{"id":1217,"date":"2025-11-06T13:48:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T21:48:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/?p=1217"},"modified":"2025-12-01T11:54:40","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T19:54:40","slug":"lets-get-moving-changing-how-we-think-about-and-manage-chronic-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ufv.ca\/health\/lets-get-moving-changing-how-we-think-about-and-manage-chronic-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s Get Moving: Changing How We Think About and Manage Chronic Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"
November 2-8 is Pain Awareness Week\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>by Courtney Snell (UFV Kinesiology student) and Cynthia Thomson (PhD, UFV Kinesiology)<\/em><\/h5>\n

Chronic pain affects about one in five Canadians, making it one of the most common reasons people seek medical care. Yet, despite how common it is, pain is often still misunderstood.<\/p>\n

In our previous post<\/a> we talked about rethinking how we understand pain, we provided the current definition (updated in 2020 by the International Association for the Study of Pain<\/a> (IASP), along with some common misconceptions.\u00a0 To effectively treat pain, we need to first understand what it is and how it works.<\/p>\n

Pain is complex!\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\n

Pain is complex and is not directly related to what is happening in our tissues. Pain is created in the brain. More specifically, the brain considers all sorts of information, including signals from the body, learned experiences, trauma, emotions, cognitions, and cues from our environment. In other words, rather than being an \u201cinput\u201d that comes from the tissues, pain is an output, a protective response your brain creates when it senses you might be in danger.<\/p>\n

Pain is influenced by more than physical injury alone. Our thoughts, emotions, memories, stress levels, and even the environment we\u2019re in can all shape how we experience it. These interactions form the foundation of the biopsychosocial model of pain, a way of understanding pain as a combination of biological (body), psychological (mind), and social (environmental) factors.<\/p>\n

Moving Beyond \u201cJust the Body\u201d<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Because pain is so complex, management needs to go beyond simply addressing the \u201cphysical\u201d body. These techniques include treatments like:<\/p>\n