We know that the nature of chronic pain can vary widely, from musculoskeletal and neurogenic to gastrointestinal, urogenital, and gynecological. However, less attention gets paid to the emotional component of chronic pain, which can be caused and exacerbated by negative emotions such as anger, frustration, and anxiety.
Pain conditions that are emotionally charged—which, ultimately, describes all cases of pain, since being in pain produces negative thought patterns—often are unabated by the pain killers and anti-inflammatory medications that are so commonly prescribed.
Treating chronic pain effectively requires approaching it holistically. This is where acupuncture excels.
Acupuncture Approach to Chronic Pain
In Chinese medicine, there is no separation between mind and body. The two are inexorably linked, constantly influencing and regulating each other.
This philosophy runs counter to the way chronic pain is typically tackled by mainstream medicine, which tends to approach the problem strictly through a biological lens. Biologically, chronic pain is fairly straightforward. Misbehaving nerve impulses fire consistently, alerting the brain to the presence of inflammation or tissue damage.
When we look at chronic pain holistically, there’s more than nerve impulses to consider.
Our thoughts have a profound effect on how our bodies function. Negative thoughts and emotions increase stress hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine, which overtime can lead to systemic inflammation and a deterioration of overall health.
Emotions, like physical activity, require the expenditure of energy—energy that could otherwise be directed toward helping to heal the body. This is why you can have days when you barely exert yourself physically yet feel exhausted by the end.
Our emotions can wear us out. Many people are overwhelmed with stress, anxiety, and other types of emotional turbulence yet remain unaware that it’s contributing to their physical health problems.
Acupuncture refuses to let emotional turbulence fly under the radar.
In acupuncture theory, the Heart is at the center of all human life and plays a role in all emotions. Appropriately, another term for the Heart in Chinese medicine is Emperor. If the Emperor falls ill, he loses his ability to maintain order in his empire.
When we apply that metaphor to human health, it goes something like this: The Heart, ruler of the emotions, must be healthy for the rest of the body to follow suit. In other words, it is impossible to effectively treat chronic pain (or any other chronic condition) without addressing a person’s state of mind.
So, how do acupuncture and Chinese medicine address our states of mind?
One way is by choosing acupuncture points and prescribing herbal formulas that boost or tonify Blood. In acupuncture, negative emotions, particularly when chronic, create internal heat, which eventually consumes and depletes the nutritive Blood of the body.
Blood in acupuncture is more than just the red liquid that flows through our veins and arteries. Blood is viewed as a substance of nutrition and healing, the conduit through which our emotions flow.
When negative emotions become consuming, as is often the case in people who live with chronic pain, it can lead to signs of what acupuncturists call Blood deficiency. Symptoms may include dizziness, heart palpitations, insomnia, fatigue, poor memory, pale skin and tongue, weak pulse, and scanty or light menstrual periods.
Read "Self-Care Techniques for Chronic Pain" in our next post!
- Written by Adam Cantor
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