Why do I have chronic pain?
The exact reason why chronic pain occurs is unknown. However, there are numerous factors that can increase your risk of developing chronic pain. These include:
- Genetic factors
- Areas of weakness or dysfunction from previous injuries and traumas
- The specific forces affecting the body’s support structures in an injury and any sudden onset of pain at the time of injury
- How you react to pain, including kinesiophobia (fear of movement), catastrophizing personality and other thoughts and behaviours
- Existing problems in the body and mind that act as barriers to recovery
- Not receiving adequate pain relief in the weeks that follow your injury
In our experience, previous injuries and health problems can affect healing, even if they do not seem related to your current problems. These act as barriers to recovery because they can impede the normal healing process. To help your body heal, we find and treat these hidden scars. By removing these barriers, we enhance your body’s ability to heal itself.
Why hasn’t my doctor been able to fix this?
The simple answer is that doctors don’t yet know how to effectively treat persistent pain. Conventional medicine does not possess techniques to properly treat and heal chronic pain patients. This is why Seekers integrates alternative therapies into our evidence-based medical pain management program. In our experience, it makes our treatment safer, easier and more effective.
After years of seeking effective non-drug therapies for the treatment of pain, we have found many simple, effective tools that are unknown to most doctors. This is because they are not mentioned in medical textbooks, medical school curricula, residency training programs or at continuing education conferences. Even most pain specialists do not learn about them. We want to change that, but for now they are available to our patients.
Most physicians admit they don’t treat pain well. One major reason is a fear of prescribing narcotics with the potential for addiction and abuse. Another factor is time. Treating chronic pain effectively requires more time than is available to a standard, busy family physician. In most cases, people with chronic pain receive inadequate drug treatment results in many cases this affects healing.
At the Seekers Centre, we will take the time to give you a complete assessment of your pain in order to discover the root causes of your pain, and what factors are preventing your body from healing. From there we can create a personalized treatment program designed to specifically heal your pain.
What can I do to help myself?
As the saying goes, “Knowledge is power.” It is important to inform yourself about how to manage your pain. We suggest reading these helpful and informative books:
Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection by John E. Sarno, M.D.
Pain Free: A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain by Pete Egoscue
You should drink plenty of water and stretch in the morning. This will help keep the body hydrated and reduce tension. You should learn to practice proper breathing and posture techniques to promote relaxation. Hot tubs, and warm baths with Epsom salts are also helpful in promoting a relaxed state and in soothing the body.
It is essential that you continue to live an active lifestyle. Even if you don’t feel like it, go out with your friends, go for a bike ride/walk, play a sport, do something that you love! Be as socially and as physically active as your pain permits. By doing this, you are reducing stress and promoting happiness, allowing both the body and mind to begin healing.
Why is Seekers the best choice for me?
The Seekers Centre is the only pain management clinic that focuses on getting to the root cause of your pain and ending it. We are also the only clinic that combines conventional medicine, nursing, psychological treatments, and commentary and alternative medicine in order to effectively treat our patients.
We also have a team that is passionate and dedicated to helping you along your healing journey. From our administrative team to our medical team, the Seekers team is professional and caring, and possesses a vast experience in treating chronic pain. Our staff also has experience in dealing with lawyers and insurance companies, allowing for an easier road to healing.
Lastly, our treatments work, as our patients tend to get better! We’ve helped hundreds of chronic pain patients end their pain and begin to enjoy life again. We are excited to help you along your healing journey, and assist you in returning to a better quality of life
Where are you located?
Our clinic is located at 942 Merivale Road, Ottawa. For a map of our location, clinic hours, and contact information, please visit our Contact Us page here.
How do I get started?
If you are interested in being part of our chronic pain management program, or our whiplash clinic (if you have MVA-related pain), please visit our Referral Process page in order to get started.