Is there a difference between pain management and pain relief?
You often hear about “pain management clinics.” You rarely hear about “pain relief clinics.”
Sometimes people have a pain issue which can only be managed; it is not going to go away. Instances might be cancer or a nerve which is entangled in a cyst. There is pain. It won’t be going away. But it can be managed with drugs so the person can feel more comfortable.
But lots of times people have a type of pain which is caused by muscles or other soft tissue and which can be treated successfully. Those people can truly have pain relief.
The problem is that most doctors don’t learn about the roles of soft tissues and muscles when they are in medical school or afterward. And muscles are to blame for a huge proportion of our pain.
And muscles are treatable with pressure, touch or manual manipulations. Massage therapy incorporates all of those.
But can all massage therapists provide pain relief?
Nope.
But most can help with pain management.
The only massage therapists who can help with pain relief are those who have had specialized training in soft tissue disorders, postural dysfunctions or trigger point work. They also have to understand what they have been trained in.
Pain management may include bio-feedback, self-hypnosis and medication. It doesn’t look to discover the cause of the pain and get rid of it. It looks more to the treatment of symptoms. Depending on the illness or disorder, sometimes that is the best that we can have.
You may some day have the choice of having your symptoms masked or “managed” or actually having relief from your pain naturally by getting rid of the cause of your pain.
The choice you make will depend on why you have pain.
Is it incurable? Or is it muscle-based? If so, you may find relief with natural, non-invasive, drug-free, manual therapy pain relief techniques.
