Page 30 - How to stay healthy in an unhealthy world

Common Sense Health Part #5:
Pain . . . what it is, why it’s there and how to use it to heal your body . . .
In part #2 of this book I talked about the different kinds of traumas and injuries. What I didn’t mention, is the role that PAIN plays in keeping you healthy . . . and even alive and why it's a GOOD thing to actually feel the pain!!! So, what is pain?
The two types of physical pain you can have . . .
There are two types of pain that warn us that we are hurting ourselves. Acute (or instant) Pain and Chronic (constant or repeated) Pain. Acute pain is what you might experience when you step barefoot on a hot surface or a nail.
It provokes an unconscious physical response, and it is there to warn an organism that something is causing them damage and that they should do something about it. In other words, get their foot away from the hot surface or the nail.
The other, and much less understood type of pain is Chronic Pain. This is long term pain that is usually caused over time by something we do to our body, the environment we live in or the food and liquids we eat and drink and air we breathe.
Chronic pain usually follows acute pain, when it’s early warning signals are IGNORED. You see, whilst most people are scared of pain and want to avoid (or stop) it immediately at all costs, ALL pain is actually what lets your body know that there is some kind of problem or injury happening. Pain is like an early WARNING System. It protects you from something much more severe or even DEATH later. IF you take the hint!!! And most people don’t.
Acute Pain Explained:
An example of acute pain is when as a child (or an adult) you accidentally put your hand on a hot stove or other hot surface or liquid. Immediately you begin to feel pain, which causes you to take your hand away. The pain keeps you safe.
The same thing happens when you are cutting something with a knife and you cut your hand or finger. You immediately feel pain and a message is sent to your brain from the injured part of your body that something is wrong and makes you stop whatever is causing the pain. “STOP cutting your finger, it HURTS” is the message your brain gets!!!
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