Zen and the art of pain management

Sometimes, beating pain can be as simple as doing nothing at all--as long as it's the deep, contemplative "nothing" of Zen meditation.

That might sound a little kooky, but a new study shows some very legitimate benefits: Meditators feel less pain.

In a study that sounds like it bordered on torture, researchers hit 26 volunteers--half meditators, half not--with painful levels of heat as they underwent MRI exams.

No word on who screamed loudest, but researchers say the meditators reported feeling lower levels of pain than the others--and the MRIs backed them up, showing less activity in the regions of the brain linked to cognitive processes, emotion and memory.

The researchers wrote in the journal Pain that it was as if the parts of the brain responsible for processing pain signals were simply switched off.

But if you're not ready to pick a mantra yet, don't worry-- there are other ways to beat pain without meds, including that old alt-med standby: acupuncture.

Too many in the mainstream write it off as nothing more than a placebo with lots of sharp points, but a new study finds that--like meditators--acupuncture patients show different brain activity when experiencing pain.

Researchers recruited 18 volunteers willing to tolerate electrical shocks while getting brain scans. The volunteers were then given a second round of zaps, but this time they were poked with acupuncture needles at the same time--all while still getting brain scans.

It's hard to think of a more uncomfortable experiment that wouldn't violate the Geneva Conventions, so better them than us, right?

In any case, the researchers said at a recent Radiological Society of North America meeting that acupuncture did show a certain placebo effect... but it didn't stop there. MRI images revealed actual changes in the regions of the brain responsible for pain perception.

The researchers said the acupuncture needles appeared to dampen the pain signals in the parts of the brain that govern pain expectations (the feeling of expecting a shock, for example) and comprehension (the actual realization of the shock itself).

Like any other pain management strategy, acupuncture and meditation won't work for everyone. Sometimes, you'll need to experiment to find an approach that's right for you.

Your answer to pain will depend on the cause. For more on getting to the bottom of it, visit my Web site and use the search box. You'll find strategies for everything from fibromyalgia to arthritis to back and neck pain.

On a mission for your health,
Ed Martin
Editor, House Calls