Releasing physical pain thru meditation

Daiva

Well, I managed to break my leg - and had surgery to insert screws to hold it all together. I am expected to recover in three month, thus putting my active lifestyle and mountain climbing on hold.
I am not using a lot of pain killers, as that brings up other addiction issues.
Therefore I have been relying on meditation to release the pain, and essentially not focus on it. I did go into shock from the pain after surgery, and have some similar close calls since. (I have friends watching me almost round the clock in case I need help.) I understand that physical pain is just yet another sensation, and me labeling it as "pain" puts a negative connotation on it, and creates an attachment, which I am working hard to remove.
Was wondering what meditations, for those of you who've experienced such intense pain, you've utilized to help release the attachment of physical pain. I've been trying focus/concentration mediation, but then end up just focusing on the label of pain - the thing I am trying not to define so that I can release it. So I sort of get stuck in the negative spiral again. The pain comes and goes, but I seem to be prolonging it in my thoughts. I know this is the basic issue we all have. I am just not used to dealing with this level of physical pain so it is throwing me off.
Any advice?

maarten

Thanissaro Bikkhu gives advice on this in this article and in his (free) book With each and every breath. Take care!

MaryAnne

edited to add:
Pain is a real thing. It is not just some mental imbalance or karmic result of ... whatever. Pain has a real function - as a warning flag that something is 'wrong' with our physical body. It is real. You can't wish it away, nor meditate it away; unless you are some highly advanced yogi or something....

I suggest using meditation in conjunction with the pain meds.

Constant pain does nothing to help heal the body. That temporary relief from pain one gets from the pain medication allows the brain/body connection to focus on other things (like healing, resting and recovering) instead of physical pain.
Constant unrelenting pain can cause horrible mental stress, exhaustion and anguish.
Pain can drive one 'mad'... literally. Seek relief and take it - even if that means taking pain medications from a doctor. Why not try taking half the dosage the doctor recommends? See if that is enough to take the edge off, and then try to meditate through the rest....

cvalue

Can acupuncture help this kind of pain?

anataman

Look, I know people believe that taking a pill can lead to addiction, but as a surgeon dealing with people following abdominal and chest surgery who are often in terrible pain, taking pain killers gets them through the worst of it, and they don't end up becoming addicts.

I suffer from cluster headaches (AKA suicide headaches) twice a year (and I am a lucky one - as mine are not chronic - some people get up to 5 headaches a day). And there is a treatment - nasty injection that gives you palpations, tremors and chest pain - but it relieves the headache most of the time!

This is an example of the suffering that occurs - he is not faking it btw, it is agony on a scale you cannot know unless you have them.



At least take some paracetamol (acetaminophen in america) or some other analgesic if you are in pain, otherwise the efforts of modern medicine have been wasted.

mettha

lobster

Daiva said:

Any advice?

Hypnosis
http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/hypnosis-meditation-and-relaxation-for-pain-treatment

anataman

hypnosis - shmosis @lobster - not for severe pain

grackle

@Daiva. This is what I do. On the inhalation I repeat relaxtion in. On the exhalation discomfort out. This builds a relaxed state making us tense up less when anticipting pain/discomfort. This has been helpful to me. Also while healing you may need a little more pain killer at first. You can try to reduce it bit by bit. Hope this helps.

anataman

Mental distraction is all you can do to relieve pain, however trust me - you can try and make it disappear with meditation or hypnosis - but pain is pain is pain. You can try and have an out of body experience or something, but you have to return to your body, and the pain will be there on your return, unless you take a painkiller first.

on a scale of 0 - 10 where 0 is no pain and 10 is the most unbearable tortuous pain you could ever imagine - how would you rate the pain?

Daiva

I am currently taking Motrin which helps somewhat. The constant pain level is at a 4. But I get waves of 7-8. They pass, but like after half hour to an hour, so it's quite an effort to endure for that long. Am just trying to get thru these painful moments. They are probably only going to karst for about a month. Some of the breathing like Grackle mentioned helps.

Jeffrey

Notice the difference between the feeling of pain and the thoughts. "I can't take it anymore!" is just a thought though it might be cathartic. The thoughts are just part of the ceaseless arising thoughts. The feeling of pain is just a sense and it can be there. The thoughts can also be there but when you diss-identify with the self talk then it is just a feeling. Easier said than done, but you have a long time to experience here.

ThailandTom

Hey sorry to hear about the leg, it is a part of life though isn't it, sickness death and suffering. The Buddha said that we cannot avoid the first 2 but we do not need to suffer. There are ways to transcend that action of suffering from the pain, but you will still feel the pain obviously. However, most of us are not some highly transcended being so stick to some decent pain medication but be aware of addiction. You will be surprised by how many people become addicted to things like hydrocodone and oxycotin from injuries and surgery.

On a related note I felt the second worst pain I have ever experienced a few hours ago, I tore my big toe nail off, accidentally of course. I was moving my motorbike out to go somewhere and someone had parked their bike way too close to mine for me to get it out easily. So I had to wiggle and squirm it out but the stand my bike leans on was still not raised from the floor, and as I pulled the bike back I didn't move my feet and it literally smashed into my toe and ripped my nail off. Pretty extreme pain for about 15 minutes.

Anyhoo hope you get well soon, take those meds and just try out a few breathing exercises if the pain gets too much in any situation.

ThailandTom

anataman said:

Look, I know people believe that taking a pill can lead to addiction, but as a surgeon dealing with people following abdominal and chest surgery who are often in terrible pain, taking pain killers gets them through the worst of it, and they don't end up becoming addicts.

I suffer from cluster headaches (AKA suicide headaches) twice a year (and I am a lucky one - as mine are not chronic - some people get up to 5 headaches a day). And there is a treatment - nasty injection that gives you palpations, tremors and chest pain - but it relieves the headache most of the time!

This is an example of the suffering that occurs - he is not faking it btw, it is agony on a scale you cannot know unless you have them.



At least take some paracetamol (acetaminophen in america) or some other analgesic if you are in pain, otherwise the efforts of modern medicine have been wasted.

mettha

I saw something about a family in America who had a dad who suffered from cluster headaches almost daily, to the point where he was wanting to shoot himself. Even the oxygen tanks wouldn't work. So his wife one day saw online that hallucinogenic mushrooms worked for some people. He now takes a capsule of grounds up mushroom every 6 weeks or so and he hasn't had a headache since.

Jeffrey

@ThailandTom, that's great about the mushrooms. Everybodys body is different. I went gluten free and haven't had bad voices since then.

ThailandTom

Jeffrey said:

@ThailandTom, that's great about the mushrooms. Everybodys body is different. I went gluten free and haven't had bad voices since then.

The quality is bad but I cannot find the original source.

Jeffrey

I've had about 3 or 4 migraines. They are terrible.

Jeffrey

What is that gas tank he has? Oxygen, right? Why oxygen?

ThailandTom

Jeffrey said:

What is that gas tank he has? Oxygen, right? Why oxygen?

Yea that was oxygen and I have no idea as to why it is suggested to people with cluster headaches, I would imagine pure oxygen helps to open up blood vessels which could be constricted in the brain or something?

Jeffrey

As long as he is not inhaling homeade scotch guard too,

cvalue

It's too late for meditation now. People must do meditation regularly for many years to master it. Waiting until the pain occurs to start meditation is a little bit late! What you can do is try not to be frightened when the big pain waves come because like every other lives, the life of a pain wave is birth, grow, decline and dead. They are not permanent! The sharp pain wave will have to decline and die down. Try to relax as much as you can.

As a religious buddhist, I believe that my consciousness is independent from my body. My consciousness only borrows this body for a while, so when it feels painful, I tell myself, this body is not me, this body feels pain, I don't feel pain because I am me, I am not this body. But this needs many years of practice!

anataman

I have high flow oxygen tanks at home for when I get the clusters. The reason for the pain is that there is vasodilatation of blood vessels in the region of the trigeminal ganglion which puts pressure on those nerves and causes the pain - high flow oxygen therapy causes vasoconstriction and can abort the attack - but not always.

The psilocybin containing mushrooms have a similar effect and the drug I use to inject myself is related to the chemical structure of LSD, which is also related to Psylocybin .

Yes I have taken both (for a while I grew my own psilocybin mushrooms) and yes they work at aborting the attack - but you can't function if you spend your whole day dissolving into the world around you and having disturbing visual hallucinations and watch your self disintegratesto the extent that you have no choice but realise there is no self and reality is a dream-like state. If you are interested read aldous huxley on 'the doors of perception'. There are other ways of dissolving the self - its just slower to realise.

Daiva

@anataman - I've read Doors of Perception years ago and spent much time dissolving the world and listening the 'voices' thru artificial means. Am now 25 years clean and sober, therefore that road is not one I wish to travel, however still tempting, lol.
@cvalue - have been meditating for many years - and am really not attempting to 'master' anything. I just see meditation as a another tool to help with the pain, which is something I am simply attaching to. I know I am tying the emotion to the real pain experience, I just hope to do better with dealing with dukkha overall, and the physical pain is adding extra adversity to the daily practice that I have already established.
I know the many individuals on this site have various experiences and am interested in their ideas using meditation for physical pain.
I don't think it is ever too late for anyone to start meditating for any reason.

grackle

@Daiva. One very kind thing you can do for yourself is to be patient with the process of healing. I am happy that the breathing helped. In weakness I discovered strength. In surrender courage.

ThailandTom

anataman said:

I have high flow oxygen tanks at home for when I get the clusters. The reason for the pain is that there is vasodilatation of blood vessels in the region of the trigeminal ganglion which puts pressure on those nerves and causes the pain - high flow oxygen therapy causes vasoconstriction and can abort the attack - but not always.

The psilocybin containing mushrooms have a similar effect and the drug I use to inject myself is related to the chemical structure of LSD, which is also related to Psylocybin .

Yes I have taken both (for a while I grew my own psilocybin mushrooms) and yes they work at aborting the attack - but you can't function if you spend your whole day dissolving into the world around you and having disturbing visual hallucinations and watch your self disintegratesto the extent that you have no choice but realise there is no self and reality is a dream-like state. If you are interested read aldous huxley on 'the doors of perception'. There are other ways of dissolving the self - its just slower to realise.

Yea I thought it would have something to do with restricted blood vessels. The thing with the mushrooms though is that the guy who seems to have these cluster headaches very often only need to trip once every 2 months, I would rather do that than stand the pain of such headaches on a regular basis, you could see him start to well up when he describes the time he was contemplating shooting himself, so I think for him at least it is the best medicine.

anataman

ThailandTom said:

anataman said:

I have high flow oxygen tanks at home for when I get the clusters. The reason for the pain is that there is vasodilatation of blood vessels in the region of the trigeminal ganglion which puts pressure on those nerves and causes the pain - high flow oxygen therapy causes vasoconstriction and can abort the attack - but not always.

The psilocybin containing mushrooms have a similar effect and the drug I use to inject myself is related to the chemical structure of LSD, which is also related to Psylocybin .

Yes I have taken both (for a while I grew my own psilocybin mushrooms) and yes they work at aborting the attack - but you can't function if you spend your whole day dissolving into the world around you and having disturbing visual hallucinations and watch your self disintegratesto the extent that you have no choice but realise there is no self and reality is a dream-like state. If you are interested read aldous huxley on 'the doors of perception'. There are other ways of dissolving the self - its just slower to realise.

Yea I thought it would have something to do with restricted blood vessels. The thing with the mushrooms though is that the guy who seems to have these cluster headaches very often only need to trip once every 2 months, I would rather do that than stand the pain of such headaches on a regular basis, you could see him start to well up when he describes the time he was contemplating shooting himself, so I think for him at least it is the best medicine.

I am pleased that his clusters are periodical (similar to mine) and know it has medicinal qualities (YEARS of hallucinogens!), but for some people - the side effects are not manageable or within the domain of PERSONAL, professional and SOCIAL EXPECTATION.

ThailandTom

anataman said:

ThailandTom said:

anataman said:

I have high flow oxygen tanks at home for when I get the clusters. The reason for the pain is that there is vasodilatation of blood vessels in the region of the trigeminal ganglion which puts pressure on those nerves and causes the pain - high flow oxygen therapy causes vasoconstriction and can abort the attack - but not always.

The psilocybin containing mushrooms have a similar effect and the drug I use to inject myself is related to the chemical structure of LSD, which is also related to Psylocybin .

Yes I have taken both (for a while I grew my own psilocybin mushrooms) and yes they work at aborting the attack - but you can't function if you spend your whole day dissolving into the world around you and having disturbing visual hallucinations and watch your self disintegratesto the extent that you have no choice but realise there is no self and reality is a dream-like state. If you are interested read aldous huxley on 'the doors of perception'. There are other ways of dissolving the self - its just slower to realise.

Yea I thought it would have something to do with restricted blood vessels. The thing with the mushrooms though is that the guy who seems to have these cluster headaches very often only need to trip once every 2 months, I would rather do that than stand the pain of such headaches on a regular basis, you could see him start to well up when he describes the time he was contemplating shooting himself, so I think for him at least it is the best medicine.

I am pleased that his clusters are periodical (similar to mine) and know it has medicinal qualities (YEARS of hallucinogens!), but for some people - the side effects are not manageable or within the domain of PERSONAL, professional and SOCIAL EXPECTATION.

Years of psychedelic experience here as well. I can understand that a high-dose mushrooms trip to somebody who claims they do not enjoy it would be pretty daunting. I actually consider mushrooms at high doses more unpredictable and harder to go along with than acid, even though the effects do not last as long. Anyway he claims that he hates it and the narrator says something along the lines of 'after hours of terrible tripping' but he seemed to enjoy it for the most part.

Here is another controversial documentary about pain and relief.

footiam

Daiva said:

Well, I managed to break my leg - and had surgery to insert screws to hold it all together. I am expected to recover in three month, thus putting my active lifestyle and mountain climbing on hold.
I am not using a lot of pain killers, as that brings up other addiction issues.
Therefore I have been relying on meditation to release the pain, and essentially not focus on it. I did go into shock from the pain after surgery, and have some similar close calls since. (I have friends watching me almost round the clock in case I need help.) I understand that physical pain is just yet another sensation, and me labeling it as "pain" puts a negative connotation on it, and creates an attachment, which I am working hard to remove.
Was wondering what meditations, for those of you who've experienced such intense pain, you've utilized to help release the attachment of physical pain. I've been trying focus/concentration mediation, but then end up just focusing on the label of pain - the thing I am trying not to define so that I can release it. So I sort of get stuck in the negative spiral again. The pain comes and goes, but I seem to be prolonging it in my thoughts. I know this is the basic issue we all have. I am just not used to dealing with this level of physical pain so it is throwing me off.
Any advice?

As far as I understand, the aim of meditation is to attain Nirvana, not to release physical but most probably spiritual pain. In a case like yours, painkillers perhaps work better but I don't know. Miracles do happen sometimes if you believe in it.

Daiva

Yes, you are correct, @footiam, and thank you for reminding me. I guess I am sort of attaching "spiritual pain" to the physical pain - and making it worse in my mind, and therefore expecting mindful meditation could alleviate some of that pain. I see the connections of how our body carries memories/emotions of the past - and it does come up during my mediation practice, and I sometimes focus on it too much, which I have been working with a teacher to work through. So, now that the physical pain is a constant, it's become my constant focus, and a bad habit of attachment for me.

footiam

I would rather think that when focus on the pain, you are using it to your advantage. It should be all right as long as there is no dissapointmen that arises from a desire to put an end to the pain.