Video – Chronic Pain Daily Reflections

The Healing Power

The healing power

of music,

of dance,

of The Word,

of touch,

of magic,

of joy and happiness.

Mindfulness ~ A Powerful Chronic Pain Coping Skill

Research has shown that mindfulness is one of the very few things truly proven to be an affective coping skill for Chronic Pain.

But what in the heck is mindfulness?

Andy Puddicombe, a former Tibetan Monk, does a wonderfully entertaining job of presenting just what mindfulness is and looks like and also covers, in a delightful manner, the benefits of practicing it for even just 10 minutes a day.

Enjoy!

Stanford University ~ Defining Chronic Pain

What is Chronic Pain?

Basically, as defined by Stanford University’s Dr. Sean Mackey, it meets the following criteria:

Lasts longer than 3-6 month, or beyond the “expected” time of healing
Serves NO physiological purpose
Takes a toll on the individual and those in the sufferer’s life (from family members to society at large)
It can be a symptom of another disease, but it can also be a disease in and of it’s own right
The disease of Chronic Pain fundamentally alters our nervous system
We’re learning that, like the disease of diabetes, Chronic Pain as a disease needs to be approached and managed as a chronic disease
There are an estimated 100 million sufferers of chronic pain in the U.S. (a range that covers those who can self-manage at home and are still very functional to those who have a catastrophic level of pain)
Costs are estimated to be over $ 1/2 a trillion per year in the U.S. (more than cancer, heart disease and diabetes combined)

(As explained in an excellent informative video found here.)

Stanford University’s Pain Medicine web-site also has a wealth of information on and resources for those living with Chronic Pain.