Pain, Addiction, and Our Nervous System - an Acupuncture Perspective

One of the things I treat most as an acupuncturist, is pain. Neck + shoulder, low back, hip, knee, you name it. While physical trauma is an obvious culprit, much more of this pain is caused by emotional stress. 

In our current world, stress is coming at us in every direction: we’ve got stress from work, home, past trauma, the news… We’ve created lifestyles of busyness without enough natural physical outlets for all we’ve managed to pack in each day. The technology we use serves to increase our amount of mental and emotional activity while decreasing our physical outlets: Our phones and computers keep us constantly accessible, yet with short and often disconnected interactions, leading to less quality relationships. If we want emotional balance (which brings about physical balance), we need to manage our stress.

When I was in college, there was no Facebook, no smartphones… We went to each others’ apartments, we cooked dinner, hung out. We talked. Maybe we watched movies, but we were more present. How frequently are we “taken out” of an experience with a quality friend by a notification on a device we have adopted as an ever-present extension of us?

We know there are benefits to instantly communicate. There is always the possibility of an emergency arising for which we want immediate knowledge, and it can feel very rewarding to accomplish many tasks and feel a sense of productivity and efficiency with increased speed of communication. However, it’s very easy for this balance to become skewed. What has become a societal expectation, and addiction, to be “on:” perceivably happy and totally accessible, is having a real affect on our stress levels, and in turn, our emotional and physical pain. 

Suicide rates in our nation are growing steadily year by year. Depression is at its most prevalent. Within the last generation our technology has changed drastically and has had a big affect on our behavior. The integration of new technology into our daily lives has shifted our social means of communication and created new norms. As we have tried to adapt as a culture, there have been heavy downfalls. What’s more, for every suicide within our nation’s youth (remember, this is the portion of the population whose brains have developed around these systems that are publicly displaying our social lives), there are an estimated 25 attempted suicides, according to the CDC.  The Baby Boomer population, those between 60 and 75 years of age, has the highest suicide rate in our country, in addition to an alarmingly high opioid abuse problem. 

I believe there is a correlation between our increased technological advancements, changes in social pressures, lack of privacy, and our increased stress levels. Many Baby Boomers feel left out and lost in a changed (and continually changing) world. We can point to ageism, but the fact is, technology has changed so much, that those who have not grown alongside it are often at a disadvantage with new job expectations. How can this not lead to depression and internalized stress? On top of it all, privacy is essential as a healing part of de-stressing, and many of us now have to make intentional attempts to carve any out for ourselves. Privacy is now not a given. Our country is out of balance.

So how can acupuncture help?

Recently the FDA published a recommendation to doctors that they should start recommending acupuncture as an alternative to drugs for pain management. As an acupuncture practitioner, it is so relieving to hear this. I know firsthand and can bear witness to the power of acupuncture to help heal both physical and emotional pain. If you aren’t ready to accept Eastern philosophy about the way energy travels throughout our body, part of the Western explanation for how acupuncture relieves our pain, is that it puts our nervous system into parasympathetic mode.

Our autonomic nervous system has two aspects: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. These two systems do not act in isolation, but actually work to balance each other.

In short, the sympathetic nervous system stimulates, while the parasympathetic system relaxes. What is commonly termed, our “fight or flight response,” is our body’s sympathetic nervous system reminding us of our very base, animalistic days of running or fighting for our lives. Our bodies tense up, our blood pumps faster, our pupils dilate, and bodily functions that take energy away from our emergency modes (like digesting food properly) are delayed. Our parasympathetic nervous system is our “rest and digest” mode. This side of the equation is responsible for a healthier digestive tract, lower blood pressure, and the overall “repairing” of the stress our bodies endure. 

What I see from my patients is an increase in “fight or flight mode” without the needed balance of “repair and restore mode”. We need to regain this balance. The addictions that arise from trying to manage our lifestyles and pace are no surprise. People are trying to get relief. In my opinion, the opioid epidemic our country is facing exists because 1) the drugs are extremely addictive, and 2) they provide the user with the appearance of managing their pain and stress without actually healing. The drugs do not cure pain. There would be no epidemic if that were the case. 

The pharmaceutical industry flooded the market with new formulations of prescription opioids in the 1990s, which spiked the rate at which they were prescribed. Opioids are extremely addictive, and since the pills do not heal, the pain persists rather than restoring our body’s natural balance. Sadly, those who are addicted to opioids often suffer more physical and emotional repercussions, including continued chronic pain, strained relationships, overdoses, and death.

Luckily,  acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatment can offer an alternative to help with addiction and pain. When I treat pain, I look beyond the surface of the physical symptoms. There is usually an emotional component to the pain felt, and sometimes addiction is a part of that emotional component. I’ve had clients who have suffered physical trauma, like the man who was in a motorcycle accident and only found relief from acupuncture after trying prescription pain pills. I’ve treated patients with intense fear and anxiety surrounding impending periods (while also treating the pain and balancing the cycle). For many, acupuncture is the only treatment that has brought lasting relief. For more about the emotional component to chronic pain, please click here.

Whether the initial pain is caused by emotional trauma or physical, humans bring stress to those areas of our body that need healing. If we don’t manage the stress, we can’t manage the pain.

This is why, in my opinion and practice, I look to the stress associated with the pain as an integral piece to a fuller treatment plan.