What is pain?
According to Charles Darwin, pain is essential for survival. Indeed, physical or emotional pain protect us from further injuries by making us aware and take care of the initial injury. However, if acute pain is not relieved soon, it turns into chronic pain, being more harmful than protective. In the chronic state, pain-detecting nerves keep sending messages to our brain even after the source of pain is absent, resulting in continuous pain (i.e; pain felt after shingles is gone). The body thus becomes increasingly sensitive to stimulants, feeling pain to touch not normally painful (Allodynia) or feeling excruciating pain to what would normally be slightly painful stimulant (hyperalgesia). Over time, chronic pain can cause changes to cell shapes and sizes, increased number of pain-signaling cells, and decreased number of pain-relieving cells that release natural opioids, serotonin, and endorphins, among others. When under emotional stress for a prolonged period of time without proper treatments, one becomes highly sensitive to any similar stressful situation, even those of less severity, leading to hypersensitivity of the heart that can cause heart palpitation or high blood pressure. At its extreme, hypersensitivity, including those from depression, can cause the brain volume to become smaller and even develop more serious illnesses. Fortunately, however, such change in brain structure can be “at least partially reversible when pain is successfully treated.” (Nature Medicine, Rohini Kuner, vol.16, p. 1264) Acupuncture treatment can increase the production of natural opioids, serotonin, and endorphin, which in turn reduce the above-mentioned hypersensitivity to physical pain and depression by possibly reverting the cell shapes and sizes back to their normal state.
Do not wait for treatments when you are in pain. You should try to relieve it as soon as possible by seeking for help to not only avoid hypersensitivity but also to prevent further damage to the body, including neuropathy, diabetes, cancer, and breakdown of immune system, that can make your body frail and easily give up in non-fatal illnesses.