How your pain gets in your head. Central sensitization and the development of chronic pain.
I’ve always been fascinated by pain. We can’t see it. We can’t measure it with a test. And in a medical world where we barely listen to the patient experience - this presents a big problem. The other problem with pain (well, one of the other problems) is that when pain lasts a long time, our brains change. And in a medical world where you wait months for support - this presents another big problem. Today’s podcast is about pain and I’m joined by Dr. Kirstie Grifiths, a Chiropractor and yogi (who you can find at @thechiropracticyogi who is on a mission to help people understand the red light, yellow light and green light around movement and body pain. There are moments where pain is a red flag (STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING) and there are many moments where pain is a green or yellow light (keep going!). Patients are often educated to stop moving when they have any pain - which increases the likelihood of exercising less over time (and further worsening their pain) You can see the problem. We have an amazing conversation about chronic pain, how pain changes your brain and how to know when to keep moving despite your pain. Kirstie has multiple offerings for patients looking to reduce their back pain that can be found here (free yoga for back pain) and here (Online yoga for back pain program) or you can grab them from her Instagram profile at @thechiropracticyogi https://www.instagram.com/thechiropracticyogi/