Pain Management

Have you ever wondered why rubbing a bumped arm or leg helps stop the pain? Well you need to imagine that the brain houses something like an old fashioned telephone switchboard. Pain and sensory messages travel to the brain via nerve cells in the spinal column. When these signals reach the brains switchboard, the switchboard operator decides which messages are put through.
To understand what messages travel to the brain fastest you need to know which type of fiber carries which type of signal.

C-Fibres

C-Fibres carry the messages of Chronic pain also called Persistent pain.  The sensations that are associated with Chronic/ Persistent pain are: Aching, throbbing, burning , cold, itching, soreness, tingling and numbness.These types of sensation are the types of pain generally localised over an area of the body.

A-Fibres

A-Fibres transmit Acute pain messages. These messages travel to the brain at a faster rate than the C-Fibres. They take precedence when they reach the brain.  Which is why when you burn yourself on the oven door for example you don’t feel your nagging neck pain. This is a clever means of self-preservation as it gains our immediate attention to the area of pain to make us remove ourselves from the danger.

Special A-Fibres

The last one is the Ferrari of the fibres called Special A-Fibres. These fibres transmit messages the fastest. The messages that these fibres carry take precedence over all. The types of sensations they carry are: pressure, touch and vibration. This is why rubbing a bumped arm or leg temporarily helps stop the pain. As the messages that are sent travel faster than the other pain messages.

Sometimes for protection purposes when we have injured ourselves the brain sends messages to make our muscles brace or spasm. This happens around the injured area to prevent us causing further damage through overuse or over stretching.  Problems only arise in these circumstances if this continues for long periods of time. The response then becomes a habit, creating further spasms and further pain.

Within the sessions we help you to gain intellectual control to control the pain more successfully. And aim to reduce the anxieties around the symptoms of pain, allowing the brain to choose and take better control.

Do you live in Bath, Atworth, Corsham, Bradford on Avon, Melksham, Trowbridge, Devizes or Surrounding Wiltshire villages? If you are looking for hypnotherapy in Bath or hypnotherapy in Wiltshire contact me now and book in for an initial consultation.