Mega Doctor News
CLEVELAND CLINIC – Did you know being kind can actually help improve chronic pain?
“People don’t realize that a lot of times when you have any kind of an illness, disease, or condition, it doesn’t just purely rely on medicine, intervention, surgery,” said Trishul Kapoor, MD, pain management specialist at Cleveland Clinic. “I am a big proponent of connecting technology to treat patients, but what I can’t control all the time is the patient’s environment.”
Dr. Kapoor said research has found a connection between the pathways that signal pain and other parts of the brain – like emotion.
So, when a person is kind to themselves or someone else, their brain releases happy hormones, which can in turn improve chronic pain.
But what exactly does it mean to be kind?
He said it’s going to be a little different for everyone, but generally it means engaging in positive social behavior.
Some examples include talking with an old friend, joining a club, volunteering, making a donation, or reading about good news in your community.
“It’s hard to say how quickly you’ll see some kind of effect. Everybody is different with pain tolerance. Their understanding of pain is all individual. So, we know these pathways exist. We’re just making use of them for different purposes and trying to create almost a ‘helper’s high’ to be able to treat pain,” he said.
Dr. Kapoor said on the flipside, being negative can impact chronic pain too, which is why it’s important to be mindful of your thoughts and behavior.
