CHRONIC PAIN is determined by emotions, scientists believe

The emotional state of the brain can explain why different individuals do not respond the same way to similar injuries, say scientists.

Some recover fully while others remain in constant pain.

Brain scan studies showed for the first time how chronic pain emerges as a result of an emotional response to an injury.

The process involves interaction between two brain regions, the frontal cortex and nucleus accumbens.

Lead scientist Professor Vania Apakarian, from Northwestern University in Chicago, US, said: ”The injury itself is not enough to explain the ongoing pain. It has to do with the injury combined with the state of the brain.”

The more emotionally the brain reacted to the initial injury, the more likely it was that pain will persist after the injury has healed, he said.

Prof Apakarian added: ”It may be that these sections of the brain are more excited to begin with in certain individuals, or there may be genetic and environmental influences that predispose these brain regions to interact at an excitable level.”

The research involved 40 volunteers who had all suffered an episode of back pain lasting one to four months.

Four brain scans were carried out on each participant over the course of one year.

The results, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, made it possible to predict with 85% accuracy which individuals would go on to develop chronic pain.

The nucleus accumbens teaches the rest of the brain how to evaluate and react to the outside world.

Prof Apakarian said it may use the initial pain signal to teach other parts of the brain to develop chronic pain.

”Now we hope to develop new therapies for treatment based on this finding,” he added.

You can read the full article at The Telegraph here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9368065/Chronic-pain-is-determined-by-emotions-scientists-believe.html#

Pain and the Brain

I specialise in chronic pain and injury – and am fascinated by the effects of EFT for pain.

I have watched and listened to many experts talking about and discussing pain. However, my quest for answers as to how EFT works, and why, are yet to be answered.

Due to this I have come up with my own theory, thanks to the work of Allan Basbaum, Dawson Church Ph.D, Dr. Moseley Dr. Butler, and David Feinstein Ph.D.

In this video Allan Basbaum explains that the brain has it’s own pain relieving system. This happens when endorphins are released, as they are a pain relieving substance.

Now, this fits in with research that Harvard Medical School have done on EFT. They say that EFT reduces blood flow to the Amygdala, RELEASES ENDORPHINS, and increases GABA waves.

In my mind this is the first part of the theory as to how EFT for pain works.

The second part of the theory is that EFT cannot be a placebo. There are several reason for this. Firstly, Allan states that children are immune to placebo’s.  EFT works just as well with children as it does adults. Secondly, nobody that I have EVER worked with (using EFT) has EVER had any belief in it whatsoever. I mean come on …. it’s looks totally bonkers … and generally people feel quite uncomfortable on first trying it (at least the clients that i attract, anyway).

Allan also talks about how pain can change when perceptions are changed, when the brain is manipulated.

Dr. David Feinstein explains this further with the following quote:

“neuroscientists have demonstrated that every memory is encoded in the brain with an emotional charge. This charge creates a neural pathway to signal an appropriate physiological response when you are reminded of the experience, or encounter a similar one. These neural pathways were once protective – a swift fight or flight reaction to an encounter with a lion could keep you alive – the trouble is the brain can’t differentiate between a lion and a modern stressor like a computer crash, so innocuous situations end up being encoded in the brain as dangerous. Tapping (EFT) can help rewire these neural pathways”.

Clinical Psychologist Fred P. Gallo Ph.D says “whenever you think about a stressful experience, the brain activates an alarm response in the Amygdala, the part of the limbic system that governs our emotions, and stimulating acupressure points reduces arousal in the Amygdala. These opposing signals quickly communicate to the brain that there is no danger and reprogram the circuitry so the trigger no longer evokes anxiety, fear or other negative emotions.”

I am interviewing Dawson Church this evening where I will be asking lots of questions about EFT and how EFT for pain works.

Enjoy xx

Olympic athlete cures shoulder pain with EFT!

2012 could be Abi Oyepitan’s final bash at the Olympics. She has done amazingly well this year in the trials,  on the run up to the Olympics. So, I wanted to take the opportunity to find out more about her experience of EFT, and how it helped her rehabilitation from chronic injury to Olympic status.

After the interview she mentioned that she had been the hospital to get a scan as she was experiencing pain in her shoulder. I asked if she had used the ‘tapping’ for it but she said “No, it’s been so long since i’ve used it for pain,  that i totally forgot”.

After, the interview we did a few minutes of tapping and this is what happened.

I love my new room

I really love working in my new treatment room at London’s Liverpool Street.

Unlike Harley Street it’s super quiet, and it’s also really light and airy. I am working here on Mondays, Fridays, and Wednesday evenings.

There’s a great meeting room downstairs where I’ll be starting a City Pain Clinic. Here I will be helping people not only understand their pain but also learn a technique that they can use to reduce, manage and more often than not, totally eradicate pain. This will take place once a month, and will be more cost effective than working with me one-to-one.

I am also looking forward to setting up a  pain clinic webinar so that I can start helping people across the pond in the same way that I am helping them at The City Pain Clinic.

If you would like any further information then drop me a line.

EFT practically cures a chronic injury!

Last year, during some filming for channel 4, I met a Personal Trainer called Nic Mitchell. We were actually meant to be arch rivals on the TV show as we were competing against each other but, to the astonishment of the production team, we fast became good friends.

Once the show had finished the production company gave me a short show reel of the filming that I did, and I decided at that point that I wanted to do some more filming to add to the reel.  I thought that it would be a good idea to film some sessions, but this time with people who were not only skeptical but total disbelievers. Nic sprang to mind as I knew that he had a couple of old injuries that he couldn’t shift. I asked him if I could do some tapping with him for free, in exchange for being able to film the session. He agreed but I know that it was only because he was humouring me.

I turned up at his gym in The City of London and was ushered in to his office. We started tapping almost straight away. I had already decided that because he was a total non-believer I would start with simply chasing the pain, without bringing any emotional stuff in to the picture. I explained to him that the reason I was asking him for colours, shapes, textures etc. was because the subconscious mind processes things and understand things in a different way to the conscious mind; that it understand shapes, colours, etc.  He understood this so we started to tap.

“Even though I have this red, round, 8 stiffness in my ankle, I’m OK”

“Even though I have this challenging stiffness that prevents me from doing squats, I’m alright”

“Even though I don’t believe in the stuff but I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m OK”

Once we finished the above set-ups followed by full rounds of tapping the stiffness, the restriction had reduced to a 5. However, we got a bit stuck at this point so I decided to investigate what happened at the time of the original accident. Nic had been in Ibiza at the time and felt guilty about various things that had happened when he was there, so we started using the following set-ups.

“Even though, I feel guilty about what I did and there’s a possibility that the emotion is still frozen in my ankle, I’m OK.”

“Even though, I have all this guilt stuck in my ankle and I didn’t realise, I’m alright.”

“Even though, I have this 5 guilt in my ankle and I might not want to let it go, I’m OK.”

We continued tapping and re-framing and within 5 minutes Nic could do a full squat, which is something that he hasn’t been able to do since the accident. His face was such a picture because he was totally shocked, freaked out even, to the point where he burst out in to his gym and started showing people how he could now squat for the first time in years.

Because the session was filmed I have been given permission by Nic to use his name and show the video on YouTube. The video will be up by the 19th October.

The more skeptical people are the better if you ask me, so be brave and believe in the power of EFT!

I agreed to try a little bit of Carey’s treatment because her genuine and effervescent character is hard to refuse, rather than because of any belief (at all) in her methodologies. As someone who makes his living working with bodies I am happy to accept the less “scientific” concepts such as reflexology and meridian lines, but tapping just seemed plain ridiculous to me. It is no exaggeration to say that I was utterly dumbstruck when after just 10 minutes of treatment I had more range in a long-standing injured ankle than at any time in the years since the original injury! Given that I am in a position to receive world class physical therapy I am still astounded when I think back on it almost a year later