Enduring pain burns a lot of energy; energy that the body can’t then use for healing the underlying imbalance. Managing symptoms can be an important part of holistic health care, though the purpose of the symptom management must remain clear.
Relieving pain with medication can free up some energy to engage in the integral inquiry into the underlying imbalance that is causing the pain.
There are risks with only masking pain and ignoring, or failing to value, the underlying causal imbalance, strictly numbing pain is rarely curative.
One danger of ‘missing the message’ is the body may send a stronger pain message or a new symptom. If we ignore the body’s whispers they may become shouts. If the underlying imbalance causing pain is not addressed, the pain is likely to not disappear completely, and to return as soon as the medication wears off.
Another risk of medication, as the only approach for pain management, is that if our pain does not heal its underlying imbalance quickly, our body adapts to the new medication stimulus, and we often end up needing progressively more medication to manage our pain. Progressively more medication can tax our body’s ability to safely detoxify and may strain the organs, such as the liver and kidneys.
While there are surely merits to managing symptoms and pain hhc encourages you to consider also what your body may be trying to tell you with its ‘pain message’.
Sometimes making an opportunity to get quiet with yourself, focusing on slow, deep, mindful-breaths, may be enough to get in touch with what is going on in your body. Your body’s message may come to you, loud and clear; you may require more rest, more movement, or perhaps more opportunity for creative expression.
If slowing down and checking in with yourself is something you have practiced and you are still having symptoms, or if you feel no closer to understanding them, or if you have had a long history of symptoms and/or chronic pain, you may be interested in booking a session with one of hhc’s Holistic Health Consultants, who may assist you with interpreting your body’s messages.
hhc consultants can also support you with customizing your holistic approach to health including non-medicinal approaches, holistic health practitioner referrals, as well as tools and guidance to help you get connected with your inner-most self.
