Writing To Ease Chronic Pain
Researchers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness have found that some types of writing not only help people express emotions, but can also treat physical ailments such as chronic back and neck pain. Investigators say people who suffer from the chronic pain condition known as Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS) can use journal writing to explore their emotions, as well as to reduce stress and tension that is known to be a trigger for pain.
Evidence is building behind the theory that stress, tension and emotions can trigger very real physical pain, a condition known as Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), or mind-body syndrome. Common symptoms include back pain, neck pain, gastrointestinal issues and migraine headaches, according to Northwestern’s Dr. John Stracks, a mind-body specialist and one of a few dozen physicians in the country that treats the condition.
According to Stracks, the physical pain serves as a distraction to underlying uncomfortable emotions. “Often, the pain is more desirable than the other things going on—anger, anxiety, fear or guilt,” said Stracks, who trained with Dr. John Sarno, the physician who first conceptualized the TMS diagnosis.
“But when a patient recognizes that the symptoms are only a distraction, the symptoms then serve no purpose, and they go away,” said Stracks.
TMS diagnosis and treatment has been slow to be accepted by physicians, but it’s increasingly being used in other departments at Northwestern, ranging from gastronenterology to physical medicine and rehabilitation. Patients often don’t respond to conventional back and neck pain treatments because stress and anxiety get in the way, Stracks said.
“It’s growing in popularity because it’s good medicine–it gets at the root cause of the problem rather than just treating the symptoms.”
Stracks said the education and psychological treatment is effective in approximately 80 percent of patients that take the course. “If someone is experiencing lingering pain with no explanation or obvious injury, the cause may be emotional,” he said.
Five Tips On Using Writing To Heal Pain
Rule out underlying physical disorders. Start by getting a medical evaluation from a practitioner who has been trained in mind-body medicine.
Read. Dr. John Sarno’s bestselling book. “The Mindbody Prescription: Healing the Body, Healing the Body, Healing the Pain” is considered the bible for TMS sufferers. In addition, Dr. Howard Schubiner and Dr. David Clarke have all written “clear concise books” on the connection between the mind and the body, said Stracks.
Believe. If you doubt that your pain is a result of the mind-body connection, journaling is less likely to work, Stracks said.
List your stressors. Write down all the past and current stressors that may have contributed to the development of the physical pain.
Brainstorm. Each day, choose a different one of those stressors and write about it for 10 to 20 minutes. Do this for two to four weeks. “Include both your feelings about that stressor and what you have learned from writing about that stressor,” Stracks said. If you get stuck, read patient success stories tmswiki.com.
Source – Chicago Tribune via Health Central
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