๐จ What an air raid siren taught me about pain
You may not have met me yet, but I am Michael, part of the clinical team here at Cram Osteopaths, working alongside Alex.
Last week on holiday in Poland, we had just come in from a full day skiing in Biaลka Tatrzaลska โท๏ธ
It was around 9pm.
Thermals off.
Tea made โ
Winter Olympics on.
All very calm…
Until suddenly…
๐จ An air raid siren started blaring across the city
And if you have never heard one before, it is not subtle.
Within seconds:
๐ Heart rate up
๐ฎ๐จ Breathing quicker
๐ Everyone looking at each other
“Is this real?”
“Should we be doing something?”
“Do we have a bunker?”
The nervous system had clearly decided this was not the time to relax.
(It turned out to be a scheduled test… which would have been useful to know about in advance.)
But what struck me most was how immediate the response was.
โก๏ธ The body moved straight into protection mode
This is exactly what happens when pain suddenly appears.
Pain has its own alarm system ๐จ
It can come on loudly, suddenly and without warning and when it does, the brain quite understandably interprets this as danger.
๐ง Muscles tense
๐ Movement stops
๐ถ Activity is avoided
Completely normal
Also… not always helpful
Because just like that siren in Poland, sometimes the alarm system is doing its job even if there is not an actual emergency happening in the tissues at that moment.
๐ Pain does not automatically mean damage
So what should you do when your own alarm system goes off?
โ๏ธ Pause
โ๏ธ Breathe
โ๏ธ Move gently
โ๏ธ Avoid freezing completely
The alarm might be loud…
but it is not always accurate.
If pain is affecting your sleep, work, training or day to day activities, it may be time to have things properly assessed.
๐ 0141 339 0894
๐ www.cramosteopaths.co.uk
