The number one question I hear about mind body pain relief, in some form is “Can this help if __________?” …fill in the blank with some type of physical issue, diagnosis, symptom or injury/surgery/physical trauma. It is common to want to know if it will help with my pain.

So for example:

• Can mind body work help with SI joint dysfunction and/or muscle imbalances in the pelvis?
• Can mind body work help with pelvic floor dysfunction, symptoms from hormone imbalance, inflammation, frequency, etc. ?
• Is there hope for pelvic injury that required pudendal nerve decompression surgery?
• My symptoms started after a difficult birth.  Can mind body pain relief help with that?

The bottom line is that the answer to all of this is, YES!

Mind body work can help with ALL of these things.  

Now to clarify I’m not suggesting that you don’t work with a competent doctor (of course you should) or that you should stop any physical treatments that are helping you (keep doing what works!).  

But if you’ve done all the usual things and seen all the best specialists you can find, and you’re still in pain, or you’re not “all the way better”, than something else is going on. And that something else is very likely that stress, emotions, worry and self criticism (along with other negative protective mental and emotional patterns) are messing with your body’s ability to heal….if not at the root of the symptoms in the first place.

And here’s the thing, you don’t have to wait until you’ve tried every possible medical option, to start learning the skills that are going to address the mind body components of your pain!

You can start that now, and if you do, you’re very likely to relieve your symptoms a whole lot faster…no matter what the initial cause.  

So why wait?  

It’s not like we’re talking about doing anything invasive or harmful to your mind, body, or spirit.  It’s not like we’re talking about swallowing toxic substances or cutting out parts of your body, or driving long distances for expensive treatments from qualified (and sometimes unqualified) providers.  

Quite the opposite, a mind body approach will not only help you, help your body heal… it will lead to your feeling more at peace, happier, safer, and more connected to yourself (and the important people in your life) while you do.

It’s kind of a no brainer actually.

Except for that fact that mind body healing may not seem easy. It does take time and a willingness to learn something new. Even though in reality this is MUCH easier than spending hours in doctors offices, searching the internet, dealing with side effects of medications that may or may not work, going on super restrictive diets, or recovering from surgeries that can have potentially seriously harmful long term consequences!

But I get it.

It’s common to think of pain and other physical symptoms as an either or thing, “Either my symptoms are mind body or they are physical.”  It’s also completely understandable to think that when your pain began after an injury, birth, or surgery – or is accompanied by chronically tensed muscles (ie. PFD) or affected nerves (PN), or hormones out of balance – that it’s purely physical.

But that is almost never the case!

Here’s the thing….muscles can tense and nerves can be compressed, and hormones can change, and there doesn’t have to be pain. In fact, x-rays of people who don’t have back pain show similar physical “abnormalities” as those with pain.  And in the realm of pelvic pain, for example, there is no correlation between surgical findings in endometriosis and levels of pain. In other words, more lesions does not mean more pain. So, clearly there is something else going on.

All pain is created in the brain, even when there are physical things going on.  So, addressing the things that trigger your brain to create pain can help to turn off the pain.  That’s one of the many things a mind body approach does.

Another thing mind body work addresses, is the very real physical connection between stress, emotions, thoughts, life experiences….and levels of chronic physical tension in your muscles (and in the case of pelvic pain…your pelvic floor muscles), hormone balance, nervous system stimulation, and pain pathways.  

Physical symptoms, like pain, tension and hormone imbalance can, and often do, have mind body factors at the root.

And, if you’re not addressing that, no amount of medication, surgery, healthy food, PT, acupuncture, or even meditation is going to bring lasting relief.

But when you add in that missing mind body piece, everything else you’re doing can be more effective.

That’s why the answer is almost always yes.

Yes, mind body work can help with ALL of those physical things.  Because in addition to everything else, it activates the healing response in your body.

Does that mean it will be the 100% answer all the time? Of course not.

Then again, it often is.  It was for me.

But even if you need other things to help you relieve your pain, you will find much more clarity about what it is that you do need, through using the mind body tools.

That’s one of the reasons women have so much success with the Healing Female Pain program!

Last week I had a client tell me (for the 3rd time) that her physical therapist wanted to talk with me because he was so amazed by how much she had improved since she began doing mind body work. This was a PT she had been working with for years. In fact, she keeps telling me that he is more astounded every time she sees him.  This is not a unique situation. I hear things like this ALL THE TIME.

Your mind and body are not separate.  Physical and emotional are one. In my experience when you address both, health and relief are suddenly much more easily within reach.

Don’t lose hope.  You’re not alone. You can relieve your pain!