If your hand touched a hot stove, would you rather feel nothing or feel an intense burn? For me, I’d prefer to feel an intense burn. The reason being, if I chose to feel nothing, I could end up with my hand on the stove for quite awhile…until my sense of smell was triggered instead of my sense of touch.
The point is regardless of what I’m feeling – an intense pain or absolutely nothing – if my hand is on a hot stove there’s damage happening. I would prefer to feel that damage as quickly as possible. The quicker I find out, the quicker I can react, and the more of my hand I can save.
So if you learned years ago not to touch a hot stove, what does this have to do with you? How I apply it in my life is to recognize the role of pain in keeping me as healthy as possible. Rather than seeing pain as a nuisance to ignore or to numb with pills, I see it as a sign telling me there’s something going on in my body. If I keep doing what I’m doing I’ll be causing more harm than good. So rather than ignoring pain, fighting through it, or covering it up with a pill, I ask why it’s happening. By asking why it’s happening, my goal is to allow my body to heal before causing more damage. If I break my leg, I could take some pain killers and go for a run. I might feel okay, but I’m certainly doing more harm than good.
Now imagine for something like headaches or general aches and pains. Imagine what is happening if your whole life is spent taking a pill to make the pain go away, only to have it return as soon as the pill wears off. If the issue keeps returning, obviously the body isn’t healing what is going on.
By doing things that connect me to my body I’m able to be aware of what my body is telling me. Things like full body movement, eating well, being present to what’s in front of me, and receiving consistent chiropractic care all have a huge impact on my ability to connect to my body. The more I can connect to my body, the more I can listen. The more I can listen, the more I can hear. The more I can hear the more I can heal.
So as you go through your week pay attention. When something is uncomfortable, ask why!
Dr. Tye