Pain is something I have experienced in my life on a number of occasions, and I have had to learn how to approach it and manage it.
A couple of days ago, I wrote the following email letter to a very close friend who was suffering with pain. I had to write it, I couldn't bear to hear that he was struggling with back pain [following a back injury many years ago], yet not treating it properly, by medication, nor by attitude. He needed my help, even if he didn't know it yet.
My message helped him. I had a beautiful reply back the next day. It brought a tear to my eye. My message made a difference to a dear friend. Now only a few days later, he is back on the correct medication, feeling a lot better, working towards alternatives, and considering the possibility of taking up running again. Instead, last week, he was beginning to drink through the pain, and the misery he was creating around it. His life is changing already.
That's the power of thought, and of belief. We need both.
Here is the email I wrote, I'm sharing it with you, because perhaps, it may make a difference to you, or to someone you love, one day…
Hi!
Thinking about you, your back, and reading this article, I thought I would share it. You might find it interesting. You should.
http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/morning/meditation-chronic-pain-20110509
Right now? Keep taking your painkillers. At the prescribed dosage. Not the one you prescribe. Trust your doctor. Read the article. Learn about meditation.
Try and get your head around what the article is saying. You may not be aware, but I experienced a lot of pain whilst I was incapacitated with M.E. But I also experienced severe ear pain, which was found to be untreatable, and a side effect of a head injury I received in 1999. I focused on the pain, and hated it, it bugged me, it became unbearable, it had me in tears. I pleaded for painkillers for it. Nothing was strong enough. I attended a pain clinic. I was given a TENS machine [these are another thing you can ask your GP about, they are an alternative, if the medication regime doesn't work, but are time consuming to use]. But the TENS machine wasn't strong enough for my pain. In the end, they gave me Diazepan, which knocked me out, and was a completely different way to treat the pain. I found the knock out effect too much, and sought a better solution than Diazepan.
I talked to my GP. She advised me not to focus on the ear, nor on the pain. I looked into it. I thought about it at length. I pursued her line of thought. You know what? I still have that ear pain today, 12 years later. But it is a mere background noise in my life, because I don't focus on it, I keep my mind off it. Totally. It's the best form of pain reduction, and it works.
I'm telling you this, to show you that you have options. That you can reduce your pain massively, that your current tablets will help [I took anti-inflammatories that were developed for rugby injuries, back in 1983, after a heavy fall brought on a knee injury that led to rapid osteoarthritis. I took the tablets, and got better. Until I did the treatment, I was on crutches, in pain, couldn't walk properly or dance, or get on my bike, you name it. At 21 years old. The GP said it could get worse, not better. But I got better, within less than a few months. Because I took the medication, reduced the inflammation that was triggering the pain. When I met Willow in 1984, there was no trace of it. I only had to take those tablets for a couple of months, maybe three months. It could have been for life, but it wasn't.
Keep the faith. Follow the programme. Be proactive. Don't fall on drink to reduce the pain. Look at alternatives if you're not happy with how things are. You can change your situation, it's your body, it's your life. Live it to the full!
Just a few friendly thoughts this Thursday morning.
Ando
xxx
If this essay helped you, you may also find this helpful.
If you're looking for inspiration to change your life, read what a guy with only the power of mind and the power of speech was able to achieve, here.