Why suffer? Soup with a grimace

Yet, giant leaps have been made in recent years.
Recall that barely twenty years ago, it was wrongly thought that premature babies did not feel the pain, and in fact, they were operated without anesthesia.

To scientific progress were added two successive Government Plans, in 1998 and in 2001, but the balance remains disconcerting: 7 to 12 million French suffer from chronic pain (beyond three months). In the head, low back pain, which rots the life of 80% of French, to the point that "between 18 and 55 years, they cause more functional disabilities than cancers, heart disease, vascular accidents and AIDS," reports Dr. Serrie. Just behind are the 8 million people who eat because of osteoarthritis, the first reason for difficulty in getting around, and the 25% of migraine sufferers (including 5 to 10% of children) who regularly have their heads locked in a vise. .

Why suffer? The path of serenity

The pain is precious. It's even one of our life tags. It warns the brain that an unusual event is occurring, so that it is remedied: an organ is injured, a condition is underlying. Thus, we release a burning object, while if we were deprived of painful sensations - like people with congestive insensitivity to pain -, the hand on a hot plate, a broken leg or an appendicitis attack we would leave marble. It is therefore vital to be informed of an injury. And to contain this precious alarm signal, there are fortunately analgesics.

But we must sweep away some misconceptions that lead to therapeutic impasses. Let's start with chronic pain , which by definition goes on forever: "Now 80% of them are relieved when they are treated, and in less than two years. One in five people have never taken any medication, "regrets Alain Serrie.

If, for moderate pain , paracetamol, aspirin or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are very effective, in the face of more severe ailments, we must stop fearing morphine. "This medicine and its derivatives are not restricted to serious diseases and end-of-life. They can be prescribed punctually, especially in rheumatology (sciatica, joint lesions, etc., ed), "insists Dr. François Chast, head of the department of pharmacology and toxicology of the Hotel-Dieu, in Paris. In patch, oral solution or sting, they directly affect the perception of pain in the brain, but they do not depend on it. Do not hesitate to consult a pain service (in a university hospital center).

Why suffer? Give yourself every chance

To break the pain, rectify certain behaviors. Do not wait to consult, because the suffering, which is quickly put in memory in the brain, risks settling dangerously. Especially for back problems. Be vigilant with self-medication: stuffing yourself with inappropriate formulas can trigger resistance to a molecule and can, in some cases, increase the pain. For migraine, for example, "the overconsumption of medical analgesics can paradoxically maintain or even aggravate headaches," warns Professor Géraud, neurologist and president of the French Society of Migraine and Headache Studies. This is all the more regrettable that specific remedies really relieve (triptans and ergotamine), provided they are administered at the beginning of the crisis.

We also stop "tinkering" each month: against the painful rules, very effective anti-prostaglandins (anti-inflammatories) twist the neck to throbbing cramps and decongest, precisely blocking the secretion of prostaglandins released into the uterine muscle during the menses .

Why suffer? Listen to the bad talk about oneself

Still, there is pain rebels to any treatment. They have nothing imaginary. Most often, there was an injury originally. She has been cared for - not necessarily bad - but everyone invests her pain by composing with her story, her life and her environment. Some physical ailments feed on emotional pain or repressed trauma. This is where we meet these stubborn backaches in those who "have their backs", these cystitis to repetition when, "finally, we are well in his life!" And for which the biology does not find trace of bacteria.

These evils that come back as boomerangs-warning signals to invite us to listen to what is playing in us, because "the language of the body does not lie, it puts in pain our moral pain (disappointment, sadness, anger or anguish. ..). Like uncaught acts and dreams, these uncontrollable manifestations allow us to discover this part of ourselves, with our desires and fears, which was hitherto unknown, "says psychiatrist and psychotherapist Catherine Bensaid. "Pain is a mirror of the unconscious," adds Dr. Giniès. If we do not manage to put a stop to a state of overwork - physical, emotional or professional - the body does it without compromising when the overload of tensions threatens our balance. "The tensions causing multiple pains (gallbladder, heartburn ...) are partly explained by the dissociation that takes place between our body and our mind: we are here, but we would like to be elsewhere . Our body only gives the illusion of a presence.

And in this attempt to adapt to the place and the present moment, we end up abstracting ourselves as we can. The pain that invades our head actually makes all communication impossible, some discomfort allow us to be absent from the situation, "said Dr. Bensaid. Psychological care - brief - allows to learn to decode what the pain wants to tell us. "Only the understanding of what hurts can help to heal," adds Catherine Bensaid. In doing so, we position ourselves as an actor in the face of his pain, no longer an object. It is by leaning on our pain to understand what reaches us that we will stop having pain.