Common ailments ranging from sciatica, fibromyalgia, and other chronic pain conditions can be triggered by human emotions, leading researchers suggest.
Huddersfield native Georgie Oldfield MCSP runs SIRPA, founded in 2010. SIRPA has worked as a physical therapist since 1983 to teach medical professionals and coaches to help individuals address the underlying causes of chronic pain and other persistent symptoms. .
After decades of employment with the NHS, the 62-year-old left the health service to become self-employed and focus more on running her own business and helping people in pain.
For years in the public and private sectors, Mrs. Oldfield has worked with patients who have been unable to link their pain and recurring health problems to a physical cause.
Common ailments ranging from sciatica, fibromyalgia, and other chronic pain conditions can be triggered by human emotions, leading researchers suggest (File Image: Man with shoulder pain)
Mrs Oldfield told MailOnline:
“For other people experiencing pain, we have had medical tests and scans, but have found nothing.
“When I left the NHS in 2005, I had more time to think about this.
“In New York, I came across the work of Dr. John Sarno, a professor of rehabilitation medicine.
Mrs Oldfield (pictured) worked for the NHS for decades before setting up SIRPA in 2010.
For years she has worked with patients who were unable to link their pain and recurring health problems to a physical cause.
His hypothesis was that chronic pain was a mind-body condition with unresolved emotions manifesting as pain and other symptoms.
“The research that SIRPA teaches is constantly evolving, and today’s reason why pain is more likely to be resolved not only by managing pain, but by treating the underlying causes of chronic pain, is explained by the science of
In the early stages, it is important to rule out physical causes of a person’s pain, such as cancer, infections, bone fractures, and autoimmune diseases.
When the physical cause of pain is ruled out, it can be confusing, especially if the illness comes out of nowhere and disrupts someone’s daily life.
Mrs. Oldfield said that an overactive nervous system can cause a myriad of problems in the body.
However, seemingly random pain is often associated with repressed emotional triggers such as anger, fear, and frustration.
When these emotions begin to accumulate and reach a tipping point, the nervous system can become hypersensitive.
This can cause myriad problems in the body and lead to conditions such as sciatica, migraines, whiplash, fibromyalgia, and tinnitus.
Patients who do not understand current science may feel that their pain is physical and that there is something wrong with their tissues, muscles, nerves, or bones.
Patients who lack current scientific understanding may feel that their pain is physical and that there is something wrong with their tissues, muscles, nerves or bones (Photo: SIRPA conference)
What’s even more confusing is that it even tells you that it has wear and tear, or that the scan has misaligned the disk, and that you believe this is the root cause of the problem.
But as the researchers argue, this is an outdated and flawed model, suggesting that people who report no pain have scans that show disc, joint, and arthritis problems. A growing body of evidence indicates that degeneration is a normal part of aging.
Pain, whether emotional or physical, is ultimately controlled by the same part of the brain.
These conclusions were met with backlash in 2007, when the research was just beginning, but now there is more evidence to support these claims.
Pain, whether emotional or physical, is ultimately controlled by the same part of the brain (Photo: SIRPA conference)
However, some chronic pain sufferers are skeptical and adamant that there must be something structurally wrong.
According to Mrs. Oldfield, changing this attitude requires educating ourselves and updating our beliefs about what pain is.
Major organizations such as the International Pain Society are beginning to change the interpretation of pain.
For them, the pain is not only related to the actual injury, but can also be “similar” to it.
Mrs Oldfield added:
These conclusions received backlash in 2007, when Mrs. Oldfield’s study was just beginning, but now there is more evidence to support these claims (photo: Mrs. Oldfield, ITV).
“We influence beliefs that people have held for decades. But we know that mind and body are not separate. This is what we do.” This is partly why it’s prompting people to be more aware of what’s going on in their bodies.
Exacerbating the pain are the six F’s as put forward by Dr. Howard Schubiner, Mrs. Oldfield’s US colleague, clinician and researcher.
According to Dr. Schubiner, chronic pain is often exacerbated by fear, frustration, focusing on the pain, trying to fix it, trying to understand it, and fighting it.
SIRPA researchers (pictured) found that seemingly random pain is often associated with repressed emotional triggers such as anger, fear, and frustration.
Mrs Oldfield explains:
“Also, the more we focus on pain, the more we fuel it. And when we try to fight and push it away, it can get worse.”
“Constantly googling and frustration trying to fix a problem makes it worse.
“I get emails saying ‘I struggle with pain every day’, but unfortunately this only creates resistance.
“This is about self-compassion and giving in to pain, which is difficult for people to understand. But if you surrender, the pain will fight you, as a soldier does if you surrender in a war. I will stop
According to Mrs. Oldfield, changing this attitude requires educating ourselves and updating our beliefs about what pain is.
To ameliorate chronic pain, we must learn how to deal with stress responses, identify and address underlying causes, and reprogram the brain from a state of fear and protection to a state of safety.
“Looking at the timeline of your life,” says Mrs. Oldfield, “identifies some past and present issues that are challenging to you and perhaps weren’t recognized or addressed at the time. It helps to
“Cure journaling is an effective way to help with this.”
But before she started working on unresolved emotions, Mrs. Oldfield says she always taught her clients how to breathe calmly and ground themselves.
Leading organizations such as the International Pain Society are beginning to change the interpretation of pain (Photo: Catherine Pollitt, physiotherapist on the SIRPA Membership Board)
This allows victims of pain to more comfortably perceive emotions that have begun to surface.
What’s more, many people find comfort in recognizing when emotions start to surface.
For years, people have avoided and distracted themselves.
Therefore, it is possible to resolve chronic pain by increasing emotional awareness, coping with false beliefs and unhelpful behaviors, and retraining pain from learned and sensitized neural circuits. says Oldfield.
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