Pain Research & Management

To prepare for any chronic pain coping technique, it is important to learn how to use focus and deep breathing to relax the body. Pain control techniques mainly involved Altered focus. This is a favorite technique for demonstrating how powerfully the mind can alter sensations in the body. Focus your attention on any specific non-painful part of the body and alter pain sensation in that part of the body. Dissociation As the name implies, this chronic pain technique involves mentally separating the painful body part from the rest of the body, or imagining the body and mind as separate, with the chronic pain distant from one’s mind. Sensory splitting, this technique involves dividing the sensation into separate parts. Mental anesthesia This involves imagining an injection of numbing anesthetic (like Novocain) into the painful area, such as imagining a numbing solution being injected into your low back. Mental analgesia Building on the mental anesthesia concept, this technique involves imagining an injection of a strong pain killer, such as morphine, into the painful area. Alternatively, you can imagine your brain producing massive amount of endorphins, the natural pain relieving substance of the body, and having them flow to the painful parts of your body.