Minimizing Your Mesothelioma Pain

By Dana NolanLicensed Mental Health Counselor

Pain and Our Mind

Do our thoughts, behaviors or attitudes really influence pain?

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ABSOLUTELY!

True or False

An injection hurts less if you look away from the needle entering your body?

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True or False

If a psychological intervention works at reducing pain, then your pain was not real, physical pain.

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True or False

A sense of self-control is associated with reduced pain.

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Paying Attention to Our Pain

Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall coined the gate control theory of pain in 1965. They said a ‘gate’

mechanism in the central nervous system opened to allow pain messages to the brain and closed to prevent

them getting through.

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Gate Control Theory of Pain

The gate theory says that as these pain messages come into the spinal cord and the central nervous system (before they get to the brain), they can be amplified, turned down or blocked out.

There are many accounts of how people injured on the battlefield or in sports games don’t feel any pain from their injuries until afterward.

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Gate Control (con’t)

When we feel pain, such as when we touch a hot stove, sensory receptors in our skin send a message via nerve fibers (A-delta fibers and C fibers) to the spinal cord, brainstem and finally the brain where the sensation of pain is registered. The information is processed and the pain is perceived.

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What Affects Pain Interpretation?

Emotional and psychological state Memories of previous pain Upbringing Expectations and attitudes about pain Beliefs and values Age Sex Social and cultural influences

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What Affects Your Experience of Pain?

Severe pain quickly gets your attention and usually produces a stronger physical response than mild pain.

The location of your pain can also affect how you perceive it. For example, pain in the head is harder to ignore than pain elsewhere in the body.

The location of pain in your body does not always indicate the source. For example, pain from a heart attack can be felt in the neck, jaws, arms or abdomen. This is known as “referred” pain and occurs when signals from different parts of the body converge on the same neurons in the spinal cord.

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Working Together!

Using nonpharmacological methods to cope with your pain does NOT mean that you also shouldn’t take pain medicine.

Pain meds and psychological/behavioral

coping strategies work together, not against each other.

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Nonpharmacological Methods of Managing Pain

Attention Diversion Changing Activity Patterns Altering negative pain-related

emotions

Source: Keefe et al. Psychological approaches to understanding and treating disease-related pain. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 56, 601-630. (Feb. 2005).

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Attention Diversion

Paying attention to our pain increases our experience of pain. Do you have any examples of injuring yourself

during a fun or pleasurable activity, but NOT feeling the pain until you notice the injury?

Watching an injection needle go into our arm increases the “pain” feeling

Patting or rubbing an injury or ache reduces the “pain” (This does not work on skin scrapes or cuts)

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Diversion Can Be Physical or Psychological

Examples of physical diversions:

Walking off a twisted ankle Shaking a finger you just hit with a hammer Rubbing an injection site Massage

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Psychological Diversion

Watching an engaging movie or TV show (a comedy or action/thriller, not a tear jerker!)

Socializing with other people Puzzles, computer games, video games Studies of virtual reality distraction during

medical procedures Relaxation/Hypnosis

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Psychological Diversion (con’t)

Hobby Are you ready for some football?! Humor and laughter releases endorphins

which overpower the pain experience in the brain.

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Changing Activity Patterns

Incorporating rest periods into your day Knowing your good and bad times of day, and

scheduling activities accordingly Have realistic goals of what you can

accomplish Schedule pleasant or fun activities as reward

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Negative Pain Emotions

Pain and our emotions are closely related

Our thoughts and feelings about our pain can affect our experience of pain

What meaning does our pain have to us?

What do we fear about our pain? Will our pain ever be less than it

is now?

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Challenging Our Negative Thoughts About Pain

Catastrophizing and helplessness increases our experience of pain

Increasing our awareness of our thoughts about pain, challenging those thoughts, and our ability to manage it can decrease the experience of our pain

Much of this work is done in counseling because each person’s beliefs and experiences with pain are individual.

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Take-Home Messages

Years of research and evidence show our thoughts, feelings and behaviors influence our pain experience

Combining pain medications with other coping behaviors or methods really do work

Pain is very complex, physically and emotionally, and should be treated with a variety of strategies

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Contact Information

1-800-615-2270

(800) 615-2270