Why Relaxation Is So Good For Persistent Pain?

Natasha Nicholas, Clinic Director, Three Points Clinic

2 min read

Keywords: pain; relaxation; stress response

Relaxation seems like an easy thing to do until you try to relax – then it seems impossible. This can be especially true when you are experiencing discomfort or pain. When you are in pain, finding stillness not only seems impossible but is also the last thing you want to do.

Relaxation has been clinically proven to reduce pain and improve the quality of life of people that suffer from chronic conditions that cause persistent pain (D’Souza et al. 2008). Studies have shown that relaxation training and activities such as yoga, meditation, and pranayama ( breath work) down-regulate the nervous system and initiate a relaxation response; reducing the experience of pain and increasing the ability to tolerate pain, in people suffering from headaches (D’Souza et al/ 2008), Osteoarthritis (Morone & Greco 2007), Fibromylagia (Menzies & Kim 2008) and back pain (van Tulder et al. 2006) among many other forms of persistent pain.

So why is relaxation so helpful? As to begin with, the relaxation response switches off our stress response, allowing our body to move into a parasympathetic rest and digest state. Here our body can use its resources for processes conducive to healing such as digestion, repair, growth, and immune functions.

When we switch off our survival state we are also able to better tap into our inner resources and cognitively manage our experience of pain. In addition, the protective messages our neurons send to our brain that create a pain response also have an opportunity to down-regulate. According to Clinical Psychologist Kelly McGonigal, the relaxation response teaches the mind and the body to rest in a sense of safety instead of feeling familiar with chronic emergency.

Relaxing during pain can be difficult but it is the ideal time to practice relaxation. Relaxation is a practice, so it is something that as we do with consistency we train our nervous system and our mind to allow ourselves to relax with more ease and to reach deeper states of relaxation. Even if the experience is not as blissful as it could be if you were not trying to manage pain, you will experience some of the benefits immediately. Relaxation teaches the mind to separate the sensations of pain from an emergency response , which is why it helps, even if it doesn’t take away all the pain. This gives you a sense of control over an “ entity that you may have felt powerless over. Being able to relax, switch off the stress response and switch on the relaxation response can act as a circuit breaker in the flux of distress and pain – a biofeedback loop where pain causes distress and distress worsens the pain.

Practices such as Restorative Yoga, Meditation & Mindfulness, Breathwork, and relaxation “training” exercises are clinically proven to for reducing and manage pain. Reach out to Three Points Clinic if you would like information about our Pain Clinic, our 1: 1 Clinical Yoga Sessions, or Group Restorative Yoga Sessions. www.threepointsclinic.com