Treatment Options for Painful, Recurring Headaches

Posted on: 19 November 2015

Chronic pain is something that affects 100 million Americans, but pain is not something that affects everyone the same. If you struggle with chronic pain, the way it affects you has a lot to do with how your brain processes and handles the pain in your body. You can turn to a variety of different treatment options for managing the pain, but some options are less common than others. Visual imagery is one of these options you could try. It is completely natural and may have a positive impact on the way you feel. Here are three things to know about using visual imagery for pain management.

What Is Visual Imagery?

Taking pain pills is one of the most common ways that people manage their pain, but relying on pain pills for the rest of your life is not the healthiest treatment. Visual imagery involves finding ways to truly relax and focus your mind on good thoughts rather than negative ones associated with pain. It often involves painting good images in your mind, and then thinking about those good images. This technique dates back to Ancient Egyptians and Greeks. People during this time strongly believed that the mind had the ability to stop all pain. They also believed that using imagery could be enough to heal the body of illnesses and diseases.

How Does It Work?

Research continues to show that using visual imagery can help a person find relief from his or her pain, and the reason for this involves the control people have over the way their bodies perceive pain.

When you experience pain, there are two systems in your body affected by this. The first involves the nerves in the areas where the pain is felt. These nerves tell your brain where the pain is occurring and how bad it hurts, and the second system affected by pain involves your emotions.

When your body begins to hurt, your emotions will kick in and give messages to your brain. They may tell your brain that the pain is not a big deal, or they might continuously send messages telling your brain how bad you feel and how extreme the pain is.

The theory behind visual imagery is that you have the power to control how your brain perceives the pain. On an average day, you may have over 10,000 thoughts and messages going to your brain, and many of these are negative. If you can learn to send your brain good thoughts, your pain might slowly begin to dissipate.

How Can You Do This?

If you would like to try this method of pain management, you should find a place in your home that is quiet and free from distractions. You can sit or lie down, and you may want to close your eyes to help your brain focus.

Next, you should paint a good picture in your mind. This might be a picture of you lying down on the sand at the beach, or it could be a picture of you eating something that is absolutely delicious. As you paint this picture, focus on the emotions involved in the scene. Look for all the small details. Think of every positive factor of the situation.

You could always purchase CDs designed to assist people with this, and you could visit a pain management clinic for help.

There are many ways to find relief from chronic pain, and you might want to try visual imagery. To learn more about other forms of pain management, contact a clinic, such as those found at http://www.pottershouserx.com, in your area that specializes in helping people control their pain.