The Number One Thing Present In Long Term Pain
The number one thing I see very consistently in cases of long-term pain is vagus nerve down regulation. The vagus nerve has become more prominent in rehabilitation which has moved on from purely movement-based therapy.
Pain is our body’s way of telling us a certain area is coming to the end of its ability to deal with mechanical or chemical stress. Let’s say you work on your movement a lot, do a lot of strength work, eat well and are active but you’re still experiencing pain. Maybe you’re not suffering mechanical stress but in fact a chemical imbalance leading to a stress response resulting in pain. The vagus nerve will very likely have a part to play in cases of ‘chemical’ pain.
What Is The Vagus Nerve?
It controls your chill and relax system, your heart rate and has the ability to sense and supress inflammation throughout your body.
You have an internal battle between the fight and flight and chill and relax systems in your body. Often in cases of long-term pain this battle is being won by the fight or flight system. This results in you feeling constantly stressed, making you fatigued and in some cases chronically inflamed.
You may experience random pain often accompanied by cramps. Some things more consistent than others but you cannot really pinpoint why. In periods of high stress, you notice your pain gets worse and stomach pain is sometimes present also.
Does Movement Still Matter?
Hell yes! Often certain movements will still amplify or dampen pain response so is still very relevant in all cases of pain. Movement is vitally important and across the board it is accepted that the more you move the less likely you are to experience long term pain. However, when you’re in a rehabilitative state your body needs to move in a calming way, associating movement with relaxation, taking your time to breathe into uncomfortable motions and not creating a fear avoidance mentality.
If you’re trying to rehabilitate yourself from injury DO NOT do the following – move into places that hurt like hell, have a ‘no pain, no gain’ mentality, stop moving altogether. DO what you can, when you can, move into places that might feel uncomfortable but not painful, walk before you can run (literally and figuratively).
What Can You Do To Improve Vagus Nerve Function?
- Bitter foods – grapefruit, lemon, radish, rocket, artichoke, dill, ginger, olives, broccoli, dark chocolate.
- Meditation and long deep breathing
- Low level cardio – long relaxing walks
- Cold water – there is a huge amount of literature to support the use of cold water techniques in stimulating the vagus nerve. This can be done by drinking and / or gargling ice cold water in the morning, placing a cold flannel on your face or a cold shower (however recent studies suggest a cold shower doesn’t upregulate vagus nerve anymore than the previous two… I know what I’d rather!)
There are hundreds of others but these are my favourite options which I try to implement myself. There are anatomical ways in which we can improve vagus nerve tone but I save them for the clinic as they can be quite specific to you as an individual depending on multiple factors.
Remember it is all connected,
Ben
Call – 07745 039 485
Email – Ben@BenFedrickInjuryTherapy.co.uk
