Pain – it’s a complex experience that isn’t solely about physical sensations; it’s closely linked to emotions, thoughts, and overall mental state. Recent research has highlighted the fascinating ways in which pain and the immune system are connected, demonstrating that the intensity and perception of pain can be significantly influenced by mindset, expectations, and emotional wellbeing.
How Your Mind Influences Pain
Studies have shown that how you experience pain is highly individual and deeply influenced by what you expect to feel. Your brain can actually generate pain based purely on your expectations.
For instance, in one notable experiment, participants were told they would receive an electrical current through their head, although no actual current was applied. Despite this, they reported experiencing pain in proportion to the level of stimulation they were told to expect. This clearly demonstrates that the anticipation of pain can trigger pain itself, even when there’s no physical cause.
Neural Plasticity
Similarly, the way we think about pain can either amplify or reduce it. When we focus on negative thoughts and worry about pain, it often becomes more intense. This is because what you focus on drives the way your brain adapts and changes – a concept known as neural plasticity. The more time you spend dwelling on pain, the more your brain reinforces those pain pathways, making pain a more ingrained part of your experience.
The Role of the Immune System
Your immune system plays a crucial role in how you experience pain. It doesn’t just respond to infections or injuries; it also reacts to your thoughts, emotions, and perceptions. When your brain perceives a threat, whether it’s physical or emotional, your immune system can be triggered, and this activation can amplify your sense of pain.
For example, your immune system releases molecules called cytokines, which help your body respond to injuries and inflammation. While they’re essential for healing, an overactive immune response can lead to increased inflammation and pain. Long-term stress or persistent pain can actually cause your immune system to go into overdrive, resulting in higher levels of cytokines that promote inflammation, further aggravating pain.
This can create a vicious cycle where pain increases stress, which in turn triggers more immune activity and inflammation, leading to even more pain. In some cases, the immune system can produce what is known as “mirror pain,” where pain spreads from one side of the body to the other.
The Stress Response and Discomfort
When we experience pain, our body’s stress response system – involving the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands – kicks into action. This releases hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which prepare the body for “fight or flight.” While these hormones are helpful in short bursts, chronic stress can lead to persistently high levels of cortisol and adrenaline.
High cortisol levels can slow healing, lead to feelings of despair, and impact both physical and mental performance over time. Similarly, elevated adrenaline levels can sensitise your nerves, making pain signals feel more intense and constant.
Ways to Help Your Immune System and Manage Pain
Managing chronic pain effectively requires taking a holistic approach that involves not just the physical aspects but also addressing how your thoughts, feelings, and lifestyle impact your pain. Here are some proven strategies to help buffer your immune system and improve your pain:
1. Mindfulness Meditation: Research shows that mindfulness meditation can help quieten your mind, reducing worry and anxiety about pain. By focusing on the present moment and accepting your feelings without judgment, you can calm the stress response in your body and alter the way your brain processes pain. There are many online resources and smartphone apps to guide you in starting your mindfulness journey.
2. Proper Nutrition: To calm down inflammation, the chemical sensors in our bodies can stop sending inflammatory signals to our brains, so our brains can stop pushing the pain button. Eating a balanced diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods, such as organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, healthy fats, and certain high-quality supplements, can reduce inflammation in the body.
3. Quality Sleep: Getting enough good quality sleep is crucial for buffering against stress and pain. During sleep, your body repairs itself, and your brain processes the day’s events. Prioritising good sleep habits, like maintaining a regular sleep schedule and creating a restful environment, can help reduce pain and improve your overall health.
4. Movement and Exercise: Regular movement is essential for managing pain, as it helps keep muscles flexible and reduces stiffness. If pain makes it difficult to move, even just imagining movement can be beneficial. Engage in gentle activities like walking, yoga, or stretching to keep both the large and small muscles around your spine moving. These movements can help release tension and promote blood flow, aiding in pain reduction.
5. Playing and Enjoyment: Engaging in activities that bring you joy can be incredibly powerful in managing pain. Laughter and spending time with friends release endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, and help shift your brain’s focus away from pain.
6. Chiropractic Care: Chiropractic adjustments, especially when done by a qualified practitioner, can be an effective part of pain management. Chiropractic care is known to alter the function of the prefrontal cortex in your brain – a key area involved in processing pain. Adjustments help your brain to better understand what’s happening in your body, reducing the brain’s perception of danger and pain. Multiple studies have shown that chiropractic care can be beneficial for back pain, neck pain, and certain types of headaches.
The Importance of Positivity and Mindset
Maintaining a positive mindset and actively managing stress are crucial elements of managing chronic pain. The more you can keep a positive outlook, focus on your achievements, and engage in activities that make you feel good, the less influence pain will have on your life.
By adopting these strategies, you can begin to retrain your brain and body to respond differently to pain, reducing its impact and helping you regain control of your life.
If you suffer from chronic pain, schedule an appointment with Harvey Young, a London chiropractor and integrative health expert. He can help guide you on your journey towards better health and natural pain management.
Disclaimer: Our educational content is not meant to replace your medical treatment. Always seek professional advice for your health-related issues.
References
1. Koyama T, McHaffie JG, Laurienti PJ, et al. The subjective experience of pain: where expectations become reality. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2005;102(36):12950-55. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0408576102
2. Apkarian AV, Bushnell MC, Treede R-D, et al. Human brain mechanisms of pain perception and regulation in health and disease. European Journal of Pain 2005;9(4):463-84.
3. Butler D, Moseley AM. Explain Pain. 2 ed: Noigroup Publications 2013.
4. Plaugher G, Long CR, Alcantara J, et al. Practice-based randomized controlled-comparison clinical trial of chiropractic adjustments and brief massage treatment at sites of subluxation in subjects with essential hypertension: Pilot study. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2002;25(4):221-39. doi:https://doi.org/10.1067/mmt.2002.123171
5. Schutze R, Rees C, Slater H, et al. ‘I call it stinkin’ thinkin”: A qualitative analysis of metacognition in people with chronic low back pain and elevated catastrophizing. British Journal of Health Psychology 2017;22(3):463-80. doi: 10.1111/bjhp.12240 [published Online First: 2017/04/05]
6. Wiech K. Deconstructing the sensation of pain: The influence of cognitive processes on pain perception. Science 2016;354(6312):584-87. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf8934 [published Online First: 2016/11/05]
7. Michaelson P, Michaelson M, Jaric S, et al. VERTICAL POSTURE AND HEAD STABILITY IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC NECK PAIN. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine 2003;35(5):229-35. doi: 10.1080/16501970306093
8. Kane MJ, Engle RW. The role of prefrontal cortex in working-memory capacity, executive attention, and general fluid intelligence: An individual-differences perspective. Psychon Bull Rev 2002;9(4):637-71. doi: 10.3758/bf03196323
9. Eliks M, Zgorzalewicz-Stachowiak M, Zenczak-Praga K. Application of Pilates-based exercises in the treatment of chronic non-specific low back pain: state of the art. Postgraduate Medical Journal 2019;95(1119):41-45. doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2018-135920 [published Online First: 2019/01/14]
10. Ruffino C, Papaxanthis C, Lebon F. Neural plasticity during motor learning with motor imagery practice: Review and perspectives. Neuroscience 2017;341:61-78.
11. Kolb B, Whishaw IQ. BRAIN PLASTICITY AND BEHAVIOR. Annual Review of Psychology 1998;49(1):43-64. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.49.1.43
12. Apkarian AV, Hashmi JA, Baliki MN. Pain and the brain: specificity and plasticity of the brain in clinical chronic pain. Pain 2011;152(3 Suppl):S49.
13. Bayer TL, Baer PE, Early C. Situational and psychophysiological factors in psychologically induced pain. Pain 1991;44(1):45-50. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3959(91)90145-N
14. Hadjistavropoulos TD, S; Goubert, L.; Mogil J.S.; Sullivan, M.J.L.; Vervoort, T.; Craig K.D.; Cano, A.; Jackson, P.L.; Rainville, P.; Williams, A.C.; Fitzgerald, T.D. A Biopsychosocial formulation of pain communication. Psychological Bulletin 2011;137(6):910- 39. doi: 10.1037/a0023876
15. Hannibal KE, Bishop MD. Chronic stress, cortisol dysfunction, and pain: a psychoneuroendocrine rationale for stress management in pain rehabilitation. Physical Therapy 2014;94(12):1816-25.
16. McManus C. Chronic stress, chronic pain, and the corticolimbic system. Orthopaedic Physical Therapy Practice 2019;31(1):50-53.
17. Vachon-Presseau E. Effects of stress on the corticolimbic system: implications for chronic pain. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 2018;87:216-23. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2017.10.014
18. Loggia ML, Berna C, Kim J, et al. The lateral prefrontal cortex mediates the hyperalgesic effects of negative cognitions in chronic pain patients. The Journal Of Pain: Official Journal Of The American Pain Society 2015;16(8):692-99. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2015.04.003
19. Cardinali DP. Autonomic Nervous System: basic and clinical aspects. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing 2017.
20. Cheng CF, Cheng JK, Chen CY, et al. Mirror-image pain is mediated by nerve growth factor produced from tumor necrosis factor alpha-activated satellite glia after peripheral nerve injury. Pain 2014;155(5):906-20. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2014.01.010 [published Online First: 2014/01/23]
21. Feghali CA, Wright TM. Cytokines in acute and chronic inflammation. Frontiers in Bioscience: a journal and virtual library;2:d12-26.
22. Bilbo SD, Schwarz JM. The immune system and developmental programming of brain and behavior. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology;33(3):267-86.
23. Black DS, O’Reilly GA, Olmstead R, et al. Mindfulness meditation and improvement in sleep quality and daytime impairment among older adults with sleep disturbances: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Internal Medicine 2015;175(4):494-501. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8081 [published Online First: 2015/02/17]
24. Goldberg SB, Tucker RP, Greene PA, et al. Mindfulness-based interventions for psychiatric disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review 2018;59:52-60. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.10.011 [published Online First: 2017/11/12]
25. Hassed C. Mind-body therapies – Use in chronic pain management. Australian Family Physician 2013;42(3):112-17.
26. Hopwood TL, Schutte NS. A meta-analytic investigation of the impact of mindfulness-based interventions on post-traumatic stress. Clinical Psychology Review 2017;57:12-20. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2017.08.002 [published Online First: 2017/08/15]
27. Majeed MH, Ali AA, Sudak DM. Mindfulness-based interventions for chronic pain: Evidence and applications. Asian Journal of Psychiatry 2018;32:79-83. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2017.11.025 [published Online First: 2017/12/09]
28. Ong JC, Manber R, Segal Z, et al. A randomized controlled trial of mindfulness meditation for chronic insomnia. Sleep 2014;37(9):1553-63. doi: 10.5665/sleep.4010 [published Online First: 2014/08/22]
29. Pascoe MC, Thompson DR, Ski CF. Yoga, mindfulness-based stress reduction and stress-related physiological measures: A meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2017;86:152-68. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.08.008 [published Online First: 2017/10/01]
30. Masino SA, Ruskin DN. Ketogenic diets and pain. Journal of Child Neurology 2013;28(8):993-1001. doi: 10.1177/0883073813487595 [published Online First: 2013/05/18]
31. Silva AR, Bernardo A, Costa J, et al. Dietary interventions in fibromyalgia: a systematic review. Annals of Medicine 2019:1-29. doi: 10.1080/07853890.2018.1564360 [published Online First: 2019/02/09]
32. Quintanilha BJ, Reis BZ, Duarte GBS, et al. Nutrimiromics: role of microRNAs and nutrition in modulating inflammation and chronic diseases. Nutrients 2017;9(11):1168.
33. Burgess HJ, Burns JW, Buvanendran A, et al. Associations between sleep disturbance and chronic pain intensity and function: a test of direct and indirect pathways. The Clinical Journal of Pain 2019 doi: 10.1097/ajp.0000000000000711 [published Online First: 2019/03/27]
34. van Dalfsen JH, Markus CR. The influence of sleep on human hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity: a systematic review. Sleep Medicine reviews 2018;39:187-94.
35. Yong WC, Sanguankeo A, Upala S. Effect of vitamin D supplementation in chronic widespread pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Rheumatology 2017;36(12):2825-33. doi: 10.1007/s10067-017-3754-y [published Online First: 2017/08/16]
36. Edwards R, Eccleston C, Keogh E. Observer influences on pain: an experimental series examining same-sex and opposite-sex friends, strangers, and romantic partners. Pain 2017;158(5):846-55. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000000840 [published Online First: 2017/02/01]
37. Perez-Aranda A, Hofmann J, Feliu-Soler A, et al. Laughing away the pain: a narrative review of humour, sense of humour and pain. European Journal of Pain (London, England) 2019;23(2):220-33. doi: 10.1002/ejp.1309 [published Online First: 2018/09/04]
38. Booth J, Moseley GL, Schiltenwolf M, et al. Exercise for chronic musculoskeletal pain: A biopsychosocial approach. Musculoskeletal Care 2017;15(4):413-21. doi: 10.1002/msc.1191 [published Online First: 2017/04/04]
39. O’Connor SR, Tully MA, Ryan B, et al. Walking exercise for chronic musculoskeletal pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2015;96(4):724-34.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2014.12.003 [published Online First: 2014/12/23]
40. Atlas LY, Bolger N, Lindquist MA, et al. Brain mediators of predictive cue effects on perceived pain. 2010;30(39):12964-77. doi: 10.1523/jneurosci.0057-10.2010
41. Li Y, Li S, Jiang J, et al. Effects of yoga on patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain: A PRISMA systematic review and meta-analysis. Medicine 2019;98(8):e14649. doi: 10.1097/md.0000000000014649 [published Online First: 2019/03/01]
42. Galindez-Ibarbengoetxea X, Setuain I, Andersen LL, et al. Effects of cervical high-velocity low-amplitude techniques on range of motion, strength performance, and cardiovascular outcomes: A Review. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (New York, NY) 2017;23(9):667-75. doi: 10.1089/acm.2017.0002 [published Online First: 2017/07/22]
43. Haavik H, Kumari N, Holt K, et al. The contemporary model of vertebral column joint dysfunction and impact of high-velocity, low-amplitude controlled vertebral thrusts on neuromuscular function. European Journal of Applied Physiology 2021:1-46.
44. Haavik H, Murphy B. Subclinical neck pain and the effects of cervical manipulation on elbow joint position sense. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2011;34(2):88-97.
45. Holt KR, Haavik H, Lee AC, et al. Effectiveness of chiropractic care to improve sensorimotor function associated with falls risk in older people: a randomized controlled trial. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 2016 doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2016.02.003 [published Online First: 2016/04/07]
46. Lelic D, Niazi IK, Holt K, et al. Manipulation of dysfunctional spinal joints affects sensorimotor integration in the prefrontal cortex: a brain source localization study. Neural Plasticity 2016;2016
47. Ruddock JK, Sallis H, Ness A, et al. Spinal manipulation vs sham manipulation for nonspecific low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine 2016;15(3):165-83.
48. Goertz C, Pohlman K, Vining R, et al. Patient-centered outcomes of high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulation for low back pain: a systematic review. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 2012;22(5):670-91.
49. Hidalgo B, Detrembleur C, Hall T, et al. The efficacy of manual therapy and exercise for different stages of non-specific low back pain: an update of systematic reviews. Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy 2014;22(2):59-74.
50. Paige NM, Miake-Lye IM, Booth MS, et al. Association of spinal manipulative therapy with clinical benefit and harm for acute low back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis. Jama 2017;317(14):1451-60.
51. Bryans R, Decina P, Descarreaux M, et al. Evidence-based guidelines for the chiropractic treatment of adults with neck pain. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2014;37(1):42-63.
52. Wong JJ, Shearer HM, Mior S, et al. Are manual therapies, passive physical modalities, or acupuncture effective for the management of patients with whiplash-associated disorders or neck pain and associated disorders? An update of the Bone and Joint Decade Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders by the OPTIMa collaboration. The Spine Journal 2016;16(12):1598-630.
53. Gross A, Miller J, D’Sylva J, et al. Manipulation or mobilisation for neck pain: a Cochrane Review. Manual Therapy 2010;15(4):315-33.
54. Bryans R, Descarreaux M, Duranleau M, et al. Evidence-based guidelines for the chiropractic treatment of adults with headache. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics 2011;34(5):274-89.
55. Rist PM, Hernandez A, Bernstein C, et al. The impact of spinal manipulation on migraine pain and disability: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain 2019;59(4):532-42.
56. Fernandez M, Moore C, Tan J, et al. Spinal manipulation for the management of cervicogenic headache: a systematic review and meta‐analysis. European Journal of Pain 2020;24(9):1687-702.
57. Goertz CM, Pohlman KA, Vining RD, et al. Patient-centered outcomes of high-velocity, low-amplitude spinal manipulation for low back pain: a systematic review. J Electromyogr Kinesiol 2012;22(5):670-91. doi: 10.1016/j.jelekin.2012.03.006 [published Online First: 2012/04/27]
58. Ruddock JK, Sallis H, Ness A, et al. Spinal manipulation vs sham manipulation for nonspecific low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Chiropr Med 2016;15(3):165-83. doi: 10.1016/j.jcm.2016.04.014 [published Online First: 2016/09/24]