Episode #107- Pain Catastrophizing

Today's Episode is about Pain Catastrophizing- what it is and how it affects your symptoms.

 

People with high levels of pain catastrophizing are more likely to develop a new acute pain, more likely for their acute pain to turn chronic.  And who catastrophize more before surgery are more likely to have complications and a slower recovery.

 

Here are the 13 questions on the Pain Catastrophizing Scale.  Rate from 0 (not at all) to 4 (all of the time) when you feel pain:

1. I worry all the time about whether the pain will end. 
2. I feel I can't go on. 
3. It's terrible and I think it's never going to get any better. 
4. It's awful and I feel that it overwhelms me.
5. I feel I can't stand it anymore. 
6. I become afraid that the pain may get worse. 
7. I think of other painful experiences. 
8. I anxiously want the pain to go away.  
9. I can't seem to keep it out of my mind. 
10. I keep thinking about how much it hurts. 
11. I keep thinking about how badly I want the pain to stop. 
12. There is nothing I can do to reduce the intensity of the pain. 
13. I wonder whether something serious may happen. 

A score over 37 means you tend to catastrophize how you think of your pain.

 

What is the solution for pain catastrophizing?

 

Mindfulness- being in the present moment!

There are ways to interpret your pain differently, like through somatic tracking or sending yourself messages of safety

 

Somatic strategies to calm the nervous system will help decrease pain catastrophizing.

 

So listen in for this quick summary of pain catastrophizing and how to rewire it!

 

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