This is a short list of the types of people with pain that I've come to I recognize:
STRESS, of course! The stress may be coming from an external source, family, friends or society, or it may be internally driven. Regardless of the source, it is our perception of the stress that causes the ensuing muscular rigidity, and triggers our Tension-Based pain. As our tension persists; the muscle blood supply is continually decreased; the diminished supply of oxygen will cause muscles to spasm, and eventually fail. Do you see yourself or someone you care about in this list? If so, what can be done?
***Peace to you all*** |
BLOGAuthorAfter trying every conventional therapy for crippling, chronic low-back pain, I discovered the problem was completely within my control. I experienced an amazing health transformation in a matter of weeks. Mind-Body medicine worked for me, and it can for can too! Archives
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