A CASE STUDY - SELF DIAGNOSIS : NOTHING ‘WRONG’ I never get back pain. Ever. And although not particularly CV fit, at fifty-three my general body flexibility (due in part I believe to my Ba Gua Zhang training, and in the other part to a generally stress-free existence) is far better than it was when I was twenty. So it has been with interest that I have observed what started out two days ago as a gentle niggle on the back of my left hip, develop relentlessly into a full-blown pain in the sacrum which has reduced me to a shuffle and resulted in Lily (my dog) having to tie my shoes. Today, my legs hardly feel as if they will support me. So what’s going on? I haven’t had a fall, or been involved in a RTC. I’ve played my drum kit with no greater verve than usual, and have moved a few light boxes around the house to prepare for my imminent house move. Aha. There it is. Today I get the keys for my new place. This move has been a stretch both financially and organizationally, and I have both worried and felt fearful about the wisdom of embarking on such an endeavour at this time and at this time of year, although in my heart of hearts it feels bang on. So... back pain? As we (now) know, pain is an output of the brain, not an input from the body. The input received by the brain from the body is one of threat, not of pain. Upon receiving information regarding threat, the brain then decides what kind of output it needs to create under the circumstances. That may or may not be pain. So is my brain receiving messages of threat from my body? Clearly. What kind of threat? There’s excessive muscular tension for sure. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve felt both excitement and apprehension which has produced a low level abdominal discomfort - ‘butterflies’ (actually big mofo moths) in my stomach. And now, a ‘locked’ sensation in my sacrum and low back. If I attempt to move quickly, it feels as if something will break. So there’s the thing. Threat for sure. And what of the ‘worry‘ and ‘fear’? Threats also, received by my brain from both the arousal in my biochemistry, and the catastrophising content of my own mental processes? I would say so. The end result is a slowing of my pace, great care in movement, a general heightening of attention, and a change of the well-laid plans that I had for the house move. It feels to me that if I move slowly, and move gradually, then all will be well, and the pain will reduce. If I rush and remain attached to the way that I thought things were going to happen, the pain gets worse. Like I unwittingly (and unconsciously) applied my own ‘inner brakes’, and the cascade of braking effect in my body just got worse and worse, all due to information being received and perceived as representing a threat by my brain, and my brain doing just the very best it knew how. Good brain. So Has my Sacro Iliac joint gone ‘out’? My pelvis become wonky? Do I ned a chiropractor right now? Massage therapist? No (it cant), no (thats not relevant), no and no. What I do need is to pay attention right now, pace myself, and offer myself gentle reassurance that in both the short and long terms, that all will work out just fine, in order to reduce the perception of threat, so that my brain feels OK about reassessing its output over the next little while. And as I today collect the keys for my new home, and begin to realize what a fine decision I’ve made, I’m sure all will begin to return to optimum operational status shortly. Because there’s nothing ‘wrong’.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 16:05:08 +0000
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