Arguably the most influential book that I have read in regards to implementing ways to improve my physical health struggles is The Way Out: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach to Healing Chronic Pain by Alan Gordon. I cannot remember if this book was recommended to me or if I stumbled upon it randomly on Amazon (if you did indeed recommend it to me I am so sorry I am not giving you credit and am forever grateful for you helping me out!). The book is written to give guidance on how to implement “Pain Reprocessing Therapy”, which the author Alan Gordon created. He explains it in the book, but it is essentially a process to better connect the mind and body to give you the opportunity to open yourself up to reducing the severity of chronic pain.

Prior to reading this article, you should start with the one I wrote on Neuroplastic Pain (HERE). This will give you an idea on if the “Pain Reprocessing Therapy” Process that I will outline in this article may actually be useful to you or not. If you have already read that one and want to start implementing this process, please continue reading!

As I mentioned in the article on Neuroplastic Pain, I used this process (technically I still do) to help better manage the ongoing chest pain that I am having. It has genuinely helped me to improve my quality of life and I am hopeful that it may help you too!

Generally speaking the mindset with this process is that experiencing pain is an opportunity to re-wire the brain. Because we have decided that we are indeed experiencing Neuroplastic Pain, we have essentially accepted that our brain is misinterpreting pain signals as dangerous and/or firing the “pain switch” when it isn’t actually needed. Therefore the short-term goal for this process is to exist with the pain and use these practices independent of the outcome. If you go into a somatic tracking session expecting to reduce your pain you are missing the point. The goal (in the short-term) is to simply notice the pain and be mindful of it, not fix it. Our obvious long-term goals are to be pain-free and to minimize setbacks, but learning to co-exist with your pain in the short-term is the first step towards achieving these long-term goals.

The Process

This will be an oversimplified version of the process outlined in the book. If you like what you read and want to understand it on a deeper level I would again strongly recommend reading the book. The process is broken down into three categories: “High Pain”, “Moderate/Low Pain”, and “No Pain”.

When you are experiencing a moment of High Pain, you should be focusing on creating safety for yourself. For example if you believe you have lower-back pain that is neuroplastic in nature and you are experiencing pain at a 7, 8, 9, or 10 out of 10, you SHOULD NOT be doing somatic tracking or other mindfulness practices. Fighting against the pain is only going to make things worse for you in the long-run. Thinking “I am in extreme pain, but I can tough it out and do this four hour drive” is most likely going to create further negative consequences for you down the road. Instead you should do the following:

1. Use Avoidance Behaviors – Although typically using avoidance behaviors (meaning anything that has the primary goal of minimizing your pain in the short-term) is usually not the best option, in situations where you are in High Pain it is the most advisable (and logical) choice. You are in no state to actively try to peacefully co-exist with your pain. If you have back pain and sitting down makes it worse, don’t sit down. For me, when my pain gets unbearable I try to sleep (not always reasonable but if it’s possible I try to sleep to “avoid” my problems).
2. Send Safety Messages – Although you may be in terrible pain, you have to try to remember that because this pain is neuroplastic in nature, it is not actually dangerous. Again the pain is real but the danger is not. Obviously easier said than done, but telling yourself things such as “This is temporary, you will be okay” or “Try to relax, you will be fine either way” may help to lessen the severity (and potential for a panic attack) in this situation.

When you are experiencing a moment of Moderate/Low Pain, you should be focusing on finding ways to co-exist with your pain. If your pain is roughly a 6 or less out of 10, you should be in a good enough headspace to work on managing the pain. For me this has been the area with the biggest payoff. You should use the following strategies:

1. Use Somatic Tracking – This has been the most useful tool in my tool belt with regards to my physical pain. I will have a future article on this, but essentially you are using a specific form of mindfulness to exist with your pain, not change it.
2. Corrective Experiences – Essentially this is what would be considered “Positive Exposure Therapy”. Enjoy your life to the best of your ability, acknowledge the pain if it is present, and carry on with the activity. Appreciate that you can do what you planned to do AND still live with the pain. Eventually you accumulate more and more exposures and the pain doesn’t seem so daunting. This will reduce your fear of the pain and tell your brain that you are in fact safe even when you feel the pain.

When you are experiencing a moment of No Pain, you should be focusing on finding practices that you like and continuing to use them. This is actually a really tricky situation because it feels weird to NOT have pain. The key here is to “get good at feeling good”. When you feel good, try to focus on the positives in that exact moment (instead of worrying when the fear will come back). You could use the following strategies:

1. Guided Mindfulness (or other Meditation) Session – If you are unsure of how to be “in the present moment” there are a number of quality mindfulness sessions that can be found for free on YouTube. Pick one when you feel good and appreciate the moment you are in.
2. Embrace Positive Sensations – This can be similar to mindfulness but is more self-guided. Go for a walk and appreciate the sun on your skin or the birds chirping. Sit by the water and appreciate the cool breeze or the smell of the sea air. Eat a good meal and take time to truly savor each bite. The key is to appreciate and focus on the positivity of the moment (and your lack of pain) as opposed to dreading the possibility of the pain returning.

Conclusion

Now you know “The Process” of Pain Reprocessing Therapy – again, if you want a more elaborate explanation please read the book! Using this process has helped me to lessen the severity of my chest pain and ultimately improve my quality of life. I would also strongly encourage reading the other article that I have written in this series to have a better understanding of what neuroplastic pain is (HERE), and to be on the lookout for future articles about this book!