Pain. We’ve all felt it. However, most of us won’t recognise when we’re suffering from chronic pain. Chronic pain disguises itself in various forms. Examples include back pain that comes and goes, headaches, migraines, neck and shoulder pain, and the list goes on.
If I asked you to define the term ‘chronic pain’, what would your answer be? Do you know the actual answer?
Chronic pain and persistent pain are terms that are often used interchangeably. Pain is chronic if you experience that pain for more than three months. The pain is not necessarily there all day and every day. For example, if you’ve had headaches twice a month for the past five years, then that’s classed as chronic pain. The word ‘chronic’ refers to the period you’ve suffered the pain. It does not refer to the severity or the quality of that pain.
What do most people do when they get a headache or toothache or some other form of pain? They go to the medicine cupboard and take some painkillers – something to ease the pain. I don’t blame people for doing this. And nor do I judge! This is exactly what I did for decades until I became addicted to opioids. Yes, you read that correctly. I was addicted to opioids and yes, they sure helped! But that’s a whole different story.
So, the title of this blog refers to the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). This technique has changed my life as well as the lives of tens of thousands of others. I’d like to discuss this technique because there is a lot of confusion and jibberish over EFT which leads many people to give up on this extremely effective technique.
For those of you who have heard EFT, use it! For those who haven’t, please continue to read so I can explain my thoughts on exactly why it works. Then I invite you to watch below and see for yourself the weirdness of it.
It blows my mind at how good EFT is. But what does it do? It’s a form of walking self-hypnosis. It accesses your subconscious quickly and safely. How? Through the gentle tapping of pressure points not too dissimilar to acupressure.
Now for the sciency bit. EFT accesses the part of the brain called the amygdala (also known as the fight or flight response) and dulls it down. And when you get really good, the amygdala switches it off. From there, it caresses and calms your nervous system – just like a stroking hand (of a loved one obviously) on the arm consoling you when you have had a tough day. Of course, if it was a random person stroking your arm, it would have the opposite effect, obviously! Okay, I’ll return to being serious now.
Now, you might be wondering why EFT is important for chronic pain? Well, if you’re like me and are a serious fanatic about helping people when they are told nothing can be done, then you spend a lot of time researching until you find a solution that works. If you want to know more check out my research, “The Cycle of Pain”, you find it by clicking here.
I encourage you to watch my video on EFT and then work on using this technique sometimes, instead of reaching out for the painkillers. If you practice EFT enough times, you will change your life.
Click here to watch my video on how to use this crazy technique for pain.