How Full Is Your Cup?
Pain is a funny thing. If you have been a patient of ours, hopefully you have learned that pain is a warning sign rather than an indicator of damage or harm. With the help of scientific research, the way we think about pain has changed a lot over the years.
How we used to think about pain: BIOMEDICAL model of pain
Pain = tissue damage
How we now understand pain: BIO-PSYCHO-SOCIAL model of pain
Biological factors: tissue quality, physical activity levels, sleep quality, previous injury
Psychological factors: mood, coping strategies, beliefs, fear, anxiety
Social factors: social support, family/work expectations, culture
What the biopsychosocial model of pain tells us is that it’s not just physical changes that can influence pain. There are also social and psychological factors that we have to take into account when talking about pain. We can better understand how pain works using the cup analogy.
We all have a cup. Your cup can be filled with any number of those biopsychosocial factors listed above. Think of each factor as a different amount of water. Our cup is never truly empty but when all of the stressors/loads in our lives exceed the space in our cup, pain can occur.
Based on this analogy, there are two options for helping ourselves when we start to experience pain:
Decrease some of the stressors and loads that are in our cup
Build a bigger cup.
What goes in our cup?
If you are experiencing pain, it’s important to look what different things may be causing your cup to overfill:
Stress (physical, emotional, work, family, etc.)
Lack of movement or physical activity
Poor sleep
Poor diet
Stationary postures
Repetitive movements (overuse)
Negative self talk
Tissue damage
Expectations, depression, anxiety
On a day-to-day basis, you are typically net positive, meaning you are putting in more water into your cup than you are taking out. We don’t necessarily have to fix all the things that are filling up our cup. We can still co-exist with these stressors if we can identify them, develop better coping strategies, and build up our bodies resiliency to those stressors.
How do you take water out of your cup?
There are lots of ways you can take action and address the stressors and loads that you experience on a daily basis. Here are some ways that you can start emptying your cup:
Get a good night's sleep
Healthy diet
Increase physical activity (small changes can make big differences)
Educate yourself on your body, pain, and how they relate to one another
Talk to someone about your stressors, fears, worries, etc.
See your chiropractor :)
There are many strategies we can use to prevent your cup from over-filling beyond what is listed above. If you need help getting started, book an appointment and we can discuss in more detail.
How do you build a bigger cup?
Aside from emptying our cup, we can also work to build a bigger cup! We can do this in a few ways:
Physical - graded exposure to activity, building strength and endurance, tissue resiliency
Mindfulness training
Learning effective strategies for stress/load management
Developing healthy relationships + social support
Educating ourselves
Sometimes even light exercise or stretching can be a trigger for our pain. This can be a major challenge for someone trying to build a bigger cup! When this happens, try to address one of the other factors that may be filling your cup too much. Having support from a trusted health care provider to help guide you through the process is always recommended. Research shows that your social support system is a major contributing factor to your pain and injury outcomes.
Summary
It is important to understand that PAIN IS NORMAL. Annoying, but normal. What we want you to realize is that there are many different factors that contribute to the pain we experience. When you start to notice pain, that is your body’s way of asking for change. So when your body starts talking to you, it’s best to listen.
If you are having pain and can’t find a solution, don’t get discouraged. Think about what’s in your cup and what you can take out of it. Then work to create a bigger cup. If you need help doing those things, give us a call.
