It is widely recognized that our health beliefs and attitudes can have a significant impact on our pain perception. In clinical studies, when patients reported feeling safe, they had lower pain responses. This suggests that our pain response is related to our mental state and beliefs. When we feel safe, our pain threshold is higher. However, the alternative is true as well, when we feel stressed or threatened, we pay more attention to pain, and it feels more intense. We can all relate to this scenario where everything is going fine and then something stressful happens at work, or a loved one gets sick, and then all of a sudden, your back pain (that had been completely under control) is aggravated.

There are many factors that can impact our body’s ability to tolerate and manage pain. For example, when we are in periods of higher stress, when we are not getting enough sleep, and when we aren’t fueling our bodies with the appropriate nutrients, we are more susceptible to pain.

Additionally, one of the main factors of our pain experience is our beliefs. When we believe that our bodies are strong, resilient, and capable of healing – our outcomes are better. If we cope with pain or injuries by focusing on factors we can modify and control (like sleep, nutrition, and graded activity), factors that we know can have a huge impact on recovery, then we will heal faster. For this reason, it is important to take a holistic approach to addressing pain.

It is a common belief that staying off and resting an injury is the best way to heal and get you back to your normal activities pain free. While initially resting for the first 24-48hrs can be beneficial to calm things down, you want to start finding tolerable movements to help strengthen and improve capacity in the injured area. If you can show yourself that you can move without a pain response and learn that it is safe and beneficial to move, you will have a better outcome.

Knowledge is power and movement is medicine. Don’t be afraid to take a deep look into your health beliefs to recognize the impact they may have on your recovery – and seek help for additional guidance and support.

Resources

  1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/ science/article/abs/pii/ S0304394012004090  
  2. What do patients value learning about pain? A mixed-methods survey on the relevance of target concepts after pain science education – PubMed (nih.gov)  
  3. Factors associated with the low back pain-related attitudes and beliefs of physical therapists – ScienceDirect  

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