What a pain…

I was recently asked to do a workshop on pain management.  I always like to refresh my material so I looked up the most recent stats I could find on the topic of chronic pain.  

Did you know that 99% of all human beings suffer from some form of chronic pain during their lifetime?.  Ninety-nine percent!  That astounded me.  I can’t believe more people aren’t yelling for more information on how to deal with chronic pain.  

As I’m sure along with most of you, I’ve certainly had my fair share.  When I was around 24, shortly after I started working full-time, I started having low back pain all the time.  I went to my doctor and physiotherapy and they told me I had a bulge in my L5 disc.  It was usually a hereditary thing (thanks Dad!) but they figure that I went from being so active up until that point in my life to suddenly being so sedentary that this is what caused it.  

You see I’ve always been “into fitness”.  I played sports right from grade school all they way to high school.  In high school I became obsessed with Linda Hamilton’s arms in Terminator 2 and wanted to be ripped like that.  So, I started to study weight training for women…all on my own from books and magazines.  When I went to U of T for Commerce, most people who met me assumed I was in a phys. ed program because I spent so much time at the gym.  That was also when I discovered group fitness classes.  

Group fitness? Organized movement to music?  I thought it was the greatest idea! I even did a “step-a-thon” that was a fundraiser headlined by Donny Osmond while he was in Toronto doing “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” (awesome show, by the way). Yep, I got to meet Donny while I was all sweaty, slimy and stinky.  But he was awesome! 

Anyway, all of a sudden, I was thrown into adulthood and already feeling decrepit.  And what I’ve found works best to keep my back healthy is to just keep moving.  I feel so much better on days when I move around more, stretch more and stand more.  I’m so thankful for the invention of sit/stand desks.  Back in the 90’s when I started having these back problems, I used boxes to prop up my computer to do my work while standing; not ideal but I did what I could!

Fast forward 20 years.  I had embraced fitness and movement and had been working part time in the fitness industry that whole time.  I still had good days and bad days with my back.  Long drives and sedentary time were the worst. And then I suffered a foot/leg injury.  Not only did that injury cause me chronic pain in my foot and all the way up my leg, but it inflamed my back also.  Ouch. 

I had my training in using yoga for chronic pain treatment as part of my trauma-sensitive yoga training.  It was time to put it to use…on myself.  I couldn’t do a lot of the things I used to do anymore and was told by medical professionals that yoga was the best thing I could keep doing for my recovery.  Convenient considering the amount of training and teaching hours I had under my belt!

It’s now been 5 years since I had to listen to my body and take care of my injury and chronic pain.  My back has never felt better since I dedicated my movement practice to yoga 5-6 days a week.  I do a mix of power yoga, core strength yoga, all levels flow, gentle and restorative yoga.  I do mostly low impact cardio now and have started using micro/mini/express workouts to get more bang for my movement buck.  I still have bad days with my foot/leg injury but they are further between.  I do what I can on those days and take my small wins. The point is that I didn’t stop moving. 

So, my friends, movement is your superpower when it comes to chronic pain.  And it does not have to be anything grand.  Simple, low sensation (maybe even no sensation) and remember that taking a deep breath constitutes movement (your body has to move to accommodate the expansion of the lungs) and some days that’s all we can do.  Take the small wins.

Donny Osmond sings, “No One Has to Be Alone”.  You don’t have to be alone in your chronic pain.  Ninety-nine percent of us are there with you at some point in our lives. Stay strong.  Keep moving.  Focus on what you can do each day.