Summary: What is chronic pain really? How does it affect the body? How can we overcome chronic pain to obtain a better quality of life? These are all good questions and at times can be very difficult to answer. First off I think we should understand what chronic pain is. Dr. Allan Basbaum, PhD Dr. Allan Basbaum, PhD is a professor and chair of the Department of Anatomy at the University of California San Francisco or UCSF. Dr. Basbaum has had a remarkable career in his efforts to learn about pain, the body, and how it works. He has very succinctly defined what chronic pain is, and how it affects the body. To see him profile and find out more about him visit his UCSF page at: http://bms.ucsf.edu/directory/faculty/allan-basbaum-phd Dr. Basbaum defines pain in two ways, first, acute pain which is the normal everyday pain that we experience. Such things as when we cut our finger or burn our hand or break a bone. Normal, every day pain, that we experience. He also describes what chronic pain is as being clinical pain. Or that pain which does not act as acute pain. Chronic pain does not go away, and it effects the body in extensive ways. You can watch Dr. Basbaum's presentation at the end of this post. My definition of acute and chronic pain I submit that what Dr. Basbaum says about acute pain and chronic pain is true. Acute pain is something that we all go through in life. Being the normal function of the body we accept it, and do what is necessary to get the problem under control. Acute pain is the body's natural response to a problem. Therefore acute pain is a symptom of a larger problem. I define chronic pain as also being a symptom of a larger problem. However, the medical community believes that chronic pain is not a symptom but the problem itself. I completely disagree with this assumption, because if chronic pain was a problem medication would help solve it, and once medication was ceased the problem would be gone. Chronic pain is a symptom of a larger underlying problem. It is our brains natural way of communicating to us that there is something we need to do, and something that needs to be fixed within our bodies. Chronic pain is a symptom of an underlying issue. This issue is nutrition. As chronic pain is a symptom of a larger underlying problem the first and foremost thing that I have found, in my life, is that nutrition is the true solution to chronic pain. I have not experienced relief of my chronic pain through the many years of taking medications. It wasn't until I learned about the Gerson Therapy that I was able to begin to overcome my chronic pain and my chronic illness. Gerson Therapy The Gerson Therapy is the foremost natural way to fight chronic pain and illness through the use of nutrition. The Gerson Therapy not only supports the body's natural function, but helps to repair, and facilitate the detoxification process of the body. http://gerson.org/gerpress/ The Gerson Therapy allows our bodies to do what it does best, and fight against the illnesses which come upon us. As chronic pain and chronic illness is a symptom of an underlying condition the first thing we should look for is the underlying condition. Understanding what the root problem is is most important. Using medication to cover up the symptoms of the underlying problem does not solve the underlying problem. It is only through addressing the underlying problem that we can fix and eliminate the symptoms which we are suffering from; namely chronic pain. It is through having all the information available to us that we begin to fight back against chronic pain and chronic illness to win back a better quality of life. It is through addressing the underlying causes. Through addressing the root cause of our problems we obtain true lasting relief from our chronic pain and illness. Not until we do this will we begin to fight back effectively, and obtain the better quality of life that we so greatly desire.
