For 3 and a half years I experienced widespread chronic pain that worsened over time.
In an attempt to fix my body, I did what most people do. I was examined by physicians and specialists and imaged with MRIs and x-rays. I engaged in physiotherapy and had chiropractic adjustments. I took pain medication, and also tried several other physical treatments. Unfortunately, the medical tests and treatments did not resolve my pain – in fact, my pain increased!
My story is not uncommon. When providing therapy to clients with chronic pain or symptoms, they often tell me, “I feel like the medical system has failed me. No treatment is helping.”
The reality is, medical procedures typically have poor results when it comes to reducing chronic pain and symptoms. In many cases, surgery, injections, and narcotic pain medications are no more effective than placebo or conservative treatments.1
So, what is the real solution to healing chronic pain and symptoms? In many cases, the answer lies in the brain. Many forms of chronic pain, fatigue, dizziness, or other physical symptoms are neuroplastic. Neuroplastic pain/symptoms are caused by the brain and nervous system becoming sensitized.2,3
When your brain or nervous system feel in danger, chronic pain or symptoms can be triggered and perpetuated.2,3 And when pain/symptoms are repeatedly produced, the brain learns to generate these sensations more efficiently. New research is showing us that a significant portion of chronic pain and symptoms are neuroplastic, meaning the brain is responsible for producing and maintaining the unpleasant sensations4.
After 3 and a half years of pain, I came across the right research and literature, and began to understand that my symptoms were neuroplastic in nature. This allowed me to start thinking differently about my body and symptoms. I began to utilize brain retraining exercises and regulate my nervous system, and over a period of several months, I went from high-pain to pain-free.
How Does Healing Occur?
In the Desensitize App, we provide evidence-based education and comprehensive brain retraining practices to help individuals heal their chronic pain and symptoms. The goal is to shift from the Sensitization Cycle, into the Desensitization Cycle.
All brain retraining involves a practice of safety + exposure.
Safety:
When you view sensations as neuroplastic (not physical) and bring mindful awareness to your body, you show your brain you are safe. This means you’re not trying to fix, figure out, or change what you’re feeling. Rather, you observe with curiosity, helping your brain reappraise the physical signals it’s receiving.
When you repeatedly respond with a sense of safety, your brain realizes it doesn’t need to generate pain/symptoms to protect you. Your brain will realize you’re actually safe, leading to symptom reduction.
Exposure:
Repeatedly guiding your attention to physical sensations of pain or symptoms is an exposure practice. Like any danger or phobia your nervous system has learned to overreact to, graded exposure helps the brain establish safety, leading to desensitization.3
Brain Retraining is the Way To Heal!
By practicing brain retraining consistently, and utilizing the principles of safety + exposure consistently, you can retrain your brain out of chronic pain/symptoms.
The Densensitize app walks you through every step, providing video based education, self-assessment tools, behaviour change plans, guided meditations, tools to process emotions and trauma, and strategies to increase your sense of safety in your daily life.
We’ve brought together the newest, most effective, evidence-based tools from Pain Reprocessing Therapy, Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy, Polyvagal
Theory, Mindfulness, Qigong, Somatic Experiencing, and more.