So, I’ve had psoriatic arthritis for over twenty years, but in the last four or five years (since Covid) my levels of pain, tiredness, insomnia, low mood etc etc have escalated and last year my rheumatologist diagnosed me with fibromyalgia in addition to the PA. On a fibromyalgia forum someone recommended this book, so I bought it and gave it a go.
A lot of it is stuff I already knew (although no harm in being reminded) – that our perception of pain varies hugely on the circumstances, with anecdotes about people in agonising pain when they believe they have a nasty injury (a giant nail through the sole of their boot, and out of the top via their foot), only to discover that the nail actually went between their toes and they’re not injured at all when the pain miraculously vanished, to people actually having terrible injuries that they don’t notice until later because they are too distracted (e.g., running a marathon on a broken leg etc). The book also talks about how in almost all cases, chronic (i.e. long lasting) pain is caused by our brains being over protective and telling us we’re hurting when the actual cause of the pain has long since healed.
So the solution offered by the book is largely about mindfulness and re-training the brain. The author suggests thinking hard about the sensations of your pain and describing it in neutral descriptive terms like warmth, pressure, pulsing etc, while at the same time reminding yourself that you are safe and fine and that these sensations are nothing to worry about.
Does it work?
Well, I actually quite enjoyed playing the describe your pain game and did feel like it was having some level of positive effect initially. However, I haven’t really stuck with it (the author does say it takes a long time to re-learn something that is so ingrained in our brains) plus I’m getting a new kitchen which has involved me moving furniture and big boxes of crockery etc in readiness and then all the stress of having workmen in the house for two weeks so my pain and insomnia has actually got worse, but I acknowledge that it’s unfair to test it in these circumstances. I do believe that it must be possible to re-train the brain to reduce chronic pain, and I will try to get back to it, once the kitchen is finished!
Sarah Wray Writer 