Mind over matter
Sometimes, the pain can come and you feel helpless. It wears you down. It leaves you lost and alone, wondering when it will stop. This is the time you reach for ultram - the non-addictive atypical opioid that helps to keep moderate to severe pain under control. I started the article this way because it is often impossible to separate pain from the emotions that accompany it. In fact, in many cases, there is a very definite connection between them. Let us leave purely psychosomatic conditions to one side and take a simple ulcer as an example. Although scientists blame poor Helicobacter pylori for ulcers, there is considerable evidence that stress is intimately involved whether as the original cause or by worsening the condition.
This brings us to the biopsychosocial model of illness which disputes more conventional medicine’s claim that there is always a scientific explanation for every condition. As the long word implies, the alternative view is that life is never simple. It comes in a complicated package where biology, psychology and social forces all conspire together. In some cultures, some conditions are not considered illnesses at all. In others, the same conditions may be considered serious disorders. Groups construct their expectations by observing how each other react in the same situation. Some behavior is acceptable and approved. Other reactions are disapproved and, depending on the seriousness of the disapproval, may be actively discouraged.
In the West, much of our culture rests on the scientific method. We prefer to test and measure. Getting accurate results makes us feel more secure. Your LDL cholesterol level improved 0.5 since you last visit. That’s so reassuring. The tests are that precise. They count the lipids, you know. This makes it difficult to practice holistic medicine where you look at the whole person. You cannot take a sample of a thought or an emotion, and subject it to chemical analysis in the same way as you measure lipid levels. Thus, unlike other forms of medicine, Western doctors have been inclined to downplay the contribution of non-physical causes to illnesses.
Yet without some positive understanding of how people feel about pain, it is often quite difficult to find the best form of treatment. Take an accidental injury or the process of recovering from surgery. The best practice is to get people moving as soon as possible. They have to confront the pain and short-term loss of mobility, and learn how to make the best recovery. Some just out of surgery are shocked when you tell them they have to start exercising. They have been seduced by the idea that all they have to do is take ultram and wait to get better. But muscles do not remain supple and joints can stiffen if you do not move them. At the very least, physiotherapy is indicated. Ideally, patients should be shown a range of exercises to rebuild muscle tone and mobility.
Yet these patients will be difficult to motivate unless the doctor addresses their fears. They will be apprehensive. Flinching before they move because they expect it to hurt. Although using ultram does help to relieve the pain, this is not always the right course of treatment. Pain is a very useful indicator of how well recovery is progressing. It shows which movements are difficult and can point the need for more physiotherapy and better targeted exercises to rebuild mobility and strength. If people are moving only because they are full of ultram, they may overexercise and slow the recovery process.
Tags: ultram