CNN – When headaches or sore muscles strike us at home, we reach for everyday painkillers.
Usually it’s something like ibuprofen, aspirin, or naproxen, all analgesics known in the medical world as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs).
The most common non-NSAID pain reliever is acetaminophen, or Tylenol, which isn’t an anti-inflammatory but works well to reduce fever and is typically easier on the stomach.
Even before reaching for those over-the-counter meds, we may ice a sore elbow or lower back, or soak in a hot tub to ease achy muscles or joints.
In the clinical setting, we certainly appreciate it when the dentist numbs our mouth with Novocain.
We take anesthesia for granted when rolling into surgery (having had an IV sedative first), or receiving an epidural during childbirth — as my wife did for all three of our girls.
Then, of course, there are post-op meds — including, when necessary, prescription opioids to manage acute pain through recovery.
In all these ways, we’ve become accustomed to pain relief being an “outside job.” But in truth, elaborate biochemical systems, molecular mechanisms, and mind-body networks for pain control and prevention already exist within us, an “inside job” that science is only beginning to unpack.
Mind, body, brain, bones, and blood: every part of us is wired not only for pain but also for pain relief. It’s an incredible system that gets little attention, one I first experienced all those years ago while lying impaled on that spiked fence.
Even before I went to the ER or received any medications, I could feel my body starting to soothe itself, my own healing mechanisms taking over. The pain didn’t disappear, but it came in waves, with periods of real relief in between …
