Meditation Better Than Drugs At Giving Pain Relief

^ I am glad it wasn't only me who was skeptical about meditation. I felt like the uninformed asshole who was spouting off ignorant banter. I am going to talk to my doc about meditation guys thanks for throwin some knowledge my way!
 
the title of this post is very "general".maybe meditation could work for minor issues like mild headaches.
Pain is the body's way of telling you that something is wrong.I cant see how by meditation you can stop that.

my late father as a cancer patient took daily 200mg fentanyl which is probably one of the 3 strongest pain relief drugs in this earth and still he was crying like a baby from excruciating pain.
Mediation wouldnt work in so many cases this study is almost irrelevant.
 
my late father as a cancer patient took daily 200mg fentanyl which is probably one of the 3 strongest pain relief drugs in this earth and still he was crying like a baby from excruciating pain.
Mediation wouldnt work in so many cases this study is almost irrelevant.
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Do you mean he had 2 100ug patches on? Because that's only 20mg of fentanyl....A lot of people make that mistake and I just bring it up to inform them because some people will flame someone who says stuff like that.

200mg of fentanyl is equivilant to putting 20 100ug patches on which is crazy.
 
andrikos1977 said:
the title of this post is very "general".maybe meditation could work for minor issues like mild headaches.
Pain is the body's way of telling you that something is wrong.I cant see how by meditation you can stop that.

my late father as a cancer patient took daily 200mg fentanyl which is probably one of the 3 strongest pain relief drugs in this earth and still he was crying like a baby from excruciating pain.
Mediation wouldnt work in so many cases this study is almost irrelevant.
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If you see my above post, you'll see that there is a difference between Acute and Chronic Pain. Acute pain (including that of cancer or other malignant conditions) is short and severe, which serves to tell the body that something is wrong - it goes away when the problem causing it does as well.

Chronic Pain on the other hand, is usually from non-malignant condition which has outlasted its usefulness to warn you of an injury. It does not go away because there is usually an untreatable or unknown cause. In cases of chronic pain, meditation can be incredibly useful, but you are right, in cases of acute pain, there Is very little that meditation can do, but in CP, it is extremely effective.
 
Abstract - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/14/5540.abstract

After 4 d of mindfulness meditation training, meditating in the presence of noxious stimulation significantly reduced pain unpleasantness by 57% and pain intensity ratings by 40% when compared to rest.
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I assume this means, of course, that meditation works better than pain relief drugs while you are sitting and meditating, which is an important caveat.
 
I believe that that is what the study was designed to find: whether or not pain was reduced during a meditation session versus sitting there and taking pain pills. I can say from experience that the effects of meditation extend throughout the day, past when you stop meditating.
I will look for studies to back that up, I know they are out there.
 
Mora Fiend said:
So if I meditate and quit taking my morphine the 3 broken vertabre in my back will stop hurting?

I call -bullshit-
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the study never implied this. there is a very large psychological component to pain, one that can be controlled with your subjective attention...

if you use "mental techniques" along with the narcotics, your pain relief will be much more effective. that's what the study showed.
 
Mora Fiend said:
Do you mean he had 2 100ug patches on? Because that's only 20mg of fentanyl....A lot of people make that mistake and I just bring it up to inform them because some people will flame someone who says stuff like that.

200mg of fentanyl is equivilant to putting 20 100ug patches on which is crazy.
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i guess you are right.i should have written he took daily 200mg Durogesic.(actually much of the time he would take even more.he was in agonising pain.in the end he didnt put thme in his body but inside his mouth.i still cry about those weeks:(
 
Theres also a study where meditation increased the white bloodcell count in the blood. Essentially increasing ones immune system strength and healing various illnesses just by meditating. (I dont meditate tough)
 
this study is VERY misleading.

They took HEALTHY MEN AND WOMEN WITH NO CHRONIC PAIN ISSUES.

Maybe for people who are 'normal' this study may be true.

But there aint no fucking way in hell that this is true for people with serious condiions that cause chronic pain. For people with spinal fusions and broken vertebrae and discs that look like swiss cheese and folks who need pain meds everyday to function, this aint gonna change nothing.

Meditation might increase the effectiveness of those pain meds, but substituting meditation for medication in people like me and lots of others on this board who got chronic pain aint gonna do the trick.

I hate when shit like this comes out. Instead of bein helpful for people with pain issues it ends up hurting, becuz people read it and think oh wow, hey yo, i just heard you can meditate pain away! maybe you can get off the oxy now and wont need it! and makes the uneducated ppl think that it aint that bad for us and were just faking or watever.

It downplays and diminishes peoples real pain that is caused by serious injuries that make for long term chronic pain.

Its one thing for a bunch of healthy people who are tested for 'pain tolerance' by having a researcher stick their big toe with a needle, to be able to withstand the needle longer while meditating than on low doses of minor pain meds.

Its somethin else completely to try and apply that to people with spinal injuries and other life changing chronic pain causing conditions.
 
NSFW:
Just in case anyone needs any prove of "mind over matter"
buddhist_on_fire.jpg

burning-monk-self-immolation.jpg


slimvictor said:
Though some have said that it takes years of training, notice that the subjects in the study were trained for only 4 days.
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The book I posted earlier is a 28 day plan that teaches a few different techniques, if I recall correctly it is 20 minutes every morning and evening. I've turned a few different people onto meditation and they were all skeptical, but I've noticed if you can get someone to do it for a month they will continue on their own after that. The proof is in the pudding so to speak. I've never seen someone stop once they start because everyone gets positive benefits from it. By far the hardest part is getting someone to start at all.

Khadijah said:
this study is VERY misleading.

They took HEALTHY MEN AND WOMEN WITH NO CHRONIC PAIN ISSUES.

Maybe for people who are 'normal' this study may be true.

But there aint no fucking way in hell that this is true for people with serious condiions that cause chronic pain. For people with spinal fusions and broken vertebrae and discs that look like swiss cheese and folks who need pain meds everyday to function, this aint gonna change nothing.
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There are other studies going back 30 years about the use of meditation for pain management. It is also generally not used instead of pain medication, but rather as an adjunctive therapy to help keep doses lower. No one is suggesting that pain medication is now obsolete.

It is important to remember that much pain originates in the mind. If you have a greater control over your mind you can have a greater control over the pain. It also makes it easier to "accept" the pain. What I'm trying to say it is isn't as much about stopping the pain as it is about changing the perception of the pain and making it much less relevant.

Check this one out as well: http://www.painjournalonline.com/article/S0304-3959(07)00243-6/abstract

Khadijah said:
It downplays and diminishes peoples real pain that is caused by serious injuries that make for long term chronic pain.
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I don't understand what you mean. Meditation is also beneficial for anxiety and depression that doesn't mean they are any less real or damaging. No one is denying the difficulty in the lives of pain patients here. Many of the people who sing praises to meditation actually are pain patients.

Psychodelirium said:
I assume this means, of course, that meditation works better than pain relief drugs while you are sitting and meditating, which is an important caveat.
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If you look at the other study I posted people had their general level of pain drop after meditation for only 30 minutes a day. The benefits of meditation do not only last while one it is meditating and it actually changes your brain structure.
 
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^ What s/he said.

Khadijah, it looks like you were misunderstanding the study.
a) Nobody was saying that people with severe pain should stop taking their meds, but simply that meditation can augment pain relief
b) Nobody was downplaying anyone's pain.
I hope that you can see it from this point of view now.

Meditation is a valuable tool in helping people deal with pain. That is the point of the article. There is no reason to be offended or threatened by this. Instead, we are suggesting, put it in your toolbox and see if it helps.
 
I don't understand the opposition to this. It's not a drug - it's not like if you get prescribed the wrong drug it can seriously damage your body.
No, meditation is pretty harmless and a pretty sure shot at not causing any further problems.

In other words, you have nothing to lose trying meditation. it can't hurt you, it can only help with your pain.
 
I guess my only question is what is the convinence of mediation in combination with medication? If I had to practice meditation for 4 hours a day to achieve pain relief in a few months as opposed to taking an extra 40mg of morphine which takes 2 seconds then I have to question it's practicality you know?

I really have learned a lot in this thread, I thought it was bullshit at first and got a lesson in it instead. So meditation can help relieve pain, lesson learned, but at what cost to your daily routine? Some people have extra time to do meditation classes and such, I am indeed one of them right now, and I am going to look into it. However other people that have small children and maybe 2 or more jobs may not be able to do this.

I really have learned a lot though, and I thank everyone for the info in this thread.
 
I do 15-30 minutes in the morning. And at night as needed. I usually don't do more than 45min-1hour in a day, ever.
It really doesn't impact my routine whatsoever. I'll also throw 5-10 minutes in at lunch if I'm having a shit day at work.
 
since it's internal, it's not easy to use language to teach the practice. it also isn't one practice, there are many forms of meditation with many different purposes.

i'm not sure which might be best suited for pain relief. i assume, in the study, they're talking about the usual center your focus on your breath.
 
Mora Fiend said:
I guess my only question is what is the convinence of mediation in combination with medication? If I had to practice meditation for 4 hours a day to achieve pain relief in a few months as opposed to taking an extra 40mg of morphine which takes 2 seconds then I have to question it's practicality you know?

I really have learned a lot in this thread, I thought it was bullshit at first and got a lesson in it instead. So meditation can help relieve pain, lesson learned, but at what cost to your daily routine? Some people have extra time to do meditation classes and such, I am indeed one of them right now, and I am going to look into it. However other people that have small children and maybe 2 or more jobs may not be able to do this.

I really have learned a lot though, and I thank everyone for the info in this thread.
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I have small children and a full-time job, and I manage to fit in one hour of meditation every morning. It gives me more energy and focus throughout the day, and I need less sleep, so it is really not like I am wasting any time.

If you can help treat your pain with meditation, which only helps you, why not?
If you can cut back on pain medications, which are hard on your body and don't promote overall health, why not?
 
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