Dr. Tobias Pintar

General Practitioner, LNB Pain Therapy, Acupuncture

Don’t be afraid of pain, it’s your friend!

I think everyone would agree with me, that pain has an important function. It warns us when we cut ourselves, when we step on a screw or hit our thumb with a hammer, et cetera. So what about chronic pains, when there is no obvious acute danger? One of the most common theories is the concept of a ‘pain memory’. According to that theory the body would keep pain in memory, so mistakes that hurt us would not be repeated. As a result the memory of pain may outlast its benefits as acute pain becomes chronic pain. But why would our musculoskeletal system store the memory in a way that makes us suffer permanently? This concept doesn’t leave us a way out, does it? How can we possibly delete a memory?

Is pain an error of nature, a misguided sensation? Could you honestly believe mother nature created the human body – such a marvel – and installed a program, that makes the lives of millions of people just miserable, without serving a better purpose? I don’t!

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