With various proof from researches and studies conducted the answer to this question is no longer far-fetched. Meditation comprises using some awareness techniques to help calm the mind and
help the body relax. Two of the most favorite methods are:
- Mindful Meditation: In this case the individual concentrates or pays all attention to his or her sensations and thoughts. This type is usually taught in programs on stress-reduction.
- Transcendental Meditation: Here a particular phrase or word is repeatedly said by the patient, and the patient is taught to let other feelings and thought pass.
Chronic back pain over the years has been an issue of concern to people, the kind of discomfort associated with this pain enormous. A new study suggests that meditation is a better pain killer than other conventional treatments, physical therapy, and medication. Mental practices can adjust sensory phenomena, comprising pain. This is why wounds sustained during wartime can be unnoticed till the war is through, and runners can still run despite debilitating injuries. With the increase in knowledge about the nervous system and advancement of the technology giving scientists the opportunity to see the nervous system, a lot of studies have emerged in the over the last decade.
According to senior investigator Daniel Cherkin, at Group Health Research Institute in Seattle people tend to see pain as majorly physical when, actually, the then we know. To him, the discomfort from chronic pain lasts longer than it should or when a wound should have healed is as a result of some unknown underlying factors. Nevertheless, in most cases, the effect of the pain on the human mind is what makes it persist.
A separate study has also shown that by activating and strengthening some parts of the brain applied in processing pain, generally meditation helps reduce the intensity of pain in patients. There are also theories on ways it has improved pain by reducing stress which consequently decreases pain.
Another reason why meditation has proven to work better than others is that different painkillers and prescription it has no side effects. So far meditation has successfully been used to help relieve pains, back pain inclusive.