Mind-Body-Pain Connection

July 19, 2021

While treating clients with muscular pain, I have found that the Pauli Exclusion Principle most often applies. Named after Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli, the Pauli Exclusion Principle is when two particles cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

This principle can apply to other things, including pain, as well. Whether muscular pain is the result of an injury, lack of use, or overuse, we are often only aware of one area of pain in our bodies. That primary area is the one which registers with the brain first.

Also, our pain receptors send nerve signals to the spinal column and brain at a slow rate, unlike our eyesight receptors, which report information to our brain instantly. If we close our eyes and open them, we see everything immediately.

We have all noticed bruises on our bodies and having no idea how they got there.  Why is this? Our brain is constantly processing many pieces of information.

For example, if you are reading a recipe while cooking, and then your phone rings and you must step over the dog to get your phone, your brain is coordinating all your movements and functions. By the time your brain received the message that you bumped into something and bruised yourself, the brain determined the issue was not serious and the pain associated with the incident does not travel to your limbic system for interpretation.

This is a good thing. If we felt pain at the rate we see things, then we would be in pain all the time. Our species would not have survived for thousands of years, and we would have been eaten by predators.

Another example of how two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time applies when we get Novocain for dental work. As the dentist shakes the patient’s cheek while giving the injection, the patient’s brain recognizes the shaking, which interrupts its ability to feel the needle.

This is known as the gate control theory and suggests that our spinal cords contain a neurological “gate” that either blocks pain signals or allows them to continue on to the brain. Our brains work hard to protect us from physical and emotional pain!

We are designed to keep going despite how we feel physically. That is why during a massage, when pressure is applied to restricted, injured, or weak muscle fibers, the naturally slow-responding pain receptors react to the direct pressure.

At that point, clients become aware of how much physical discomfort they have.  The specific trigger point and kneading techniques used to relax the muscle fibers also make room for oxygen molecules to feed and help heal the tissue fibers. Therefore, massage therapy is beneficial to our bodies and helping to heal the painful areas.