CEAM and Pain

Pain Podcast Script.

Hello and welcome to the podcast, **Ancient Wisdom, Modern Health: Reaching the Balance Within**. Today, we’ll explore how the ancient wisdom of Classical East Asian Medicine (CEAM) interprets pain and how this understanding can help us approach pain management differently.

In CEAM, we have a distinct view of pain. It’s not just about what pain is, but rather, what’s causing it. 

At the moment, pain is quite a hot topic in medicine, with research examining it from multiple angles—neuropathic, hormonal, and physical. Each perspective offers new insights into what’s happening in our bodies when we experience pain.

One current area of focus in pain research is neuroplasticity. Studies suggest that the brain can become 'hard-wired' to perceive pain, even after an initial injury has healed. This has led to efforts aimed at retraining the brain to respond differently to pain signals. Techniques such as mindfulness play a crucial role in this, helping us to learn how to reframe and manage pain sensations.

I’ve kept my explanations here simple and general, but if you'd like to explore this further, there are links to some relevant research papers in the transcript:  

- [Neuroplasticity in Chronic Pain and CBT](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.13.21260466v1)  

- [Meditation and Pain Neural Mechanisms](https://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/6/2254)

One of the common therapeutic approaches in this area is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). CBT focuses on understanding and altering thought patterns and behaviours that contribute to emotional distress and chronic pain. It’s widely used for managing conditions like anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, as it addresses the negative cognitive and emotional patterns that often accompany long-term pain.

Another key consideration in pain treatment is how we communicate what we feel. Pain is a unique experience for each individual, making it difficult to describe. Most practitioners use some form of scale, such as a 0-10 scale where 0 represents no pain and 10 represents extreme pain. However, this scale can be misunderstood as a global measure rather than the subjective guide it’s meant to be. Essentially, it’s a way to help both the patient and practitioner track progress and assess treatment effectiveness. It could just as easily be smiley faces indicating varying levels of discomfort!

In CEAM, we take this a step further by wanting to know more about the sensations. Is the pain sharp, dull, heavy, or dragging? Does it feel hot or cold, wet or dry, throbbing, focused or vague? Is it in a fixed location, or does it move? These details are essential, as they provide insights into the type of blockage or imbalance occurring.

At its core, CEAM views pain as a blockage in the flow of Qi, blood, or body fluids. When these elements flow freely, we experience health; when they don’t, pain or discomfort arises. Each type of blockage presents its own symptoms. For example, blood stagnation typically causes pain that feels fixed and stabbing, while Qi stagnation can lead to vague, shifting discomfort. Stagnant body fluids might result in deep, heavy sensations.

Of course, these patterns often combine. For instance, if there’s bruising with swelling, the bruising might indicate blood stagnation, while the swelling points to fluid stagnation. Understanding these distinctions helps guide our treatment approach.

The primary goal in CEAM is to restore flow. As I mentioned earlier, where there is flow, there is health. So, we use herbs, acupuncture, and other techniques to encourage this flow.

So, in CEAM we see pain or discomfort as a blockage in this flow, and if we can narrow the location of the blockage down to a specific pathway or meridian then be placing needles, in the case of acupuncture, in the right place to help open that blockage, then the discomfort or pain is reduced if not removed. If we were to take a Herbal path, then the pathway that is affected can help to guide the selection of which herbs to be placed in the formula to help bring about the flow again.

Now it would be very easy here to imply that, that once the flow is established, then it will stay flowing for evermore. However, as I am constantly telling my patients, acupuncture, herbs; me; don’t fix you! Your body heals itself, with our assistance. So, you may feel a reduction in the pain or discomfort whilst the needles are in, and this will on average last about 3 to 4 days, then there will be a slight move back toward the original level of discomfort. So, the next treatment will improve on this again and so on until the blockage is removed and there is flow again constantly.

If we were to use herbs instead of needles then the process is similar, in that the herbs are working on assisting your body to heal itself by helping to open the blockage, and so allow the body to gain the balance that it needs to achieve health.

In both cases, as the body gets stronger, healthier or closer to balance, then both the frequency of acupuncture or herbal dosage will reduce and ultimately there will be no need for the body to need support.

Another aspect of our treatment is the importance of warmth, and in CEAM this cannot be overstated. We believe that “warmth creates flow; cold restricts it.” This principle guides our approach—unless there is obvious heat emanating from the injury, warmth is typically our preferred choice.

That said, we do occasionally use cooling treatments, but only when necessary. For example, if you can see and feel warmth radiating from an injury, then cooling might be appropriate. But as a rule, warmth is life.

To wrap up today’s episode, I’d like to thank you for listening. If you have any questions or want to discuss this topic further, feel free to reach out through my website, **sagire.com.au**. Become a member of the **Sagire Health Community** to receive early access to podcast episodes, transcripts, and our library of resources and courses.

Thank you once again for joining me on **Ancient Wisdom, Modern Health**. Until next time, may you continue to find balance within.