Chances are, you or someone you know suffers from chronic pain. That’s the kind that persists for three months or longer. It’s often treated with surgery, injections, and narcotics. However, psychiatrist Daniel Amen developed a program that could potentially minimize or even eliminate the need for those treatments.
Back Pain
More than one if five Americans suffer with some type of ongoing pain such as knee pain or neck pain. The most common form is back pain. When a patient sees a physician for chronic pain, the doctor often orders an MRI for the patient, and if it indicates abnormalities such as spinal stenosis, degenerative or herniated discs, surgery tends to be the recommendation.
Dr. Amen told CBN News, however, when it comes to MRIs, the results can be misleading.
“Eighty percent of people my age, I’m 70, have abnormal back MRIs who have no pain at all,” he said. “Because whenever it’s your neck, it’s your knee, it’s your back, you go get an MRI, they’re always abnormal.”
To understand why people with abnormal MRIs can live pain-free, Dr. Amen examined where it all takes place – the brain.
“Most people don’t know that pain is ultimately processed, and lives, in your brain,” he said, pointing out the hundreds of thousands of SPECT brain scans at Amen Clinics.
Dr. Amen said the reason so many people with abnormal MRIs live pain-free is because healthy brains can develop workarounds.
“Your body is meant, as we age, to create routes around the pain and heal,” he said. “So if you get that one idea in your mind, ‘God created my body to heal,’ that helps.”
In his book, Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain: Breaking the Doom-Loop to Heal Both Chronic Physical and Emotional Pain, Dr. Amen details his program for natural healing that he recommends patients try before going under the knife.
“Surgery, and the care like I’m talking about, were compared to each other. Equally effective, but surgery had 21 times the number of side effects,” Dr. Amen said.
One possible side effect is of particular concern to psychiatrists like Dr. Amen.
“General anesthesia is not good for your brain,” he said. “Children who have general anesthesia have a higher incidence of learning problems. Adults who have anesthesia have a higher instance of memory problems.”
First Steps
One of the first steps in Dr. Amen’s protocol involves dealing with psychological issues. That can include repressed emotions, which often trigger or make pain worse.
Brain scientists like Dr. Amen tell us depression and physical pain activate the same areas of the brain, and travel along the same neural pathways.
“It’s like, why does Cymbalta, it’s a good antidepressant, well, why does it decrease back pain or neck pain? Because it’s decreasing that part – not in your back or your neck – but it’s decreasing those pain circuits, in your brain,” Dr. Amen explained.
Another link between physical and emotional pain is that people who are depressed or anxious tend to have thoughts that intensify pain.
“We smear the pain with fear, with darkness, with horror. And so we begin to imagine, ‘This pain is going to get out of control. This will always be with me. I will age badly. I won’t be able to work. I won’t be able to make love. I won’t be able to play with my children,'” he explained.
To make matters worse, that type of thinking tends to push people to temporarily numb the pain, intensifying it in the long run, “Whether it’s opiates or alcohol or marijuana or sugar,” Dr. Amen said.
The Good News
The good news is this type of thinking, and the actions that follow, can be reversed by addressing underlying feelings, such as grief.
“Because repressed emotions, particularly anger, drives muscle tension and pain,” Dr. Amen said. “I spend a lot of time in the book talking about how do you know if you have repressed rage and how do you get it out.”
Dr. Amen points to how God’s Word teaches us how to reverse wrong thinking.
“I love Romans 12:2, ‘Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,’ or Philippians 4:8, ‘Think upon whatever is true, right, good, lovely, worthy of praise. Let your mind dwell on these things,'” Dr. Amen said. “We have to train our brain, because so many people just default to negativity. And that’s not good for you, and it’s going to accelerate the pain.”
Supplements like Sam-E or saffron can also help calm the emotions.
From a biological perspective, it’s also important to take better care of the brain itself. That involves getting enough sleep, which can help the repair process, exercising to improve blood flow, and avoiding processed foods and drinks. Dr. Amen recounts how his own relief came after giving up diet soda.
“Recognize the triggers,” he said. “For me, aspartame is a trigger for pain, and so I broke up with it.”
While millions of Americans can obtain pain relief from surgery, pills, or injections, there is another, more natural way. That involves optimizing and balancing the brain, where pain is processed.
Related Stories:
Top Psychiatrist Recommends These Habits to Improve Mental Health
Proven Ways to Deal with Chronic Pain Without Using Opioids
DR. DANIEL AMEN: Staying Anchored When Grief Meets the Holidays
