Massage Therapy Journal Fall 2025

30 • Massage Therapy Journal

pain study groups. Here, think about eating spicy food that induces sweating, tears, increased heart rate, and how that is a choice people make that is frequently seen as a challenge to strengthen themselves. Pushing our limits of pain during training to further strengthen our tissue resistance or cardio system are seen as controlled interactions with pain rather than threat inducing interactions. 17,18,19 Community building. Sympathy, empathy and social support are often reactions to an expression of pain. 20,21 Research tells us: “The ability to empathize, both in animals and humans, mediates prosocial behavior when sensitivity to others’ distress is paired with a drive toward their welfare.” 22 Social support groups have been shown to encourage friendship bonding and help avert setbacks. 23 In other words, pain is often unpleasant, but to solely focus on this single component of pain can limit our capacity to properly educate clients on their relationship to pain, how that relationship can assist them in recovery, as well as how they might lean into their relationship with pain to A holistic approach to pain management focuses on client experiences, pain management and recovery goals, changes in behavior and building a community of care 24 rather than simply working on structural or biomechanical issues. (Though still valuable, structural and bio-mechanical cues for chronic pain are becoming less credible 25 and taking a back seat to the contextual nature of painful experiences. 26 ) Linton et al. suggest several guiding principles that massage therapists may consider when working to incorporate a more integrative care and whole person approach to pain into their practice: 1. Persistent pain naturally leads to emotional better manage outcomes. Approaching Pain Management Holistically and behavioral consequences for the majority of individuals. Psychological concepts of learning can be useful to provide empathy and support without reinforcing pain behavior.

Persistent pain naturally leads to emotional and behavioral consequences for the majority of individuals.

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The knee-jerk reaction to suppress pain with medication and/or treatment is normal, though possibly not always beneficial. Stepping

away from our individual experience of pain and reflecting on its possible positive effects is often difficult, but may be a necessary component for a fuller, more holistic recovery. Protection from injury. Allowing the pain experience to be present and not suppressed acts as an alarm that helps trigger vigilance and protects us from behavior that could further induce injury and pain. 11,12 Enhanced sensory input. Pain provides an essential contrast to pleasure so we’re able to enhance our sensory input, as well as increase our sensitivity to seek out pleasurable experiences. Pleasure and pain are frequently seen as oppositional, and though this idea may be somewhat accurate, pain and pleasure do not have a direct relationship. 13,14,15,16 Being nauseous, for instance, doesn’t always denote pain, nor are painful workouts always seen as displeasurable. Self-regulation. Understanding that our experience of pain can frequently (though not always) be within our control has been shown to have analgesic effects similar to experimental

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