Neuroplastic Tools for Healthcare Practitioners
Effective Short Audios for Chronic Pain Treatment
Research is now showing an interesting new area within the treatment of chronic pain, by definition pain that persists for more than three months. Chronic pain can be classified into many different diseases or conditions but what I want to introduce is the concept of neural networks and their possible influence on keeping someone in chronic pain.
At this present time many doctors are unaware that learned neural circuits can produce a large variety of real physical symptoms.
Neural Networks Created in Brain as we Learn
We are all familiar with learning how to drive a car. The first time that we sat in the car there was an overwhelming amount to notice. Figuring out where to put our feet, where to look and I certainly didn't use the rear view mirror until after a few practice drives. This meant taking my eyes off the road in front of me!
Sometimes we can arrive home and almost wonder how we got there. Our attention certainly wasn’t on driving and where we were going. Not only had we learned an automatic process of driving our car, safely may I add, but we were probably thinking about a lot of other different things. Perhaps mulling over what we did that day or planning how we were going to spend our evening.
I have used this everyday example to illustrate how it can take time to learn new information or perfect a new skilI. At the same time there may be long formed habits that can keep people stuck in unhelpful patterns that have become automatic reactions.
The Brain Creates Pain
When we hurt our foot, hand, or injure our knee or even break a bone the pain we feel is generated by the brain. I think over many years this has not been fully explained to any of us. I think the assumption was that my painful knee was generating pain, pain was actually coming from my knee.
I often found that this was the hardest part of explaining pain especially when it comes to chronic pain. But we must remember that all pain is real, and we must acknowledge that each person that comes to us is experiencing a sensation of pain. Therefore, we need to take care when explaining neuroplastic symptoms and the neural networks involved in brain neuroplasticity.
As a consequence, I would suggest to any health practitioner find their own story or stories to explain the development of neural networks, such as the example of learning to drive.
One of my favourite explanations is teaching children to read and to understand what they had read. This explanation sits well with me as in a previous career I was a high school teacher. Also, as a naturopath I worked with children with learning difficulties.
These learning difficulties could be influenced by specific intentional movements that could alter neural pathways within the brain.
Understanding the Brain, Pain and Neuroplasticity
There are a number of excellent online cartoons explaining how the brain creates pain. The use of these can certainly make your explanation easier to your clients or patients. I have put the links below as my explanation may need more technical terminology.
There are a growing number of clinicians who have done a lot of research in this area Howard Schubiner, Alan Gordon and David Clarke in the US and Georgie Oldfield in the UK.
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Cartoons explaining chronic pain development:
You may not be ready for this at the moment?
After watching these cartoons and digesting my explanations above if you believe sufferers of chronic pain have to learn to live their best life with their pain, as taught in many university training courses, then perhaps the time is not right for you to join me in bringing neuroplastic treatments to New Zealand.
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But if these ideas intrigue, you and you want to know more – read on!
Neuroplastic Symptoms in Chronic Pain
When we can identify a physical source of chronic pain, an infection, fracture, or a tumour that needs to be treated with appropriate medical interventions.
However, when an actual cause cannot be identified, usually being described as nociplastic pain we need to find ways to enable clients or patients to create change. Because in the process of creating change neural networks can be altered or new ones created.
Here's an interesting one from myself as an example.
As a child I was rather a picky eater, I certainly would not go near mushrooms. That is no longer the case and I really enjoy a mushroom sauce on my steak!
Perhaps a rather flippant example. Whereas some clients may have a traumatic history that can be related to their chronic pain.
This brings me to an important point about using some of my neural editing tools.
I need to reassure practitioners that are interested in using my resources but are concerned that listening to their clients they will get themselves into a vortex of confessions they would have no idea how to handle.
If this seems to be the case with a particular client, then time to refer them on to somebody more qualified to deal with severe trauma. However, having used these tools and resources I’m providing, you will find the client works within their own mind there is little or no “talk therapy”.
Type One Audio:
Breathwork to promote parasympathetic mode.
My first type of audio - I call “enabling calmness” to make changes in your life.
“Now you may be thinking - how can one of my patients sitting in the consulting room listening to a 3-minute audio, eyes closed and developing a relaxed breath – change a life?”
Certainly, an interesting question and over the years I've wondered that myself.
However intrinsic in the design of the audios that I create is a breath awareness technique that can very quickly be put into action whenever needed by your client.
With a simple tool learnt after listening two or three times they are able to self soothe and begin to change how they react to occasions and happenings in their life that had previously created stress overload.
We all recognize that when someone is in chronic pain invariably that pain is worse and more debilitating consequently a priority is to move out of sympathetic system quickly.
Type Two Audio:
Breathwork & Creative Imagery to Release Emotions
My second type of audio “emotional release” calmly without "talk therapy"
The audios I create although effective are easy to use.
In one use short audios, can create profound changes by releasing emotions, negative thoughts or put more simply just letting go of stuff. Again, being aware of the level of health literacy within the population I often use the expression “getting rid of emotional baggage” collected throughout life as an explanation to my clients.
New Neuroplastic Treatments for Chronic Pain in US & UK
The new ideas now being introduced to chronic pain treatments globally, is that each thought, movement or experience we have changed our brain due to neuroplasticity.
This fact is well known and understood but not often applied in healthcare.
As a consequence, when a health practitioner feels confident enough to include an understanding of neural networks in their practice change is made easier for clients.
Why Emotions are Important to Chronic Pain Relief
The justification for emotional release in this manner is brain scans now prove when acute pain becomes chronic, approximately, after three months different areas of the brain are involved.
As you can see in the diagram when the damaged tissue of acute pain heals brain scans show pain areas involved are emotional parts of the brain where they remain over time.
As a consequence, our brain can function in this same automatic way as us being able to drive home without a thought, until clients can recognise the importance of emotions and their relationship to keeping chronic pain.
The reason for the improvement that may be seen within a short time is due the process of creative imagery, and neural network adjustments.
This point is important there is an outline of a story, situational or a particular activity prompting the mind of the patient who will collect information – effectively filling in the blanks - utilizing their natural curiosity and making decisions of what they are ready to clear out.
Just as we take time at home to declutter stuff to be thrown out but at the same time, we can also learn the value of some things that need to be kept. Again, this process is done by the client sitting quietly and imagining in their own way the journey that the audio takes them on.
Issues with Visualisation - not everyone can
One important note to make at this time is in my recordings I talk about imagining rather than visualizing because within the population there is range of ability for people to visualize as some people will are not good at visualizing, however we are all creative and we can all imagine.
Once again as I mentioned above this is not talk therapy and it is up to your client if they wish to share anything with you but I found that mostly doesn't happen.
Client Feedback
I have some interesting feedback for a client about a prescribed audio for her to take home. She sent me an email recounting what happened to her when she used my video ”Hot Air Balloon” that she found exceedingly useful.
“Yes, I found the balloon imagery easy to imagine. It was absolutely incredible so I could feel myself easily being lifted by the balloon and sat at the tree line for some time in the balloon exercise!
Then floated higher and came back to find I was being asked to drop sandbags of stuff I no longer wanted to hold onto!
One of these was fascinating as I watched it leave my hands but it kind of unravelled as it went over the side of the basket!
It was like a releasing of lots of emotion in an unravelling net!
It took ages to release from my dropping of it as it had been so big, and I hadn’t realised!!
Released that and my relationship has improved with those concerned!
Thank you”