Gratitude and Pain.

Gratitude. I love and hate this word. I like it when I’m feeling good. Not so much when I’m having road rage because it’s the 4th car in front of me to go 10 miles under the speed limit on a 20 minute drive. Sheesh.

But truly it is something I try to practice. And I’m hearing the word “gratitude” more and more in the world. And I love it.

There have been some really interesting articles regarding the relationship between Gratitude and Pain. The more we learn about pain, the more we realize it’s not so simple. If I break my arm, pain is a natural and good thing. My brain is telling me to get help. But what about chronic pain? Why would someone still be in pain even though there may be no “physical” reason to be in pain?

There isn’t one area of the brain dedicated to pain. Pain is unique to each person. And pain is very real. Pain is physical, psychological, emotional, social, and more.

I want you to imagine a person with chronic back pain. Maybe you know someone. Most of their life is arranged around their back pain. If it’s a bad day, they may spend the day in bed. If it’s a good day, they will be more active but always in the back of their mind is the question “If I do too much, will I hurt more tomorrow?”. Because when your back hurts, it feels like everything hurts. Right?

Now let’s introduce gratitude. Yes, gratitude is about being thankful. But it’s also about perceiving the world through the lense of “good” and “meaningful”. Gratitude can be a tool used to treat pain. No, it’s not the only tool. But it’s an important tool.

Think about that person with chronic back pain again. But now let’s add gratitude. Maybe gratitude helps that person knock off a few levels of pain. But maybe more importantly they see themselves and their world through a different lense. Maybe they hurt, but they see their partner taking up some extra slack and that’s special and meaningful. Maybe they hurt but can reflect on the relationships they have and the people they love. Maybe they hurt but they can see the emotional growth in themselves.

Gratitude is simple. And it can help. There are physiological reasons that gratitude helps too. It’s not just psychological.

I’ve had the pleasure of treating a lot of patients as a physical therapist in my 12+ year career. I’ve seen a lot of people in chronic pain. Here’s what I tell them.

1. Your pain is real

2. Let’s understand your pain better

3. Let’s diminish the fear around that pain

4. Let’s start moving a little more

5. Let’s start gratitude training

6. Let me, as your PT, do some treatments to help

7. Let’s make sure your medical team is doing everything they can to help as well

I tell patients that pain isn’t going to go away all at once. What we usually see is that the pain starts changing. Maybe you have a good day, but then two bad days. But you weren’t having any good days before so that’s progress. We take hold of any change towards the positive and count it as a win.

If you’re in chronic pain, I’m sorry. It sucks. But there are things you can do that can help. I am not promising total relief. But there are tools to be used that can help and that’s meaningful.

Best wishes,

Cortney