Pain, it’s so relative and personal to every single person. If you have never experienced pain in a certain area before there is just no way to relate to anyone who has. It can be anything from a physical pain somewhere in the body, or an emotional pain, which isn’t any better or worse. Substance P is something that is released in the brain and spinal cord which is associated with pain and inflammation, it’s most well-known function is as a neurotransmitter and a modulator of pain perception by altering cellular signaling pathways.
Substance P
Substance P also plays a role in gastrointestinal functioning, and many other things like memory processing, vasodilation, cell growth and proliferation. I’ve even heard substance P can sit right up next to an area in the brain that is released when there is a emotional traumatic event, so when we have heartbreak we literally can feel pain.
Why talk about pain right now…I personally have been going through pain again after many years of being pain free. It’s in my body, nerve pain, pain that shoots down the leg, and it’s extremely hard to explain to anyone who hasn’t experienced sciatica. But I wonder, is everyone’s pain the same? I have to believe that’s a hard no. I have had sciatic off and on for so many years, with 3 low back surgeries and I have another set up in late November to again relieve another protruding disc. This has occurred for about a year now, and for the first 8 months I was able to live with it, so no one really knew that I was experiencing anything, as I kept doing what I was doing, running, exercising, working, hiking, playing with the dogs, living freely.
I started to think, how many out there are living with pain and just still going on? As a nutritionist, I continually talk about, “what would you do it you didn’t feel the pain again, and what if you are able to eat what you loved again, have less fatigue, less brain fog, less joint pain.” And here I am with yes, a different kind of pain, but aren’t I doing the exact same thing?
I don’t want surgery, no one does, it’s painful, scary, the what-ifs, the unknowns, and hoping for the outcome to be “fixed” and put back together. What would I feel like to have no more pain in my hip, no more lightening zaps of pain down the leg, no more not knowing if I will get a surge of pain if I sit down, stand up, or when going for a walk. The biggest thing I am struggling with is, is it “bad” enough to justify having another surgery.
I wonder, is this where I run into “trouble” when working with clients, do they think their pain isn’t “bad” enough to change their diet, change their lifestyle, or their behaviors to be in a healthier life, -a thriving life. So what is keeping me from doing the same. I think just maybe what if it fails, what if we change ourselves to become “better” and it doesn’t work, or feel worse, and or it’s not that bad right now, so why change anything.
We can’t begin to understand ones pain, or what one is going through. One persons pain scale can be a 3, where another ones is a 8 and they have the exact same pain, but what we don’t know is what people are struggling with, coping with, their traumas, their beliefs, their inside story.
I started this blog post before my last surgery, so yes, now I have had 4. My last one was 8 months ago in May 2023. I had a lumbar fusion L5-S1. It has been a wild ride for sure, and if I didn’t have my nutrition background to fall on, I think my healing process would have been much longer. We are all so very different, and we heal at different rates, for me, I have had many back surgeries so my trauma was re-ignited this surgery and kept me in more inflammation than what was expected.
After Surgery:
It has been 8 months and I have to say I was excited today when I did my first “real” run again. I am working slow and being very careful along with nourishing my body with low inflammatory foods, and lots of hydration. Sugar is one of our biggest inflammatory foods, and it’s also what most crave and call to when feeling pretty low about themselves, and I too wanted to reach out to it, and actually did a few times, and I have to say each time I did, I felt worse. See my nutrition Q and A HERE
It’s easy to say no to inflammatory foods that makes you feel terrible, when you know what they are, but what if you don’t know. What if you have never been to the other side where your body felt it’s absolute best. It’s there, the healthy, energized, happy mood, pain-free place that you don’t want go back down the rabbit hole of unprocessed, artificial, hormone, and chemical-filled foods. I have learned we can heal from anything, and pretty rapidly when we keep ourselves healthy and happy.
Needing help to guide you through a certain area in your life that you know you could feel better but don’t know where to turn? Get supported! I am here to help. Click Here to get a free call to here your story.
