How to Hack Your Brain When You're in Pain | Amy Baxter | TED
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- Опубликовано: 29 сен 2024
- Have we misunderstood pain? Researcher and physician Amy Baxter unravels the symphony of connections that send pain from your body to your brain, explaining practical neuroscience hacks to quickly block those signals. Her groundbreaking research offers alternatives for immediate pain relief -- without the need for addictive opioids. (Followed by a Q&A with TED current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers)
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Here i have been writing poetry and prose about being content within agony, thinking it was this spiritual journey and what i was doing was hacking my brain like a professional without realizing it. Thank you.
Where can we follow you to read your poetry and prose? Thank you for watching!
Stage 4 lung & liver cancer survivor. The extreme chemo & radiation burnt my nervous system up. Those who don't experience chronic pain on the norm run off at the mouth about controlling pain. I've been through all kinds of studies for pain relief. Everybody is different. What works for one may not work for another. Some of us must take controlled drugs like opioids. If you haven't experienced chronic pain that lasts longer than 1yr, I don't need to hear what you think about the medication we must use.
I have been dealing with intractable pain for 28 years, sometimes being bedridden. I’ve learned on my own how to deal with my pain. It’s interesting that I often will sit and jiggle my leg/legs and/or arm(s) to help myself feel better and I will often go sit outside in the winter (bundled appropriately, of course) in the ungodly cold and jiggle both legs with my forearms resting on them (or with my elbows resting on my knees, my head on my hands) so my whole body vibrates as I breathe in and meditate. I can alternate the pattern of the jiggling as much as I want to reach any part of my body. It helps more than any pill has. Distraction, focus, grounding-so many other things you wouldn’t expect-have wound up helping. I’ve also recently had stellate ganglion blocks (spinal) for ptsd with pain (they do not work for everyone nor are they covered by insurance for everyone either). I do find medical marijuana helps as well. I know some can’t do that, but I was so anti before I started. Now I think I’d have died if I didn’t agree because I was at my breaking point and couldn’t take being bedridden anymore. It added extra pain on top because I couldn’t move. Having the edge taken away helped me move which helped me jiggle which helped me move…lol And finding something-anything-to laugh about has been beyond helpful. I change my perspective whenever I can! I ask others to help me find a different perspective on something if I’m unable to do so. (Not someone who tells me to just get over it. We’ve parted ways long ago.) It helps tremendously.
Just keep going. Please. The depression on top is like being kicked over and over when you’re down. It’s- there’s nothing that can describe what it is. So now you’ll need to address the issue of depression as well because chronic pain causes depression and depression can cause/increase pain. But do address it with your doctor. All the people saying they’ve “been depressed” don’t understand depression. Depression is a chemical response in your brain. Being sad or down isn’t the same as having depression-which is a medical condition that affects your brain in insidious ways. In your ability to think clearly, in the way you care for and carry your body, in your relationships, your school or job, your quality of life, and even possibly, your life. It’s a serious health concern. Please take it as such. You matter. ❤
Thank you for watching and for sharing your story. You have developed a plan that works for you and that is quite empowering!
I'm sure you're activating a number of helpful physiologic and neuroscience pathways. Sounds sort of like a whole body vibration frequency, which has great data too. Jean-Marie Charcot was a neurologist in the mid 1800’s. He noticed that when his Parkinsons patients would come to appointments, they did better when they traveled by carriage from far away - bumpity bumpity bump - and he saw them upon arrival instead of the next day. It turns out that low frequency, irregular vibration can change the threshold of nerves to fire, which is now being studied at Stanford for re-training the brain to reduce Parkinson symptoms. His student Gilles de Tourette made a vibrating helmet for migraines - turned out, um, not so much. Vibration fell from magic cure into disrepute, until the mid-50s. there was a brief flirtation with a vibrating bed to improve pain and bone healing. It did work, but no further work was done. Perhaps it was the growing age of pharmaceuticals, or just that scientists are terrified of supporting an embarrassing solution. I can imagine the difficulty of pitching a vibrating bed to your phd committee.
In the early 80’s a Swedish graduate student, perhaps not warned against embarrassing science, found that vibration helped back pain more than electrical stimulation. Importantly, he published the vibration parameters he used that worked. Unfortunately, various follow up studies - which didn’t mention amplitude, frequency, or torque orientation, so undoubtedly weren't using the right physics, didn’t work.
There's so much good and of value in what you've said. I'm working on trying to laugh more and on changing my mindset. What you said about asking others to help you find another perspective when you can't to be a great tip that I want to try. Thanks.
I am one of those pain patients. Thank you for this. Got tears streaming. Thank you.
She says opioids became the thing during a "no pain" healthcare phase.
But, I've had severe Fibromyalgia pain since I was 24, for 33 years. In that time, I have NEVER had a pain free moment even with opioids. I'm interested in this talk because I started going to a hypnotherapist for pain control. It worked, but only when I was in a trance. Not helpful in the workplace.
I've done a lot of these things she talks about. Not everything works for me and what works doesn't take away pain, it only decreases pain.
I think these mental tricks are very valuable in the pain control toolbox. BUT, for some of us, we DO STILL NEED an opioid for breakthrough pain at the very least.
The other thing is, pain is extremely exhausting. Over these (almost 34) years of severe pain, at age 57, I am now so very tired. I have fought to survive pain and I . am . so . tired. at this point.
Thanks for this information review.
Yes, pain is very exhausting both when it's happening and when it's worse than the usual baseline of pain, but also in the long run of living with pain everyday.
Breathing is unbelievable pain control, along with definite concentration on mind over matter.
With a huge tooth abscess, for 8 hours I practiced this, and although I was in pain, it did help enormously.
So true! Autonomic control and using your parasympathetic/diaphragm breathing to convince your brain you're safe lowers pain in lots of ways. Great advice, I should have mentioned it more.
I have degenerative discs in my neck and low back. The best thing I’ve ever done is learn TRE. It is a technique for reducing tension and trapped emotions. I get fewer headaches, I have better range of motion, and the tremors from activating the autonomic nervous system leave me feeling relaxed like I just got a massage. I feel fewer days of pain as well.
This is so amazing, and helps make sense of why alternative practioners such as Reiki or "energy healers" are able to make such a difference for patients. I'm a mental health practitioner who deals often with patients with chronic pain, particularly CRPS. I have also had some experience with drug addictioin treatment, often with patients who began their addiction with a prescription for back injuries, car accidents, and the like. I'm looking forward to learning more about the vibration/cold tool. In the meantime, this is truly one of the most important videos for many of us as practitioners to watch and understand!
I had a doctor tell me 30 years ago that if I was a horse, they'd take me out back and shoot me my back is so bad. add to that it is a degenerative issue and only gets worse with every passing day. but me, who's been denied disability 3 times when i applies over decade ago, is denied any relief at all. i had a pain dr. for 8 years that provided enough meds for me to be able to function halfway and not be in absolute misery 24/7. he dropped me 6 years ago because a pee test showed a trace amount of weed in my system. how dare i go to an indoor concert 3 days before my appointment. so no new pain dr. will even consider taking me on as a patient, and primary care dr. refuse to prescribe any pain meds. so I'm f-cked. It's nothing less than inhumane and cruel to withhold pain meds from chronic severe long-term pain sufferers. period...and they plain don't give a FK.
Can you take medical marijuana ? I know people with great success. Myself I cannot due to cardiac issues.
@@MsLilBit8344 i partake daily!! thanks :) it does help a little...at least it's a distraction from the constant pain.
are you able to move to a state where thc is legal? switch insurance and dont disclose previous medical history with new docs
My brother taught me this when I was very young (May be around 10 - 12 years old) :-).
He was a basketball player and I have seen him getting injured but he would not cry. That puzzled me.
So one day, when I saw him getting injured in front of me but just shrugging it off; I asked how come you don’t cry when you are hurt?
He answered. If it would help reduce the pain, I would. But it seems the more I cry, the longer I stay in that pain zone. So I don’t.
It was a eureka moment for me since I would usually cry my heart out when I was hurt 😂.
I took them message to heart and actually started practicing and found that by not crying the pain duration actually got shorter and shorter, eventually feeling just momentarily pain for most injuries.
He taught me how to do this just by using the psychological side of it :-).
This talk shows other cool ways too :-).
This was (mostly) a trainwreck. Absolutely agree, though, that pusuit of becoming pain-free is not necessary nor reasonable. That is easily understood by recognizing that there are people who can't feel pain...a condition known as CIPA. For such people, they have not won the lottery. Rather than leading great lives, these people are in constant danger. It doesn't take great insight to understand and know that achieving a pain-free state isn't an objective worth having.
As for what the video fails with, there are several things. But the biggest misstep was a conflation that pain is a known subject matter and that it is a singular thing. That is decidedly not where modern medical science currently operates from. And the world's leading experts in pain certainly don't support such a contention. All the case examples discussed in this video were about issues related to acute pain. Treatments for acute pain are notoriously ineffectual when tried as modalities for treating chronic pain. By not broaching this distinction, the speaker left listeners in a position to come away drawing improper conclusions. That is a disservice. Not only for the listener. But probably more so for a listener's disposition as it might relate to a loved one's pain. "Science says all you need is some distraction whether by a vibrator or solving a challenging problem." No. Again, medical science has not arrived at that point. Pain is still a very challenging medical conundrum. One expert suggests pain is currently at a point of understanding similar to cancer before it was determined our perspective was way off base. It used to believed that cancer was a singular disease. Then modern science made the huge discovery that it was in fact multiple diseases. Cancers. All different and requiring different approaches of treatment. Until pain research achieves a breakthrough, it will be clamoring for its' cancers moment. With that understanding, you are now better equipped to help yourself and those around you when matters of pain are in play.
Thanks for watching. Pain is personal, and different for everyone. It takes multiple interventions to manage pain, that's part of what Amy emphasizes.
The point of Amy's talk is to advance pain management techniques to reduce opioids in circulation prescribed after surgery and used to address acute pain. The intention was to shed light on effective underutilized approaches to pain after surgery.
@@BuzzyHelps I am comfortable with believing Amy meant well. It's just the conveyance of the information she provided was done without sufficient nor necessary context. In fact, every medical ailment is personal. Pain is no different. That's an important aspect that wasn't (but should have been) incorporated into the presentation. There hopefully will be a time that we move substantially toward personalized medicine. Once that becomes common, it will undoubtedly be wondered how it was that people ever got better under the scatter shot regime we make use of today.
Well said, ty
I battled chronic migraines from the age of 13 through menopause. Given Percocet for a wisdom tooth extraction, and it never felt "amazing." In fact, no pain pill I have ever taken has "felt amazing." They either dull the pain, or make me sleepy, or both, and now I think I understand why I have always been resistant to addiction to narcotics. Whatever "reward" part of my brain that was *supposed* to light up from opioids....didn't? While my mother was just the opposite, heavy duty pain meds made her feel incredible. All this time, I just figured everyone else was lying...but I think the migraines burned out my reward centers. Have any studies been done in regards to chronic migraine and pain med resistance?
I know a woman whose doctor took her TENS unit because it had only lowered her pain from an 8 to a 2. She had been happy with the success of the unit and was devastated at losing it.
I think it's important to note that this is a researched method of decreasing pain in a lot of instances HOWEVER, if you need opioids for chronic pain from autoimmune diseases to hip displacement to cancer pain; opioids and other drugs may be very useful. It's just important to note the risks as well as benefits of using the drugs and using them for (x) amount of time. Could you maybe substitute this method of pain reduction instead of using a drug whether it's pharmaceutical or recreational? Maybe. Does it have to be one or the other? Not at all. You can use both. But before you make any decision, please talk to your primary healthcare team or your family medicine doctor about what the best course of pain management is for you.
I have chronic lower back pain from bone growths touching nerves. It's never a good day for me...I just take an Advil and live with the pain being slightly less for a few hours. It's a 12 hour pill that only last a few hours.........so I have to wonder how many people with daily chronic pain are "over dosing" on OTC pain meds because the relief from pain is very short lived. I don't do that myself, but I dont' know how I will manage if it gets any worse. There has to be a reasonable answer for people like me instead of shutting off all pain meds...they need to find a way for us to use them responsibly. I don't have an addictive personalty so for me it would not be a problem like i think it is for some. But we should not have to suffer for the few.
I feel compelled to qualify this advice because of my experience with a client I had to fire. She took pride in continuing to strive toward a goal...to such an extent that being successful at trying to be successful became more valuable to her than being successful. Her goals were noble, and she took so much pride at getting back up that when the world didn't knock her down she knocked herself down. She stopped being noble...so I fired her. Don't sabotage yourself.
There is good information here! Some people are put off by the presenter but as a chronic pain sufferer I will try this method. And you don't need to buy her product, you can find cold + vibration at home. :)
"You feel what you expect to feel" is just one of the very damaging statements in this TED talk. Assumes a level of control that isn't there, whilst placing the blame for pain squarely on the individual. Chronic pain sufferers like myself know we have no control on flare up days. No amount of meditation etc will help us. We just have to endure on those days.
This talk should have made a much clearer distinction between acute pain and chronic pain.
Not all chronic pain has a treatable/curable cause and needing certain type of medication support shouldn't be a shameful thing for anyone. Also, in what world do people give opiates for vaccination pain to children or spilling some hot coffee on you?
such a breakthrough even though we know this for all along onnly never really researched, tested and implemented
Thank you for watching! Paraphrasing a rather cynical joke here, "even if we found a cure for death, the system would not adopt it for 10 years."
Just watched "painkiller". That talk hits differently now
We agree - very hard show to watch, especially knowing the reality the "docudrama" depicts.
Dude. Ive had total knee reconstruction AND been a oxy/heroin even fent addiction bc of that surgery. I can promise you that knee surgery was THE MOST PAINFUL thing Ive ever experienced and no drug could even touch it. But after a couple days it was basically pain free completely.
However, idk if i could go through it again (yes i need a second reconstruction) without pain medication. But i am scared of the situation! Thats why I've avoided it.
Wish I had seen this years ago! Would have been a GREAT help! THNX!!!
Thanks
I have IBS - clicked this video as soon as I read the title. I NEED THIS
Thanks for watching - hope you found it helpful.
There are meditation techniques which mitigate pain & sometimes can change pain to heat & pressure which doesn't actually hurt.
She's got a touch of the meditation approach in her recommendations.
FWIW I used some of these techniques when I got the nose swab for COVID. It TICKLED. I tickled so much I released a bark of laughter.
Thanks for watching and for sharing your story. Tickled? Lucky you! Pain relief is personal and it takes trial & error to find the combination of interventions that works for you.
I have had IVs inserted from several nurses during my cancer treatment. There are great nurses and some not so good at inserting IVs.
Oh oh oh! I wonder what will be said, I always invoke intense anger as a mental block to pain. Seems to work for me!
You're just exchanging risk of cardiovascular diseases for temporary pain relief... Not a really healthy way to do it, but you do you.
Distraction, yes! Or perhaps focus? Either way, pain (and its management) is PERSONAL, so keep doing what works for you.
@@_justnick I’m 38 and can still run a sub 5 minute mile. I hit the gym 5 days a week and soccer once a week. Got a game tonight. I’ve also been in the medical field since I was 20. Your comment is ridiculous. But do go off.
@@BuzzyHelps certainly a form of focus!
I feel that!! It's not a technique I use very often, but I have definitely noticed that pain is more tolerable when I'm angry, lol. I wonder if this is related to the fact (apparently proven through studies) that cussing can help increase pain tolerance?
Unless I am incapacitated, I'd prefer to work through the pain. I work in an understaffed kitchen and I injure myself regularly.
I'm convinced distraction makes us heal faster as well but I'm sure data would prove it's more about our perception of time when we are distracted.
Tending to the source of the pain and realizing in your mind that only time can make the pain go away does most of the work.
Thanks for watching and for sharing your story - you've found what works for you, having a personalized plan is empowering.
Interesting that certain nerves respond to specific frequencies.
Thank you!
Great, I really like this show, I love you guys❤❤❤
Thanks for watching!
Thank you.
let me tell you something when you are in extreme pain nothing these people say is comfort OR deals with your pain. this not treating pain is cruel, unless you feel it you dont understand its effects. YES there are people who are more susceptible to addiction and lie about their pain to get high, but theres a great deal of people who either dont get high on pain meds or have a stronger will not to become an addict than the ones that do. TO let those people suffer in extreme torture because you remove the choice from them is unusually cruel. i have walked on a decomposing hip joint for over 20 years I know pain, yet in that time span ive not increased my dosage even tho its been offered, never pulled any games to get early refills etc etc yet im at treated like something stuck to feces because i cant deal with a decomposing major mobility joint without ANY pain medication.
im here looking for help because i almost cut my thumb in half with a circular saw today and the morphine i normally take for my hip isnt touching the pain.
Brilliant. Thank you,
You state that Ibuprofen works...I guess I'm one those people that NSAIDs, even at prescription levels, hardly do anything but promote ulcers. It seems your conclusion is over simplified but I do agree with the idea of distraction. I've experienced one pain superseding another. It seems the spine is bandwidth limited.
Great book: Dissolving pain by Les Fehmi
Its a shame how infiltrated pharmaceutical companies are in medical school. And that nutrition only get 19 hours of lecture. This leads to people relying on a medicine to treat symptoms instead of ever solving or even finding the root cause. Often the medicine exacerbates the root cause as well ( for example PPIs for acid reflux which just makes you reliant on something that makes you absorb less nutrients and makes it even harder to heal your gut ). I know many people need these drugs to function but its a huge problem with the system to not have more balanced training
Patient talks please allow me to go on your TED talk I promise I'll be nice but I'm going to be factual as a patient and I can read but these things that you are allowing me so-called MD's to come on and say and tell people that pains in their head.
So that's why I don't feel any pain when I'm dancing in the rain!
Do vibration plates work?
4:49 thought she meant for during the surgery 🤣
Thank you mam, I am recovering from my foot pain.
Hoping you find the right combination of interventions that help.
I'm having a focused ultra sound procedure for essential tremors. I found the first (right side) experience very painful. Now, waiting fir the left side procedure, I'm wondering if the Buzzy Bee could be put on me (outside) the MRI machine, even though it has batteries. Thoughts?
Good talk.
Pain let’s you know you’re alive!
Thanks for watching!
What if it is brain pain, e.g., migraine, which includes other body parts like explosive diarrhea? What of those of us with Cold Urticaria and Raynaud's, who can't tolerate cold with having an allergic reaction?
Thoughts on how this can be used for migraines?
Asking Amy - it depends on the type of migraine, I'll update here.
If experiencing a migraine or occipital headache with sensitivity to sound or aura, it may be best to use an ice pack alone at the base of the skull or where the pain is worse. If you do NOT have sensitivity to sound, you can use the VibraCool Extended, which includes an mechanical stimulation unit, ice, and comfortable strap. Put the vibration unit in the pocket on the strap, slide frozen ice pack under elastic bands, turn on unit and position at base of skull, and wrap strap around your head. Does this answer your question?
Amazing
In the real world, Ibuprofen does not work better than opioids. Just a fact on my body.
I have back and hip pain that Ibuprofen will not even touch.
I really wish it would!!😂😂😂😂
I would love to learn more about this. I've been diagnosed with IBS then had colitis and gastritis following a virus. Now I'm in constant pain throughout my entire gut area. How can I work through this with the methods talked about?
Depends upon how long you have had the colitis. With that, your doctor can help. If it persists and if tests reveal the need, you should have a surgery for that.
You should join an online community where these things are discussed. Also, you should try buying bodywear in which you can place ice-packs, and has inbuilt vibrators (rechargeable). Definitely could help with your IBS.
Also, based on the type of colitis, you could ask your doctor if it would be okay to take fiber supplements like psyllum husk, and also do exercises like squats and sit-ups.
For better sleep, maybe melatonin capsules.
If it is temporary (>50% cases), with all this it will go away (if you do consistently). Else, it will be suppressed with surgery. No need to be worried.
I wrote a blog about it, should be up on our website later today and added some abdominal-specific stuff for you.
Marijuana users have been saying that distraction works for pain for decades
What if your pain is internal where ice and vibration can’t reach?
It's very nice talk
Thank you for watching! We are glad it was helpful.
Opioid for a wisdom teeth removal?? Opioids casually at home? That's insane! :O Some companies really screwd the U.S. over. The only people I know who got opioids are a friend with major surgery and my sister with cancer...
Yep.. at 16 I was prescribed 30 oxycodone for wisdom teeth and one time I sunburned my eyes and they gave me two weeks worth of Percocet. People don’t realize that hospitals have patient surveys and receive ‘grades’ based on certain things and pain is always a major factor. The better the hospital performs, they receive awards and incentives, which also makes more people inclined to go there over others. So early 2000s-now (although I do know they’ve tried to crack down) doctors would throw opioids at anyone complaining of moderate to severe pain, and most of the time the patients had no idea how highly addictive they were. It’s actually terribly sad, because then the same patients whose addiction came from a prescription they judge when they come back in at rock bottom due to addiction.
@@Karoo3450Stunning... I knew it was bad, but 30 oxycodone for wisdom teeth? And Percocet for a sunburn (even a really bad one)?! Now I understand a little better why opioid addiction got so out of control in the US. But we cannot forget, as this speaker alluded to, that the pharmaceutical company had everyone convinced that there was absolutely no risk of addiction... so doctors really thought it was safe to throw these drugs at everything. What a mess.
We hope your friend and your sister are doing well.
@@Karoo3450 Thank you for sharing your story.
As a chronic pain sufferer for over 30 years I find the delivery here a bit flippant. I have five autoimmune diseases that cause severe inflammation, pain and disfigurement. I’ve had 22 surgeries. Without my pain management, using opioids, I wouldn’t want to live. Managing my pain allows me some quality of life. I agree that it’s unrealistic to think any medication will erase your pain without putting you in a coma and that pharma was highly negligent pushing oxy but let’s not swing all the way to the other side. I also find the mocking of certain truths like “staying ahead of your pain“ to be highly disagreeable. I’d like folks to be able to spend a week in my body and experience what it’s like and then see what they have to say. That said, I’m all for new non medication alternatives.
Exactly.
Yeah this kinda pissed me off tbh. I want good alternatives but are we really supposed to just accept that ibuprofen is as good as an opioid?
You got me at "chronic pain sufferer", "a bit flippant ", and "autoimmune disease." Really, suffer is a real experience. I get ya, 100% along the way. I will not even bother listening to this video because the actions of addicts have altered the course real chronic pain sufferers must endure.
And more than a little patronising too. This woman (I refuse to call her a doctor because she's not acting like one) is clearly only there to flog her product. This belongs on Dragon's Den, not Ted.
Understood. I have a chronic pain condition and if the nature of the pain hadn’t changed and caused me to have to find another response to it, I would be still be where you are. Without the option of surgeries since there was nothing overt to fix. She has some good points but I didn’t like the dismissive attitude either.
My pain is now controlled a different way than opiates, since the worst of it doesn’t respond to pain meds at all. But my pain isn’t yours and we got into this problem by treating all pain as being the same.
I didn’t think these talks were for pushing products.
I live in chronic nerve pain. The pushback against opiates has gotten so severe that the people who actually need home care with opiates can't get it. I agree there are a lot of techniques that can help manage pain, and I don't personally ever expect to be completely out of pain. I just would like to be in not enough pain that I can get out of bed and get dressed, instead of curled up in a ball wanting to literally die. The fight against opiate addiction has gone too far, and it's now actively harming people who need access to those medications.
AGREED!
Yes, it is inhumane what the “war on opiates” did to chronic pain patients. I know through a friend who had advanced rheumatoid arthritis as well as personal experience. I’m so sorry that you were caught in the middle of such a gross miss handling of patient care. I hope that you have been able to find a pain clinic or other doctor to help you.❤
Absolutely. I’m in the same position as you. My life quality is shocking due to rheumatoid arthritis and several other conditions. But the medical system denies us.
I agree! I have 12 herniated discs and my definition of a good day is “I am upright and breathing” - anything beyond that is a bonus! Getting opiates nowadays is downright impossible- my new pain doctor refuses to give me anymore opiates and wants to take me off the rest of my medications because “they are NOT supposed to be taken long term”. This new attitude about chronic pain treatment is beyond ridiculous - over the last ten years I have never doctor shopped or exceeded my prescribed dosage(didn’t even try to get the maximum dosage). I cannot get OxyContin anymore (20 mg 3X/day allowed me to get out of the house regularly) and rarely leave the house anymore because Lortab just doesn’t cut it, which I can’t get anymore either! What Life I have has become that much more challenging!
If you live in a state that allows medical cannabis, try it !!!!! I have fibromyalgia and was on up to 5 narcotics including fentanyl, OxyContin, and morphine. However, when I tried medical cannabis it was like night and day. Under the narcotics I was in a narcotic coma; when I tried medical cannabis I was more like myself. It does not take away all of the pain but it does help; it also helps with my anxiety, depression, sleep, and appetite all in one product!!!! Can Big Pharma say the same??????
Ten years of chronic pain, every day. One of the most absurd things I was told to do was go to pain management. It's all hype. I have gone for various treatments. Nothing has helped even a little. With each new procedure I am told to come in for consultation. That's a $35 co-pay for each visit. There is never any new information. Just their cash register going clink, clink. My doctor will not discuss pain with me anymore. Go to pain management, she says. I decided to just live with it and stay away from my doctor and pain management. Making that decision hasn't helped my pain but my dignity has returned.
Achieving "comfortable" for short term, manageable pain issues is one thing. When you're dealing with chronic pain, getting the pain down to a "tolerable" level is often the best that you can do, but in my personal experience, it's the endless, low-grade pain that's "tolerable" but _constant_ that really erodes one emotionally. If there are means to reduce those pains to something that approaches a normal pain-free state at least some of the time, then that can go a long way toward reducing depression and exhaustion of chronic pain sufferers.
This is ridiculous I would like to see her suffer only some of what so many deal with excruciating pain daily. She and her kind have stopped those of us who need pain medication not be able to get it.
Yeah. I always love it when someone who doesn't have chronic pain tells us all about how to ignore pain. (near fatal accident survivor)
So glad you're a survivor! Believe it or not, Amy has had at least 2 near-death accidents.
I wrote about it in other responses, but TBH my rotator cuff tears were more a source of "grind you down/I'm not me anymore" pain than either time I broke my neck. If you're not trying magnesium and 10 minutes a day of elevated heartrate to get your BDNF up, I guarantee you can feel more comfortable.
What is bdnf. I don't know medical jargon , can you use the words ? @@mmjlabs
I hurt to the point I am exhausted everyday. I don’t use opioids but have chronic pain. Kiss my butt with this. I work I have family I don’t have good health insurance. The thing that gets me is she is negating the very real pain someone is in.
Thank you for watching and for sharing your story. Pain is personal, and different for everyone. The point of Dr. Baxter's talk is to advance pain management techniques to reduce opioids in circulation prescribed after surgery and used to address acute pain. As Dr. Baxter said, “Options Give Power Over Pain”. The intention was to shed light on effective underutilized approaches to pain after surgery.
Wishing you comfort,
Jen for the team
Brilliant. Thank you, Amy Baxter.
As someone who lives with chronic pain, I am extremely thankful for you sharing this vital information. Hopefully Baxter's TED Talk helps bring about real change in the medical world regarding pain treatment and pain management.
Thanks for watching the video. So glad this information helped. Wishing you strength and relief along your wellness journey.
God I hope so.
Here's the thing. They said pain meds were the miracle, and they lied to us. How do we know that she isn't doing the same to sell her "vibration" bee?
@@shakeyj4523 no one lied. Opiates *are* a miracle specifically with respect to treating severe pain. Leg blown off in war? Inject me with opiates. The unintended consequences were just that: unintended and largely unknown for a while. When it comes to science we never need to _trust_ scientists, because we demand their data be made transparent, for other people to repeat the experiments to confirm the conclusions are legitimate (which is the bare minimum required for science) and then base our decisions on evidence. If a scientist lies, any other scientist (or even you!) can come up with an experiment that, if built well, can attempt to disprove their explanations.
It's not about believing or trusting.
It's about understanding.
If her vibrating product doesn't work, others will demonstrate that fact. And if no one tries to replicate the findings then it's not a legitimate scientific fact.
Amy Baxter here,@@shakeyj4523 . Mmmmm maybe because I very intentionally didn't mention the devices I actually make a profit on? Buzzy is a money loser I keep making reusable, with no disposable "Gillette" model. I neither quit practicing nor took investment for it because greedy capitalists would have hurt children with cancer or diabetes. Even that mention I only added after the TED people asked me to "talk about the bee". The items that could be profitable I refused to mention. We've spent 4 months on our site making resources available for people with pain or opioid use. And, perhaps, because no one ever died from a vibrating pain relieving bee.
Having opioid pain medication helped me handle my surgical recovery. I didn’t need to take it til I needed to but simply having it on hand meant I had a level of reassurance that was very important for me to get through something excruciatingly painful. I cannot imagine how awful it is for people to suffer chronic pain and have no treatment option today. We shouldn’t allow people to suffer this way and we shouldn’t allow addicts to dictate pain relief for the truly sick and injured who need and deserve pain relief as a patient right. No one is “coaching” patients and no doctor has five minutes to relate anything near what you are describing. Advil isn’t good enough but that’s exactly what people enduring recovery from major surgery are relegated to. I hope one day we have a true solution to pain that is safe and effective regardless of how it works. For now, however, we have drugs and they shouldn’t be withheld just because of a fear of addiction.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I came here to say this and you have articulated it perfectly. I have experienced pain relief being withheld and watched others go through this additional unnecessary trauma. Experiences like that stay with you forever and also destroy trust in the medical establishment. New understanding of pain treatment is fantastic but there is a moral and ethical imperative to accompany that message with a warning not to withhold pain relief from people experiencing acute pain. Unfortunately the hysteria around opioid addiction is causing an incredible amount of harm as a by-product.
There’s never a black or white situation, but having more options and education is going to save a lot of lives. I’ve had two spinal surgeries and live in chronic uncomfortableness, and I know from experience that there are numerous options to control my pain.
Thank you for watching and for sharing your story. Pain is personal, and different for everyone.
The point of Dr. Baxter's talk is to advance pain management techniques to reduce opioids in circulation prescribed after surgery and used to address acute pain. As Dr. Baxter said, “Options Give Power Over Pain”. The intention was to shed light on effective underutilized approaches to pain after surgery.
Wishing you comfort,
Jen for the team
Exactly. I have chronic pain from a genetic collagen disorder and if I could control my pain with an Ibuprofen or acetaminophen and live a life with even a semblance of quality at all, I would. My pain is so severe it requires an opioid and I am so tired of doctors and others outside this situation trying to “convince” me I don’t need it or deserve it. Without this pain control I would have taken myself out a decade ago. It’s hard to take the pain I have that my doctor won’t prescribe an adequate amount of opioids for but I’m thankful for what I have because the pain was so much worse before. I’m sorry there are opioid addicts and overdoses that takes people’s lives but that should not be dictating what is right for me and my pain.
AMEN!!! my pain dr. dropped me6 years ago after seeing him for 8 years. It is nothing bgut cruel and inhumane to not give pain meds to people that have relied on them for years to have a somewhat normal existence. ...and they wonder why people look for relief on the streets. I would never do that, given the fentanyl crap going around, but thankfully i have two friends that have relatives or themselves that are still able to get their scrip every month, and they sell some to me.
Opoids work for full body CRPS. Not 100% pain free, but absolutely help allow ppl with crps to have a life . Let's not deny use of opiods
I agree, fellow full body CRPS warrior ♥ It is the difference between no function and a degree of function, facilitating all other pain management. This conflation of two completely different demographics in the context of opioids has done such untold harm to so many so many severe chronic and intractable pain patients. It is truly heartbreaking.
I've lived (if you can call it living) with Chronic Myalgic Encephalitis (Yanks call it 'fibromyalgia') for thirty years and this charming lady is talking about acute pain, which to a person with chronic pain is like a shrink talking about depression to someone who is suicidal. And since there are tens of millions of people living with CME, I think we'd appreciate someone who was a little less entertaining and little more inclined to research what's destroyed our lives, instead of 'owies' from an injection or acute pain from surgery. I will say this about chronic pain....injections, venipuncture, and other unpleasant medical procedures are insignificant now. Yes, when I stub a toe or hit my thumb with the proverbial hammer it hurts like a M-F, but I have very little emotional reaction, since it's only a temporary amplification of what is a permanent state of being. Welcome to my world.
Thank you for watching and for sharing your story. Pain is personal, and different for everyone. The point of Dr. Baxter's talk is to advance pain management techniques to reduce opioids in circulation prescribed after surgery and used to address acute pain. As Dr. Baxter said, “Options Give Power Over Pain”. The intention was to shed light on effective underutilized approaches to pain after surgery.
Wishing you comfort,
Jen for the team
I have fibro and other nerve pain syndromes. Mind-body techniques have helped me a lot to reduce the pain. It's not a cure though, more like a constant management because our nervous systems are more "spicy" than people without chronic pain
Thanks for the perspective,@@nicolemarieb.7044 - this is exactly the frustration - for pain, there rarely is a cure, it's a management marathon. But if we don't expect a cure, but a balance of better days and accomplishing what we love, it's a win. My chronic pain is all from accidents, and sometimes is exhausting, but I'm sure no where as consuming as from a constant internal attack. That said, don't neglect oral magnesium, topical 10% menthol, turmeric, and other inflammatory modulators that can help!
Best TED Talk in weeks if not months... - and I watch all of them! Thanks for an amazing LifeHack!
You are too kind - thank you! Wishing you comfort, Jen for the team
Whew! What a lovely breath of fresh air. Thank you!
Absolute WORST TED Talk I have EVER heard! This woman is exactly what is wrong with our medical industry. Not everyone using oxicontin abuses it or becomes a heroin addict.
Let's not underestimate pain. Counting monkeys can only do so much. There is some truth in what she says but it's this sort if mentality which makes people scoff at other's pain. "It's all in your mind!" 🙄
Thanks for watching and for commenting. Pain is personal, and different for everyone. You already know that it takes multiple interventions to manage pain, that's part of what Amy emphasizes.
The point of Amy's talk is to advance pain management techniques to reduce opioids in circulation prescribed after surgery and used to address acute pain. “Options Give Power Over Pain.” The intention was to shed light on effective underutilized approaches to pain after surgery.
Wishing you comfort,
Jen for the team
As a chronic pain sufferer, this lady needs to walk a day in my shoes, she won't think it's funny then! Fuming about how people think it's in my head when they have never suffered themselves. I'm 45 and had those condition since I was 17! It's no joke!
This talk is not about chronic pain...
👍👍100% agree that "more comfortable" is a worthy goal!
I will probably never experience another pain free day; if I gave up on "more comfortable" I would only have "never comfortable" to fall back on 🤷🏼♀️
She obviously hasn’t met Real Pain.
Maybe if she had some accident and it causes chronic pain then she might understand. I feel like I’m order to speak about chronic pain you should probably suffer from it.
I have had severe nerve pain for six weeks due to a fall. I have been refused proper pain management and have actually become suicidal at times. I would rather be dependent on opiates than live like this
I’m so sorry to hear that and truly hope you get relief. Denying pain medication to those who need it inhumane.
Look into stem cells. Legit ones under live floroscopy, they do repair and are attracted to inflammation, sooner the better. Will be 5-7 grand if you have a surgeon do it , 4 if just a nurse that does it by anatomy, axis in Bellevue WA , call them. Ask questions, I know it's expensive but my pain started getting better after 8 weeks and has continued to heal the last year from a snapped lumbar ligament, that don't show on MRI but I couldn't bend over, PTSD and fear to a extreme point now I'm also trying to heal from. My husband helped me to physically , I met him after the injury, but do your research on them .... Good luck! I hope you heal fast, sometimes it's also time which is SO hard I know .... Blessings
Tell this to a kidney stone when you're crawling into a hospital😔
What a gaslight for those with chronic pain who live all day every day is diminished pain relief because of doctors running scared. Sad.
That's not what gaslighting means. For the true definition of gaslighting, look for the video by Psychology in Seattle - Gaslighting Questions.
I'm having trouble understanding the idea of 8 hours worth of drugs for a 1 second injection? I've never heard of anyone taking any drugs here in the UK for an injection, is this a U.S. thing? Lol, with a simple "shot" by the time you go "ouch"" the pain is over...
What about long term chronic pain? I’ve had 3 pain free days since 2016.
A combination of therapy, Ling term pain management drugs, and accepting the goal isn't "pain free" but "managed pain below the level where I am unable to be me" is what appears to be the scientific goal in most cases.
Must people aren't risky pain free, they just have learned to live with certain pain, either by limiting motion, ignoring it sll together (if mild enough), using drugs (often OTC), or (most likely) a combination not all 3.
There is a guy called Wim Hof. You should check him out.
Try aquatic therapy if you haven't. It helps a lot. This is more for or acute pain.
She didn't even touch on massage therapy or aquatic therapy. Very strange ted talk imo.
This was a great talk. I am 67 and have dealt with pain my entire life. When I was younger, it was from being abused. Older, from stress, PTSD, and poor diet, all undiagnosed. I KNOW I would love opioids, so I have never touched them. I have told my son, that I reserve opioids for when I am ready to die. Every day I learn more about how to deal with this. I wish I had known all this new science when I was younger, but we know what we know and forgive ourselves for what we don't.
Forgiveness is such a good anti-inflammatory
Ooh, I also recommend to you Building Resilience to Trauma The Trauma and Community Resiliency Models By Elaine Miller-Karas - It's intended for PTSD reversal from wars, violent trauma, etc. and is so useful for uncoupling the autonomic responses to the trauma of pain itself. This is a training book, not self help, but it is very digestible. Not my field but I found it easy to read and understand and apply. Thank you for your kind words.
Ibuprofen does not do crap!
As a sufferer of CHRONIC PAIN , for as long as I can remember. From unwanted bone growth in my vertebrae. I've tried VIBRATION. I have tried ICE. I have tried Vibrating ice.....it's distractions NOT pain relief/interruption. BEWARE;vibration causes MOVEMENT. You sound like one of those who've never,actually felt great pain. I bet you stubbed your toe,hopped to a chair and waited for the pain to stop before you tiptoed back to your 🌷 tulips.
Thank you for watching and for sharing your story. Pain is personal, and different for everyone.
The point of Dr. Baxter's talk is to advance pain management techniques to reduce opioids in circulation prescribed after surgery and used to address acute pain. As Dr. Baxter said, “Options Give Power Over Pain”. The intention was to shed light on effective underutilized approaches to pain after surgery.
Wishing you comfort,
Jen for the team
This video landed perfectly in my timeline.. Recovering from a surgery. It has empathy written all over it. This is so impactful for many to lead a better life.
Thank you so much for watching! We wish you the best possible recovery.
AI algorithms...
Hang in there, I hope your recovery goes well.
@@BuzzyHelps😮😮😮
Empathy? She's making people laugh after explaining her son's friend death for drug abuse...
This is exactly why cats purr even when they are in pain. Because those vibrations relieve those pain.
Oh, this talk was so educational as well as entertaining. Loved it.
“What you feel is mostly what you expect to feel.” Brilliant!
Thanks for watching!
I would have liked her to address back pain from spinal degenerative disease, if we're supposed to stop or continue the gardening for example, when we're stiff, inflamed and really hurting do we stop or carry on? because obviously we don't want to cause more damage.
Next TED Talk? I'll ask Amy to share any insights here. Jen for the team
She mentioned some people with chronic pain still require pain medication
I've been on that roller coaster since 2010 started with a bulging disc then it herniated which required surgery, by 2015 the degenerative spine turned to instability but I continued to carry on @ only 49yrs old,, and take one for the team so to speak, but it was hard to carry on or even walk for that Matter, I also exhausted all my options therapy, injections, ect and after multiple opinions I had spinal fusion, yet it didn't fix the problem long-term and I was forced to retire early, fast forward to 2020 and I had my 2nd fusion only a longer one this time and I'm still not right I'm sure my upcoming MRI will confirm I need a 3rd surgery but I don't want too even though I can't feel my feet among other problems, meanwhile those experts in the medical field cut off my pain meds several years ago (that we're working btw) and I was functioning fine for the many years I was on them along with a stack of documented medical files to backup my pain claims, it ultimately doesn't matter because too many Americans lack the willpower to police themselves and overdosed. So the FDA s solution it's just cut EVERYBODY OFF, and get a speaker to tell you that it's all in your head, but honestly if it gets much worse maybe I'll just quit the game and check out too before I hit 60, after all I'm sure the suicide rate is less than the overdose rate when you crunch the numbers so what's the big loss right? It's all a numbers game to the powers-that-be. Meanwhile all the sheep are force-fed the notion they need a government-sponsored covid shot along with boosters and forced to wear contaminated face diapers, instead of telling Americans to just stop eating junk food and take vitamin D and zinc to boost your own body's immune system but we all know big pharma doesn't get rich that way it's all about the money. How stupid have we become, answer just look at our own president😴 the biggest Pusher of them all allowing open borders and fentanyl to come rushing in like the sea... Dum dum de DUMB. Common sense just isn't too common anymore!! Butt what do I know? I just graduated from the School of hard knocks.🇺🇲✌️
I was just about to ask this same question.
I have scoliosis and it's really painful doing the smallest of tasks.
Hope somebody from ted can answer your question as I'd like to know too.
@@derekyosi of course tey do. this is just silly imo
I appreciate the effort however I feel that her attitude is inappropriate, condescending and dismissive. I didn't find her talk funny. I was not expecting a stand up comedy routine..
agreed
I have CRPS and while this seems great for acute and expected pain situations, I can only go through so much of life essentially distracting my brain with sensations and thoughts. I had untreated pain that likely lead to the chronic intense pain. I do believe this is helpful and has a place, but the huge pendulum swing away from reasonable pain treatment with meds is also harmful.
Thing is, opiods have limited evidence for chronic pain management, and they have a high addiction rate. Many other pain management drugs exist, though they all have risks.
You and a doctor need to evaluate the risks and the rewards and decide what is worth the risk. Generally, opioids are proven to work for short term pain management with a significant risk of addiction. Past short term, some combination of chronic pain management drugs and non-drug treatments are found, generally, to be most effective with reduced risks.
I have chronic pain in my ankles and my shoulder from previous injuries. The most effective way I have found to manage the pain is celebrex (or other NSAIDs) and distraction (keeping to busy to focus on the pain) with acetaminophen as needed when distraction doesn't work (like if I over exert myself by running to much) . That's not to say my method is perfect (NSAIDs carry risk, so does acetaminophen, ignoring pain carries risks too) but that pain management needs to be individualized, and you need to experiment (with your doctor's advice and approval). Zero pain also shouldn't be a goal, managed pain where the level is okay with you personally should be the goal.
I hope you find relief from your pain, and I hope you find that balance between risks and reward that we all are searching for.
I have a friend who was diagnosed with CRPS after a leg fracture in her early teens. I had total foot reconstruction around the same age due to suddenly developing club feet as a 13/14 year old. Despite multiple visits back to my surgeon with complaints of swelling, redness, intense pain, etc, he put in my chart at every visit that I healed perfectly. My friend believes it’s CRPS but I’m nearly 50 now and figure I’ll never know. Ice and cold are my friend now but for years I just had Raynauds and cold was intensely painful.
We've had children with CRPS place the cold/vibration proximal to extremities and get relief, which must be some kind of gate control override mechanistically (or they have huge placebo effects). Placing directly, of course, would be excruciating. I'm hoping someone studies this more thoroughly but you can probably approximate the concept with stuff you have (freeze a baggie flat with 2 Tbs water, for example and ace wrap proximally with some vibrating thing) and see if it helps any.
@@mmjlabs I have neuropathy and myopathy of unknown origin. I get severe pain in my lower legs where I cannot hold still or sleep. I have an oscillating car buffer with a foam lambs wool cover and that works great to alleviate pain. I wiggle or rock my legs and sometimes put them in a bucket of cold water - or my favorite is going into a cold creek up to my thighs - especially in the winter. Gabapentin has helped me a lot but the vibration from the car buffer and ice water is the best!
@@patientzero5685 Amy here - thank you for sharing! Have you also tried magnesium? Many chronic pain patients are deficient, and it's an all-around and specific nerve anti-inflammatory. If skin surface is hypersensitive, the 8% capsaicin patches (prescription) may be worth a try?
Very interesting to watch from someone who suffers chronic back pain. I totally agree it's a survival method to let us know that something is wrong with a certain area of the body, though sadly that area isn't always found. I hope the work you're doing changes the medical field so opioid use is decreased or not needed and perhaps find a way to stop or decrease the pain signals sent through the nerves. Good luck with Duo Therm and thanks for appearing on TED.
Thanks for watching! Sorry you have chronic back pain, hope you are finding interventions that give you comfort.
@@BuzzyHelps Thanks for your kind words, but sadly haven't found anything yet that has helped, after all the scans, different specialists and doctor's, physio & chiro's I've seen plus 2 trial stimulators and it's resorted to me constantly having to take pain medication which I hate doing. I'm hoping one day I'll find something that works.
Pain is caused my resistance to emotions and trauma. All suffering is a resistance to the present moment
@@Rob_TheOnethat’s pseudo intellectual Mumbo jumbo
Oh! I’m so glad they got rid of that useless, 0-10 faces scale. I have chronic migraine; my “10” is not the same as someone who has no idea what that is like.
Thanks for watching! Sorry you have chronic migraine, hope you continue to find ways to manage.
@@BuzzyHelps Thanks. The treatment options are amazing these days. This video will change lives. I really hope you get a lot of views.
Ive been suffering for the last 6 years and I have been under medicated since day 1 . To watch this woman who’s probably never spent a day in the kind of pain I go through speak so confidently about a subject she knows nothing about is sickening . Not everyone needs opioids, however to give them like candy to everyone and then now restrict them from those who need them is backwards.
@@gorgthesalty this 💯
Agreed. She’s indiscriminately talking about different kinds of pain as if they were comparable. I’m always skeptical when people do these talks about managing pain but my mind was open. Until she used her hot tea example as a good illustration of ways to manage chronic low-back pain. That really made me not take her entire talk seriously. Acute pain from an injury like the hot water on the ankle isn’t the same as debilitating, complex, chronic pain that drains you out of your mental and physical energy every second without knowing when it’s going to end.
One of our primary goals was to make it clear that it's the acute pain circulating opioids that are the scourge, not people managed on chronic opioids. That said - I've broken my spine once, my neck twice, I know how how having your ET Tube suctioned while you're awake feels (and Buzzy really helps that, actually). I've broken ribs twice, leg once, but the two most chronic painful things have been the rotator cuff biceps, labrum, and supraspinatus tears, impingement, and the periodic spasming of my neck that lasts for days. I understand when "pain wakes and exhausts you every day" and you don't know if you will ever do the things you love to do again that make you "you". I know hacks for chronic and acute pain, and I know they work for ME, but we're all different. I also believe without knowing that sickle cell, Ehlers danlos, and fibromyalgia/long covid would be harder to cope with... but I also do KNOW that we can all be more comfortable. I hope you feel better.
@@anb2526 so true! the coffee example was a "you can practice dealing with pain" example - there are LOTS of acute on chronic pain situations where I'll use different techniques, but the neurophysiology underpinning practice is applicable to both. Read the response I wrote below- this stuff helps anyone get more comfortable, but chronic pain from any source is work, and ongoing inflammatory diseases ... well, I don't pretend to have anything but respect for people who cope (Melissa v Fibromyalgia is a hero, as is everyone with SCD) and disdain for those who ignore. On our website I have links to a few articles I've written about how to get an emergency doctor (which I am) to take your chronic pain flare seriously. I am hopeful that the work on long covid, mast cell activation, microthrombi and circulating immune complexes will pay off for other chronic autoimmune and neuroinflammatory conditions.
@@gorgthesalty Agree. Multiple year long chronic pain situations, pain wakes you every day, always disrupts sleep, you don't know if you'll ever be YOU again pain. I'm grateful I have had and do have it to understand this topic better, and am REALLY grateful it's standing down right this second. I have the advantage of not being afraid of most things being fatal or forever due to my training, which no doubt makes pain more tolerable. With regards to your ENT pain -What you're describing sounds a lot like some pressure on a nerve that may be too small to see on an MRI, but possibly could be found with the right technology? there is something called the S1R (sigma1) "pain chaperone" marker now that can be radiolabeled for PET-CT scans. They are using it to find neuromas in people with phantom limb pain, or clustered locations of pain that could be treated. I found this trial at Stanford that is completed, but I know that's where they're doing this kind of work. NCT03195270 is the Clinicaltrials gov locator to perhaps learn which docs are interested and see if there are any new trials coming up.
I've learned nothing here. Thanks for wasting my time.
I was following along until she said that ibuprofen works just as well for tooth pain as opioids. That is wrong! Years ago I got Percocet after my wisdom teeth were out, and that relieved the pain and I could sleep. These days I get ibuprofen, and I suffer for weeks. I wish there was a way that I could make my doctors experience the pain that I'm in, maybe then they'd do something about it.
Great Ted talk! We need so much more research into treating pain without medications. I have Fibromyalgia and something I have learned over the years is fear is the key. If you lesson fear, you gain control. Fear steals control. Like part of what you said, if you can switch it from fear to aggravation, that's huge. Our brain is so powerful. But even though it is so powerful, dealing with chronic pain causes brain fog because so many of its resources are being used to "treat" the pain. Thank you for what you do!
Keeping in mind that everyone is different and different things may work differently for different people.
When my pain starts to get the best of me, I remind myself that my pain has nothing to do with danger, it is not a 'warning' pain but a chronic pain. I'm not too close to a stove or am I injured by something I need to get away from. It is an uncomfortable sensation but does not signify danger..
I turn my focus to other things, TV, a book, music, whatever works that day or night. I sometimes do some stretching because for some reason that seems to help some.
I sometimes get what I call face aches. I have no idea if this is the same as your pain but my whole or most of my face aches like a toothache. It isn't sinuses or a regular headache but it isn't a migraine either. My wife sewed me up some small pillows, maybe 5 or 6 inches square, she filled them with regular dry rice. If I put one in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, wrap a thin towel around it and then put it where it hurts most on my face, it eases the pain. Just be careful of how hot it is on your skin.
If you notice, I haven't said anything alleviates or stops the pain. Nothing does, ever. But, like what has been discussed here, it makes it more comfortable, easier to bear.
The biggest thing is to get your brain to realize that you don't need to be afraid. There is no danger that you need to get away from. If you can head in that direction, then it makes it easier to deal with.
Good luck. I pray some comfort for you.@@gorgthesalty
The brain fog is what gets me the most. I used to be a scientist but I ran into chronic neck pain from the bad posture required to work in laminar flow hoods and anaerobic chambers. I followed that mantra "pain is weakness leaving the body" and made the situation worse over the years. I can't think when the pain gets high but drugs do the same thing, so catch 22. Then my vision goes fuzzy. All I am at that point is a cloud of pain, which really triggers the depression and creates a feedback loop. I found TMJ frozen headbands are quite wonderful when cold is in order. Some days heat, some days cold, some days back and forth. BTW I love rice packs! If you ever need a quick one, just put some rice in a clean tube sock, tie it off, and nuke it for a couple minutes. (Don't eat the rice after)
Thank you for watching and for sharing your story.
Has anyone else noticed the comments supporting treating chronic pain without medication are from bots? Real people don’t think this way.
Well, I had fear when pain was rapidly increasing and I didn't know how to stop it. I did take strong aspirin but mentally worked on myself as well. I had to go with it instead of resistance. In one instance the aspirin made me throw up, which suddenly decreased the pain to a tolerable level.
Sometimes pain is so debilitating that narcotics may be the only choice.
This is very interesting and great. However what about when there isn't healing of the body! When there is chronic illness that causes chronic pain, one may have relief but not healing.
Thank you for watching!
I have suffered from chronic pain most of my 69 years, the only thing that has ever helped was learning about the true source - the brain NOT the body. Understanding leads to control, reliance on pills just helps the pharmaceutical companies. This is a GREAT explanation! Thank you, I hope more people enduring chronic pain would follow your advice.
Thank you for watching and for sharing! Sorry you have had so much pain. You already know this: All sensation happens in the brain. All pain is conducted on the same pain nerves. Understanding this may help us treat pain more effectively.
Pain is resistance to feeling emotion. All suffering is resistance to the present moment.
I hear you but you're oversimplifying pain sensation and not actually covering the main cause of pain which is nerve damage especially when the nerve damage is in the spinal column it can represent itself in any part of the body from where the nerve damage is below so I have nerve damage in my neck from a doctor quack that messed up my neck surgery and it caused me to have pain in both my feet and my hands as well as my lower back do you expect me to wear about 15 of those Buzzing Bees in order to live my life I think not all I'm saying is don't get everyone all excited for a miracle cure when you just have a Panacea fix
Good luck with Duotherm. I hope everyone will be free of pain
Thank you!
I broke my back T 3, 4, & 5 vertebrae about 12 years ago. I had a fusion surgery and my back is held together with 2 plates and 3 pins. I haven't had any prescribed opioids since about 11 years ago. No urgent care will prescribe them. I have been on a large Tylenol and Ibuprofen binge ever since, and now I am having to go to a liver specialist. Pain can be real, she just hasnt broken her back yet. OTC pain remedies are just as harmful when overused. Im sorry but you cant just think certain types of pain away. Im now 39 and I have let myself go over the past few years and stopped exercising. I have gained about 60 pounds which has made this worse on me. I barely want to get out of bed every morning. I think they need to focus on stop giving pain meds to people who "dont" really need it. She was right about over prescribing and it has started a war on opioids that has stopped me from getting help when I need it.
So sorry to hear about your pain. Her condescending attitude is horrible.
I want to try this! I am getting bilateral knee replacements next week! I wish I had seen this sooner, BRAVO! BRAVO! You are an inspiration.
Good luck with your new knees! Thank you for watching.
I m a high school student n have cervical spondylosis . My life's turned upside down coz of it ,i was a beboyi' dancer n a scholar but since this haven't been able to the bare minimum of what i used to do. My body's ability is not keeping up with my mental ability . I have tried almost everything possible in my circumstances .Now i just hope i can ignore it n focus on my studies
Great talk-practical, useful, funny, smart.
Thanks for watching!
I suffer from a chronic pain condition. But I’m also a doula, so I also have an profound understanding of the difference between pain versus suffering; the human body has its own pain relieving hormones, neo-endorphins. Gate theory methods, such as TENS, (and Buzzy) work really well in these situations; many pharmaceuticals actually inhibit the body’s natural pain response hormones. Opioids are equally only short term options; not necessarily because they are “addictive” in their own right, but because their impact on pain diminishes over time and use.
Unfortunately, gate theory options don’t really work for chronic and prolonged pain - it’s not about cost, addiction, tolerance or acceptance. I don’t strive to be pain free, but pain management in order to be able to function and do my job.
You can be pain "free," but it's more acceptance of the pain. Give it a hug you may be so surprised. It's here to teach you something. The suffering is resistance to the present moment. You're looking for Spirit... look inside and you'll find everything you need
I suffer from fybromyalgia, diseased and degenerative discs in my spine, hypermobility pain and osteoarthritis and I found this very interesting as after taking opioids for years they are no longer effective. I did notice that when I slipped one day with an axe and cut and bruised my knee (no stitches) the pain in the rest of my body subsided for many days. I would be very interested in links to this ladies published papers please and where I can get a grown up buzzy.
There is an all black version on Amazon. I'm still looking for some other format of it.
This is so much of the information I’ve been needing. Doctors and pain patients alike need to see this.
Thanks for watching!