One of the primary reasons that chronic pain doesn’t resolve is that the cause of the pain isn’t being addressed.
Surprisingly, most chronic pain is driven by brain circuits that are stress-induced. One scenario is when we’ve had pain for a period of time the brain can remember the pain.
The best treatment for stress-induced pain and other stress-induced symptoms that are etched into the brain is going to be some form of stress management as opposed to a symptom based treatment. Until the stress-induced brain changes are addressed many conditions simply linger.
Over the years I’ve found that including the stress management or self-regulation tools greatly enhances the effectiveness of acupuncture or any other therapy.
The following brief questionnaire is designed to help you determine if your pain or symptoms stem from a stress-induced, limbic brain impairment. Certain character traits and illness patterns are highly predictive for stress-induced and brain driven illness.
- Have you noticed a relationship between your pain and your emotional state or stress level just prior to the onset of pain?
Definitely 2
At times 1
Not really 0
- Would you describe yourself in general as: very hard on yourself, highly responsible for others, very thorough, orderly or perfectionistic?
Definitely 2
I’ve noticed some of these characteristics 1
Not really 0
- Have you suffered from other tension-related illnesses such as: • hives, eczema, rashes brought on by tension • spastic colon, irritable bowel, gastritis, reflux/heartburn • tension or migraine headaches • unexplained prostate trouble or pelvic pain • TMJ, teeth grinding, plantar warts
Definitely, two or more categories 2
Yes, at least one 1
No 0
- Have you been told regarding the cause of your pain that “there’s nothing that can be done surgically,” “there’s nothing wrong”, “it’s a soft issue problem” or “the cause is degenerative changes”?
Yes 1
No 0
- Do you spend a fair amount of time during the day thinking and worrying about your pain, researching an answer, obsessing about its cause?
Yes 1
No 0
- Have you tried several different treatments or approaches for your pain and received only temporary or limited relief from each of them?
Yes 1
No 0
- Do you find that massage helps your pain significantly or that you are quite sensitive to massage in several parts of your back or neck?
Yes 1
No 0
Total Points: ________
Key to total points:
Highly probable 7-10 points
Possibly 4-6 points
Probably not 0-3 points
Additional Questions (don’t score these):
- Does the pain ever move to another location in your body or jump around? ______ yes _______no
- Have you noticed the pain improve when you have another tension-related illness? ______ yes _______no
- Has the pain significantly changed or gone away while on vacation, away from home, or while distracted? ______ yes _______no
A significant score suggests that you’d benefit from a mindbody approach to healing.
The core tenet of most effective mindbody approaches is that avoiding, ignoring, or suppressing negative thoughts or feelings fuels the symptoms of pain or illness.
A stress management program with a major focus on developing the ability to become aware of and accepting of all thoughts and feelings is ideal.
An approach of that sort heals the whole person.
Steven Templin, D.O.M., Dipl. Ac. specializes in Acupuncture and Limbic Brain Reprogramming to address the roots of chronic pain and illness. He offers a comprehensive mind-body program for addressing the underlying inflammation, toxicities, and stress-induced causes of most pain and illness.
He places special emphasis on resolving the stress response and repairing adrenal gland and digestive system function to address the root causes of many common and often difficult to treat illnesses.
He translates emerging research in the fields of Epigenetics, Energy Psychology, and Functional Nutrition into effective practices that you can perform at home.
You can work with Dr. Templin in his Lakeland office, or online. You can visit his website at www.stevetemplin.com and contact him via email at drtemplin@gmail.com.
You can schedule an office visit with Dr. Templin by calling 863-838-2779.
Steve is a retired Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture Physician, and HeartMath Trauma-Sensitive Certified Practitioner with over 35 years of clinical experience in Energy Medicine, Energy Psychology, and Biofeedback.