Lower back pain, like neck pain can be overwhelming uncomfortable. There is nothing like straining to stand, sit or simply do anything. When your lower back hurts it feels like the end of the world, because the pain is so limiting. When I hear people tell me how terrible their lower back pain feels it hurts my heart, because deep in my soul I live with the goal to help people feel wonderful.
When someone is too far away for me to help them, or if they are unavailable for touch, I try to teach them how they can reduce their pain and discomfort. I believe massage is one of the greatest gifts God bestowed upon humanity, and it is a knowledge that should be shared with everyone. Just like a child, when we horde our toys our parents tend to take them away. I believe when we have been given something special, we are supposed to share it with others. Far too many massage therapists refuse to share their skills with those around them out of fear that someone might steal their precious techniques. I believe it is the opposite, when knowledge is shared nothing is lost, when we give, our community grows. I will teach anyone everything I know, because when we give for the sake of goodness the doorway to greatness is opened. I want you to live a life without lower back pain, neck pain, or any pain you may feel throughout the day. I want to open the doorway for you to live your life in most wonderful ways and walk through the doorway of greatness.
One of my greatest gifts as a massage therapist has been my relationship with pain. It has taught me so much about life, how it feels to endure impossible strife, and the ways in which we can embrace the beautiful aspects of life. When it comes to pain management, I know how stressful it can be. I know how heartbreaking it feels to lose the ability to do the things you love, to wake up in the morning with a long painful groan and feel alone. Existing in excruciating discomfort can be alienating and drive you to points that feel unsafe and insane. I have reached this level of agony, and if you are hurting to this degree, I pray your wounds heal and you can once again feel wonderful in delightful ways.
Pain, no matter what kind it may be, can be seen as a beautiful blessing. When you are in the thick of the discomfort this is challenging at best, but when you search for the positive in every situation it can help you navigate your way to a more tranquil sea. I want to start by saying I do not believe in mind over matter, nor do I believe that you can instantaneously heal yourself of illness. Instead, I believe you can reduce your discomfort by minimizing the anxiety associated with the experience. I often say: “Your suffering ends when you give purpose to the pain.”
What do I mean by this? One of my root philosophies in life is that “in every hardship we face is an opportunity to learn how to help someone else.” When I hurt, I search for the significance of the second and try to find a way I can use my situation to help someone in the future. This thought process gives my pain purpose, I can use it as a tool to one day guide others away from the darkness toward the brilliant light of life. I can use the knowledge I learned in the moment to hold space with someone in the future. When we can assign a purpose to pain it gives it meaning, and this makes the agony we are experiencing worth it, because we know we can use it to be in the service of others when they need it most.
This thought process will not reduce your pain, but it may reduce the anxiety associated with it. For some this might not seem like much, but when you understand how anxiety influences your agony, I’m certain it will change your mind. Pain in of itself can be horrible, but it is worsened by the anxiety we experience due to its discomfort. Anxiety magnifies pain, and as the pain increases it creates more anxiety, and then our pain increases, and the cycle goes on and on until we feel like we hurt everywhere.
As a massage therapist it is my goal to reduce your anxiety. While my primary focus is on your soft tissue structures, the goal of massage is to convince your central nervous system it is safe enough to rest and relax. This results in the lowering of your sympathetic nervous system and encourages your parasympathetic nervous system to take the reins so you can escape the pain. In effect this means you are no longer in fight or flight mode and are ready to rest and digest. The reason this is so important is because pain is a preventative system to avoid injury. Your body is like a baby, like a little child it lacks the ability to directly tell us what is wrong, so it has to scream and cry until we tend to its needs. When you have lower back pain this is your body’s way of protecting you and asking for help. The longer the pain exists the more anxiety we experience, and as a result the discomfort intensifies. Understanding why pain is important can help us reframe its significance, it can flip our opinion of the discomfort on its head and see it as something meaningful and good.
Pain management is all about the details. This is why it is so frustrating when you go to your doctor, pay all sorts of money for tests and scans and come back to see them and they have no solutions in their hand. We are desperately seeking an answer for why we hurt so much, and when no answers are provided the journey of seeking the truth becomes a pain in of itself. You go home and now your back hurts even worse than it did before, and it breaks your spirit, heart and soul. This is not a knock against the medical profession, it is more of an assessment of how it feels to be someone who is hurting and is seeking help.
I have been through these kinds of situations, many of which were throughout my cancer journey. It is also when I discovered some of the best methods of managing pain. Like I said, when we give purpose to the pain the suffering ends. My expedition through agony was to help you live your best days, to help you alleviate your pain, and show you that in every bad situation is a blessing. A positive outlook will not resolve the source of your pain, but it will minimize the anxiety that surrounds it. Which in of itself can prevent more pain.