By Dr. Mitchell Yass
Functional pain is the type of pain that most people suffer on a daily basis. This is the type of pain that limits you from performing functional activities as simple as negotiating stairs, sitting in a chair for a sustained period of time or reaching for an object. This type of pain is separate from pain associated with systemic disease entities like cancer, kidney stones or rheumatoid arthritis. These types of pain are more consistent in their intensity and are unaffected by body position or activity.
The medical establishment has a severe difficulty in identifying the cause of functional pain. There is a general perception that the cause of this pain derives from the spinal cord or brain. Since their view is that the pain is created in the spinal cord or brain, treatment protocols are designed to block the brain’s ability to sense pain. That is why pain medication, pain management and procedures like epidural nerve blocks are so prevalent.
I have proven that the cause of most functional pain is due to tissue damage. Real life examples of pain associated with tissue damage are pain associated with kidney stones, eating bad fish, cutting your skin. In every one of these cases the pain experienced acts as a distress signal identifying to the brain that the tissue is in distress and action must be taken to resolve the distress. In every one of these cases, the pain is not treated. The tissue is treated and upon resolution of the distress, the pain resolves.
Regardless of whether you are having pain at the neck, lower back or joint, the key to resolving it is to identify which tissue is creating the pain signal and resolve the distress of the tissue. This will end the pain. If you have pain at the neck or lower back; press on the tissue where you are having pain. If the pain increases, then you have identified the tissue that is creating it. And if you look at where you are pressing, I will bet that you are pressing on a muscle.
If you have pain at a joint, the cause of the it is most likely a muscle that controls the position of the joint surfaces is either weak or imbalance. This creates a misalignment of the joint surfaces which can cause irritation and pain at the joint.
This information may be very new to you as opposed to the information you have received from most other medical practitioners. But I think it is based more on real life examples and is the basis that I utilize to treat my patients.
