Your Brain Perceives Pain
Written by: Heidi Hadley, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Over the years, health professionals have often described the actions of the human body with analogies linked to mechanics. However, as our knowledge has increased, with the advancements in neuromuscular science, we realize we are more than mechanical!
Within Total Somatics, I refer to the entire individual as a Soma. In Greek, the word Soma evolved to mean 'the body living in its wholeness.’ As a Soma, we are unable to separate our mind from our body. For instance, if you feel physically unwell, it begins to affect your head space. Likewise, if you are feeling emotionally and mentally unwell, it begins to impact your physical health. One area hugely influences the other.
As Somas, we are all unique. A Soma is a giant sensory organism that absorbs all our personal life experiences, injuries, culture, and personal beliefs. As a result of this, we are sculpted and shaped physically, emotionally, mentally, and energetically into the incredible individuals we are. No one person is the same. The way our sensory nervous system has shaped us through our life experiences has created a uniqueness in everything we do, act, and speak.
With life, comes the roller coaster of events. We can have huge challenges; however, we can have inspiring and uplifting events. So, how do we manage our head space and emotions when one common issue can occur and influence our entire Soma…Pain?
Breaking the myth
There is a common myth out in the world that pain equals damage/injury. However, this is incorrect because you can have an injury and no pain. Likewise, you can have pain and no injury. MRI scans have revealed how a person can have structural changes within their body and have no pain. Other people are in agony and their medical investigations reveal there is no structural or tissue damage.
Consider, for example, when a person is suffering from a migraine, there is no structural damage or injury. They just have intense pain.
Consider another example, many years ago people who had had amputations continued to experience unexplained pain. Many months or years after their amputation, these individuals continued to suffer from intense pain. It would often lead doctors to conclude that the person was mentally unwell because they had amputated their limb, and so it was “all in their head.” From their limited medical knowledge of pain, they reasoned the person shouldn’t be feeling pain after amputation. However, fast forward many years, and thanks to neuromuscular science, we now understand how these poor people really suffered and were grossly misunderstood, due to the lack of knowledge from their doctors. These individuals were experiencing Phantom Limb Pain. The person had had their limb removed, however, the sensory motor region of the brain that is directly linked to that limb was very much active and ‘locked in time’ continuing to replay the sensations and perception of pain. Add into the equation that these pain sufferers were not being listened to or were dismissed. This impacted their internal dialogue, which increased the level of stress, tension, and pain within their muscles and nervous system. This experience dialled up or amplified their pain further.
Let’s consider an everyday household item, the fire alarm.
What does a fire alarm detect? It doesn’t detect fire. It detects sensations or changes, for instance, heat changes and smoke. The fire alarm detects sensations and feedback. The same can be likened to our sensory nerves. They aren’t sensitive to pain. They are sensitive to feedback or sensations. For example, there are a variety of sensory nerves. Different sensory nerves detect stretch, heat, pressure, and touch. As we have considered, as Somas, we are giant sensory organisms absorbing all feedback and sensations. So we need to consider how our sensory nervous system is involved in pain perception.
Your brain is collecting evidence
Throughout your day, your brain is assessing your environment and the situations you encounter. From the melting pot of your personal belief system, culture, level of stress, hormones, and whether you have a good support system within the medical world and personally, they all influence your perception of the world and whether you feel you can trust your body or fully understand how it works and why you feel this way
Many people live in their heads and are no longer aware of what is happening within their bodies. They are not embodied or aware of how their Soma is being influenced by the environment and situations they encounter. So, considering what their mind or internal dialogue is saying and how this influences their pain levels can appear very foreign to their understanding.
However, your brain is collecting credible evidence that there is a threat and as a result, it will produce pain.
Pain is created in your brain and projected into your body.
Pain is an output from your brain. It is not an input from your body.
Let’s consider the fire alarm again. The alarm could detect a genuine house fire. However, it could also detect toast burning. Whatever triggers your brain, the same as with a fire alarm is equally as valid and real.
In Total Somatics, I am always encouraging people to nurture their Soma and break the societal trends that have been to push through pain, ignore the pain, or be hard on ourselves with very high expectations. Don’t treat pain as an enemy because when we start fighting and resisting, we increase the levels of stress and tension within our Soma.
Pain perception is tied in with our fear and stress. Pain is influenced by memories and beliefs. For instance, have you ever noticed pain and immediately recall a time in history when you were very unwell or limited with what you could do? Very quickly, your memory bank will flood with images and sensations. Along with this, you begin to be flooded with huge emotions and before you know it, you have created a big storm in your head by catastrophizing. With this change in emotional health, comes dysregulated breathing and poor oxygen exchange within your tissues. So, these changes change your entire wellbeing down to a cellular level.
Your brain is gathering data, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Your brain receives signals and feedback from everywhere. Your brain is a sponge and is soaking everything in. It is heavily influenced by your perception.
Different setting, same experience
Let’s consider a scenario in which your brain perceives pain from your internal dialogue or narrative.
Consider you score the winning goal in the World Cup. It is an incredible moment in football history for your country with only seconds to go before the final whistle. The crowds are screaming your name and chanting the famous football songs for your country’s team. You feel euphoric and as you run around with your arms outstretched like an airplane, cheering back at the thousands of fans, 10 heavy men jump on you! You land on the ground, with all the pressure of 10 men being felt through your one shoulder and hip. At no time are you saying, “get off me, you’re hurting my shoulder!’ No, you are euphoric and enjoying the moment.
Let’s consider another situation. You are walking down a dark laneway, and you feel really uneasy. You haven’t walked through this area before. One of the streetlights is not working. The other one is flickering. The area sounds eerily quiet, and all you can hear is the creak of a swinging gate. Whilst you are walking through this dark laneway, you feel low in your mood because you have just lost your job, you have very little support systems around you because your family lives elsewhere. There is a recession looming and a pandemic has hit, causing uncertainty and a lack of control.
Let’s consider another situation. You are walking down a dark laneway, and you feel really uneasy. You haven’t walked through this area before. One of the streetlights is not working. The other one is flickering. The area sounds eerily quiet, and all you can hear is the creak of a swinging gate. Whilst you are walking through this dark laneway, you feel low in your mood because you have just lost your job, you have very little support systems around you because your family lives elsewhere. There is a recession looming and a pandemic has hit, causing uncertainty and a lack of control.
Your perception of events influences your perception of pain. It is a different setting, yet the same experience. Start considering how your perception is influencing your pain levels and tolerance.
Within Total Somatics, I address the 3 aspects of Total Somatics health: Movement, Mindset, and Mindfulness. Brain and Pain Perception is an area in which I focus to bring a global approach to Total Somatic health and wellbeing. When people learn to harness their innate properties with Pandiculation and Clinical Somatic movement, they become empowered and educated within the area of their health and wellbeing.
As the late Dr. Wayne Dyer would often say, “It all begins with how you choose to think. When you change the way, you look at things, the things you look at change.”
Start today, by being very careful and selective with what you think about and focus on. Your brain is constantly collecting data and how you feed your inner thoughts will shape your perception of the world and your pain. Bring a Total Somatic outlook to your daily life!
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Heidi Hadley, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Heidi Hadley is a Certified Clinical Somatic Educator & Somatic Movement teacher. She started her career in mainstream medicine in the field of Neurophysiology. In 2001, Heidi started her private clinical practice in health, wellbeing & movement. She is the founder & creator of Total Somatics International®, an online membership designed to reduce pain, improve posture, increase mobility, develop mindfulness and allow you to resume or continue with the activities you love to do. She is the presenter of the podcast, Somatic Movement & Mindset. Delving into the fields of neuroscience, pain, mindset, mindfulness, habits and how to use your brain and body to create lasting healthy changes.
