Health at the Crossroads

Christian Science Committee on Publication for Indiana - Media and Legislative Liaison

Freedom from chronic pain by Wendy Margolese for Simcoe.com

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Relief from pain. Everyone wants that. Here in Bloomington, Indiana, a Google search will lead to many clinics that specialize in pain management. Even Angie’s List will find you an approved medical pain specialist. Is there another way to be free of pain? My colleague, Wendy Margolese, writing for the April 10, 2015 edition of Simcoe.com shares some interesting research and a pill-free solution to pain. Here’s Wendy:

The word ‘chronic’, when applied to any physical pain or condition, basically implies incurable and can lead someone to lose hope for any return to good health. For an estimated one in five Canadians so affected, there is increasing good news that there is a way to find freedom from what they may feel is a life sentence.

What would it be worth to those who are suffering – and to our health care costs – to have a solution to chronic pain that doesn’t involve a pill or procedure?

A growing number of specialists today are looking beyond opiates – with their negative side effects, including overdose and addiction – to treat chronic pain.

The Association for Psychological Science produced encouraging findings for pain relief in research using a combination of placebos (fake pills) and memory tasks to reduce pain. And, Dr. Sean Mackey, chief of Stanford University’s pain management research, has studies indicating that a loving experience or relationship can reduce pain. He says…

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Escape the Painful Consequences of Sin by Keith Wommack for Chron.com

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I find that pain is often a wake-up call–a call to forgive, to think differently about a situation or a person, to heal my thoughts. Although pain seems to be a function of problems in the body, my guest blogger and colleague, Keith Wommack, helps us to see more clearly that pain is actually connected closely to our thinking. Writing for the March 9, 2015 edition of Chron.com, Keith shares his own experience of a healing of pain. Read on. You’ll be glad you did. Here’s Keith:

In a recent column, I wrote about my escape from shoulder pain by the use of prayerful treatments. What I didn’t detail was the mental course correction that took place because of the treatment.

The day before the pain began, my wife and I were playing with Kirby, a small kitten we’d rescued off the street. During our playtime, the kitten bit my finger. I yelled, “Ouch!” And while I was staring at a spot on my finger, my wife looked at me, shook her head, and said, “For someone who heals others’ problems by affirming they are safe in God’s care, you’re sure making a big deal out of a little pain.”

My wife wasn’t being mean. She was trying to get me to employ the spiritual understanding to free myself that I utilize in helping others. Yet, instead of accepting her words as intuitive and constructive, I smugly thought, “Well, if that’s what she thinks, I just won’t tell her the next time I feel pain.”

The next morning, I awoke with the shoulder pain. The pain was so extreme I couldn’t hide it. With my head hung low, I had to tell my wife that I needed help.

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Pain Treatment: A new Ontology is Needed by Bill Scott for Blogcritics

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Are you troubled by pain? Everyone deals with it at some point. The views of pain are changing as researchers begin to look at ontology–how one sees the world–for answers. Bill Scott, writing for Blogcritics in their July 30, 2014 edition, talks with a medical researcher who agrees with Mary Baker Eddy, when she said “we must abandon pharmaceuticals…” There are pain clinics and centers in every major town and city in Indiana, as I’m sure there are in other states–most of them prescribing drugs for pain.  Bill’s article helps us to see another possibility for treating pain, one with no negative side affects and quite a few positive ones. Here’s Bill:

In the 19th century, phrenology was viewed as a respected science that used measurements of the skull to determine a person’s character and mental capacity. Few follow phrenology today. Contemporary neuroscience utilizes brain scans to detect correlations between the body and the brain. Yet, both sciences lack explanatory power when it comes to understanding consciousness.

Why is this significant?

Pain is subjective and is integrally linked to consciousness. Without understanding the nature of consciousness, we can’t ever expect to fully understand pain. For instance, why do some feel pain in their missing limbs that have been amputated? Or how do placebos or sugar pills relieve suffering? Many today view pain as in the brain. Yet a doctor in Seattle believes this theory is not only inaccurate, but harmful. In a recent conversation, Dr. Alex Cahana, a world-recognized pain expert, made the following three points:
1. Thinking that pain is in the brain impels doctors to look for a physical cause for pain. When one isn’t found, “It’s all in your head” is often what a patient will hear in response. Unfortunately, this contributes yet another layer of pain to the patient.
2. Needing to legitimize suffering by finding a physical cause implies that an individual’s subjective complaint is inadequate, and de-values the patient’s view regarding his or her own painful experience.
3. This theory creates a research agenda that’s not helpful. It encourages us to ask unhelpful questions that result in unhelpful answers. With all the years spent on pain research, we continue to depend on the same pain relief utilized by the ancient Egyptians 2,500 years ago: opioid pain killers.

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