I can’t tell you how many times I have heard a variation of this request in my 24 years of practice. And I get it, we don’t like pain. It is unpleasant, and when we are feeling it we want to get away from it. My question to a request like this is usually, “Why?”
The answer seems obvious, because pain hurts. However, if we don’t try to learn the lesson that the pain is bringing us, then we are doomed to keep revisiting the same patterns and challenges, and having it return in an attempt to get our attention. Pain is not a bad thing, it exists to show us when something is wrong. Pain exists to get us to pay attention and make changes. When we decide we don’t like pain and cover it up, masking the symptom with medications, it is just like disconnecting that annoying flashing light on our dashboard that is telling us that we are running low on gas or that our engine is overheating. We don’t need to disconnect the dashboard, we need to listen to its’ warnings!
In our society, we want instant relief and we avoid dealing with the symptoms. We do not get a headache because there is a deficiency of tylenol in our bodies. We do not get back pain because our body needs muscle relaxants. We tend to think our lives would be easier if we couldn’t feel pain, but we would experience very serious consequences to our health if this were the case. What would stop us from resting our hand on a hot burner on the stove? Pain is our early warning system.
Next time you experience a pain, ask yourself what your body is trying to tell you. What could you do differently? Are you taking care of your body? Are you stretching enough, are you watching your posture in different activities? Make sure you do some SRI and see if the pain is linked to any physical, mental, or emotional stress that your body is experiencing.
As a doctor practicing Network Care, it is not that I don’t care about your pain. It is just that when we deal with the cause of the symptom instead of masking it, we will be healthier. Our cars will run better if we make the call and get that engine tuned up, instead of disconnecting the warning light. Our bodies work the same way! Listen to your symptoms and get appropriate care for your body in response!