Pain is a dreadful thing to live with. It drains you and can be exhausting. Recently a client came to me because of icepick headaches. These headaches are intense and the name is descriptive of what they feel like; she’s had them for seven years.
No one in the medical profession had thought it important to explain what they were. The headaches began after she’d had brain surgery due to an Aneurysm. Again no one had thought to explain to her what an aneurysm is…
From then on, she lived in fear that it would happen again, stopping her from sleeping. She feared that the headaches were further proof that there was something seriously wrong and that an aneurysm could happen at any time. Within a few minutes of working with her it became evident that tension was a trigger and that she is constantly in a state of fear. As I explained the role of relaxation in pain reduction, she recalled that when she’s on holiday, she never has pain and is very relaxed. So began the healing. Once the pain became a thing that she could control, we began to work on the fear. Learning to trust the body once it has broken down is also an important part of healing.