Pain is a fascinating concept. I didn't think much about pain until I got sick about seven years ago. I experienced pain like no other and I was pushed to points I thought were not possible. That's when I started thinking more about the origin of pain and its staying power and truly trying to understand the philosophy of pain.

A pain impulse usually starts its trip along the pain pathway when you suffer an injury or illness.

Let's take a look at an example: Let's say you cut your finger.

Have you ever noticed that when you cut your finger you first feel the sensation of being cut before you feel the pain from it? That happens because you have separate nerves for touch and for pain. And the touch nerves send signals much faster than pain nerves.

Your touch nerve signals travel to the brain as fast as 200 miles per hour while the pain signals travel at around 40 miles per hour and chronic pain signals travel as slow as 3 miles per hour.

Going back to our example, when you cut your finger you tend to instinctually rub it because it relieves some of the pain and makes your finger feel better. The reason it feels better is because those fast touch signals outrun the slower pain signals. By the time the pain signals reach the pain gates they are so overcrowded with touch signals that the pain signals have a hard time getting through.

I learned early on that you could outsmart pain. And one technique I used was exactly like the example above; I gave my "nervous system a competing source of input" one that was faster than the pain signal. That was one of the first anti-pain strategies I learned and I used it often.

Throughout my health journey, I learned that there were many techniques to providing competing sources of input to my nervous system. It can be done pharmacologically, mechanically, electrically and, the most powerful tool of all, it can be done with your thoughts.

When pain signals start their journey up your spinal cord working their way to your brain they automatically trigger the release of chemicals that help them travel to the brain. These are called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters carry pain signals from one nerve cell to the next. These are the same neurotransmitters that your brain uses to carry all your thoughts and feelings.

"The three neurotransmitters that ship pain signals to the brain are substance P, NMDA (n-methyl-d-aspartate), and glutamate. Of these, substance P seems to be the most active, and most important. Without these three substances - especially substance P-pain - signals have a much harder time reaching the brain. However, if there is an excess of any of these three substances, pain signals have a much easier time reaching the brain."

Another technique to controlling or manipulating pain signal is through the use of pharmaceuticals, over the counter medication and even acupuncture. By using these products the production of neurotransmitters can be decreased therefore altering the pain pathway.

"Here's more good news: The body, in its natural, innate wisdom, has its own way of keeping these pain neurotransmitters from flooding the brain, and overwhelming us with pain. The body forces these pain chemicals to travel through a pain gate that sits near the back of the spinal cord. This pain gate is composed of a substance that has the consistency of jelly' it's called the substantia gelatinosa of the dorsal horn."

Thus, another technique to controlling pain: supporting the health and function of this gate. To have a well-tuned, healthy and high functioning gate you have to have a healthy nervous system. If your nervous system is stressed, exhausted or is not getting the nourishment it needs, this gate will lose its efficiency.

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Take back control of your health and empower yourself with the tools you need to return to your natural state of being.

Stay Well and Healthy,

Michelle