The Problem with Tolerating Pain
It wasn’t until nearly 5 years working frontline in the emergency services that I realised that I had a high pain tolerance. It was halfway through a shift at work when I asked around for some Nurofen because I’d run out and my back was hurting and aching. My supervisor could see that I was in a lot of discomfort, and said that there are special harnesses that you can wear that carry the equipment, and support the back. He was really supportive and referred me to an Occupational Health specialist to request one.
At the appointment, the nurse asked me out of 10 how much pain I was in, where 10 is the worst pain. I said that the pain moved between 8 and 9 as I sat there with it being 9 when random triggers of sharp pain flare. She was shocked at the amount of discomfort I was sat there in. She looked at my history of scoliosis from childhood and I shared my story. Whilst she praised me for my ‘grin and bear it’ attitude, it was her reaction to me sharing how much pain I’ve been working in that caught my attention.
I’d never really thought that I had a high pain tolerance. Having that time to talk to someone about what was going on for me was rare. My work was full-on, vigilant on patrol focused on my surroundings, I was always busy and I was one of those people that my friends and family shared their problems with me. I was the one who supported everyone else, everyone else’s problems seemed far worse than mine and more important. Of course, that wasn’t true yet in the moment when I would be about to eat my dinner, a friend would call in distress and want my help.
I realised that a combination of my mindset, attitude and beliefs, and not prioritising my self-care, led me to suffer chronic pain and accept it as the norm. Yet the problem with tolerating chronic pain is that it can make other aspects of your health worse. It affected my sleep, my mood and my ability to cope with stress effectively. Tolerating pain can have a domino effect on disrupting your health. Research has demonstrated that people who are living in pain are more likely to experience depression. Pain can also cause fatigue, missed work, increased disability and decreased quality of life. And yet, chronic pain is solvable.
You can make significant progress when you change your goal from pain management to pain recovery. When you address the root cause and address the core four aspects of the body; the mental, emotional, physical and consciousness your life no longer needs to be about suffering long-term pain. I’ve helped people in numerous situations from injuries to medically unexplained symptoms. And I can help you too. Your pain is meant to be temporary. Your health transformation awaits.
Do you want to switch from pain tolerance to pain recovery and healing? Book a Pain-Relief Breakthrough session with me today to get my insights, personalised to you and your health.
Join me at my free online talk, From Pain to Freedom, live on Thursday 13th May at 8pm BST (British Summer Time). Details and to register here
