Taboo Subject - Pain

Isn't it interesting that no one wants to talk about this subject. Why do you think this is? For that matter, just what is pain? It is a subject that we are going to discuss today.

Over the course of years I have met people who look old only to find out that they are a lot younger than I am. I have met people who don't seem to function well. In the last few years I have met some who would just as soon turn in their "life" card and leave the planet. One person that I know is sure that she has a job waiting for her on the other side of death and here she lives a life of pain and hopelessness.

I didn't understand a lot of these feelings until the last few months. Pain is something I wake up with and go to bed with everyday lately. So what is this thing called pain? Pain is the response that nerves send to the brain to tell it that something is not working the way it was designed to work. It is the door bell that is ringing in hopes that someone or something will come to its rescue.

What do most people do when they are in pain? They shut off the door bell without opening the door to find out what this cry is all about. I could start taking pills that tell my brain there is nothing wrong. So instead of trying to repair what is wrong, we just tell the brain that nothing is wrong and continue with life.

What if I were to do this with my knee? I tell my brain that whatever is not functioning is really not there. Then my brain says, "Ok, if nothing is wrong, you can do……" Now, I decide that I can lift heavy things using my legs, because remember the brain is not aware that my knee has a problem. So without fixing the problem, I compound it by adding injury to what is already not working.

The alternative is to find out what is wrong and fix it. The body is capable of rebuilding but it won't do this without nutrition. Can I rebuild my knee with soup? Maybe if there are enough building blocks in the soup to do this. Can I rebuild my knee with Steak and baked potatoes? Again, maybe but we need to get all the nutrition in the body so it can choose what it needs. How do we do this?

My mentor told me that we need five things, Fruits, Vegetables, Whole grains, Nuts and Seeds. So what happens if I am not eating whole grains or seeds? Maybe I will be missing some of the minerals that seeds provide? Maybe I will be missing some of the chemicals in Whole Grains that are needed to rebuild cartledge?
In my way of thinking one can eat just about anything but it needs to be varied all the time. Each food gives the body 50 or more things that it might need. The next food will give it 50 other things that it might need.

Right now everyone is pushing protein, thinking that meat is necessary. Meat is OK, I am not a vegetarian but just about all foods contain some protein. There is protein in fruit and vegetables as well as everything else.

I did some research on inflammation and found that Oregano has 33 chemicals in it to handle inflammation, Fennel seeds have 29. Black currant, Rosemary, Thyme, and even green tea has properties that reduce inflammation. I do like chewing on Fennel seeds.

So that brings us back to pain. If we supply the body with what it needs to rebuild or handle the problem that it is dealing with, it will. What we usually don't supply the body with, is the patience it needs time to allow this to happen. We live in a world that says, I want it today. We all do this. I am going up and down the stairs with the laundry basket and a knee that is hurting. Silly thing to do. I am building a frame for a picture with clamps on the basement floor using some carpet pieces under my Left knee. (My therapist tells me that I don't have a bad knee, just one that is unhappy right now.) We have no patience.

I remember Dr. Christopher telling the class how to rebuild hips and knees with Slippery Elm compresses. He said, "When someone needs a new hip, he should be lying down with these compresses on the area. He has no business running around." Yes, it might take a while but it can be done. I wonder how long the pain would last in this case?

We actually prolong the pain by shutting it off and aggravating the area, which is just what I am going to do today. I will take a pain pill and after it takes, I will head to the store to go grocery shopping.

Have a pain free day.