{"id":4292,"date":"2013-03-05T08:00:28","date_gmt":"2013-03-05T13:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/doinglifetogether\/?p=4292"},"modified":"2013-02-22T10:27:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-22T15:27:00","slug":"guest-blog-dr-rita-hancock-on-hope-for-pain-sufferers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/03\/guest-blog-dr-rita-hancock-on-hope-for-pain-sufferers.html","title":{"rendered":"Guest Blog: Dr. Rita Hancock on Hope For Pain Sufferers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest blogger Dr. Rita Hancock, Board-certified Pain Management, treats people holistically. Author of Radical Well-Being<\/span> and The Eden Diet<\/span>, you can find out more about her at her website, www.RitaHancock.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>As a pain management specialist, I see patients on a daily basis who have pain conditions like fibromyalgia, arthritis, disc problems, muscle spasms, jaw pain, migraine headaches, and others.<\/p>\n

In order to figure out who needs what kind of treatment, I talk with my patients extensively, examine them thoroughly, and order all the necessary tests. However, sometimes, no obvious diagnosis emerges and I\u2019m left scratching my head about what\u2019s causing the patient\u2019s pain.<\/p>\n

Especially in light of the high rates of addiction and prescription narcotic abuse, I try very, very hard to discern who among my patients needs narcotic pain medicines and who needs emotional or even spiritual support, primarily.<\/p>\n

One of the main things I consider is how the patient\u2019s emotional state\u2014how much stress, anxiety, and\/or depression that person is experiencing\u2014can affect his or her perception of pain. Maybe the tests came back negative because the patient has only a little muscle spasm, and it just feels<\/em> like excruciating pain to the patient because of other things that are going on at home or at work.<\/p>\n

Think about it! There\u2019s a difference between pain and suffering. Pain is the physical aspect. It\u2019s when your nerve endings fire and tell your brain, \u201cHot stove! Quick\u2014Pull your finger away!\u201d In contrast, suffering is your emotional reaction to that pain. \u201cAAAAAaaaaarrrrrrgghhhhh!!!!!!\u201d [piercing, exaggerated, melodramatic screaming and crying\u2026.]. \u201cMy life is ruined now that my finger is burned! Where\u2019s that bottle of pills?\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an anxious or depressed person who was abused, neglected, or abandoned as a child, you may have fewer coping skills as an adult to deal with stress. As a result, you might experience physical pain more profoundly [or dramatically] than the next person, and you might even more inclined than average to reach for those pills.<\/p>\n

In addition, understand that physical pain can serve as a distraction from your emotional issues. It feels less personal to fixate on, \u201cMy back hurts\u201d instead of, \u201cMy life feels completely out of control and I\u2019m scared!\u201d Your brain can play tricks on you\u2014making you fixate on pain as being a bigger problem than it is. That way, you don\u2019t have to deal with more emotionally threatening thoughts.<\/p>\n

\n

In case I described you, don\u2019t worry. There\u2019s a lot of hope for you to feel better. \u00a0Through a combined approach that includes not only the proper medicine but also counseling and prayer (as well as extending forgiveness to those who hurt you in the past), you can achieve greater control and freedom from emotionally-induced pain.<\/p>\n

That way, you can snuff out your pain out at its emotional root cause\u2014without having to rely on addictive narcotics or expensive, painful, time-consuming medical tests prescribed by pain management doctors like me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest blogger Dr. Rita Hancock, Board-certified Pain Management, treats people holistically. Author of Radical Well-Being and The Eden Diet, you can find out more about her at her website, www.RitaHancock.com   As a pain management specialist, I see patients on a daily basis who have pain conditions like fibromyalgia, arthritis, disc problems, muscle spasms, jaw…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[925],"tags":[2075,2076,2082,2081,2074,2077,2079,2072,2073,2080,2078],"class_list":["post-4292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mintle-mentions","tag-arthritis","tag-disc-problems","tag-dr-rita-hancock","tag-emotional-pain","tag-fibromyalgia","tag-migraines","tag-pain-and-depression","tag-pain-management","tag-pain-sufferers","tag-physical-pain","tag-stress-and-pain"],"yoast_head":"\nGuest Blog: Dr. Rita Hancock on Hope For Pain Sufferers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2013\/03\/guest-blog-dr-rita-hancock-on-hope-for-pain-sufferers.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Guest Blog: Dr. Rita Hancock on Hope For Pain Sufferers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Guest blogger Dr. Rita Hancock, Board-certified Pain Management, treats people holistically. 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