Effective Strategies to Get Through Physical Pain

How do you feel about going to the dentist?

I’m not a fan. Although I spend a lot of time on my oral hygiene (I’ve literally flossed every single day since I was a teenager - even on my wedding night!), there are still things going on in my mouth that lead to intense discomfort when I go for my regular cleaning and check ups.

Although I love our dentist’s office because it’s filled with lovely people who practice bio-dentistry (the least chemicals possible and no unnecessary procedures), I was not looking forward to last week’s cleaning. 

I have a bit of gum recession that leads to some pretty intense nerve pain, and well, that’s just not exciting to me. Of all the kinds of pain, I find nerve pain to be the worst. Stinging - no problem. Bumps and bruises - it will pass. Labour - it’s not forever. Nerve pain - get me out of here!

*me fleeing dentist

During my cleaning, there were 4 things I did that helped get through the pain, and so I thought they might be helpful for you too.

Get Through Pain Strategy #1

On my way to the appointment, I hired some heavenly helpers. This practice came from the book Hiring the Heavens, which I highly recommend because it’s fun and it works! 

I hired a Spiritual Dental Hygienist Expert to help my actual hygienist do a great job. (I was a little surprised when I didn’t have my usual hygienist, but I figured that must be my heavenly helper at work.)

I also hired a Heavenly Pain Reduction Expert to help get me through any discomfort. I had my team set before even walking into the office, which made me feel supported from unseen realms.

Get Through Pain Strategy #2

The first thing my hygienist did was use the Cavitron (which I think is a terrible name. I mean, it practically says cavity, which, last time I checked, we go to the dentist to avoid, so having it right in the name of a machine that’s supposed to clean your teeth and gums just doesn’t make sense to me). Anyway, the questionably named Cavitron is a sort of laser-y type tool that uses ozonated water and pulsing waves of energy to clean the gums and teeth. It replaces the need for so much of the scrape-y manual tools, which is nice, but since it uses laser-y technology, it can really hurt if there’s gum recession. (As you can tell, I’m very much in the know about all things when it comes to dental work. These are completely technical terms. Just add a ‘y’ to make it sound like you know what you’re talking about.)

Most of the Cavitron work was okay, but there were some moments that were pretty much excruciating. I’m talking full body flinching, trying to disappear into the chair, and tears streaming down my awkwardly turned face that resulted in the back neckline of my shirt getting nice and soggy to add to the fun. Each time a nerve got tweaked, my whole body would go into a full sweat while my heart pounded. Fight or flight, anyone?

One thing I did to get through the pain was deep belly breathing. 

Since I had nothing else to do (apart from crying and sweating), I experimented to see what worked best. I did some Central Channel Breathing (familiar to those of you who have taken my Energy Codes Book Study, or heard my How to Get More Energy talk, or have learned it from Dr Sue Morter herself) and that worked quite well. 

I also tried some Solar Plexus breathing (also from Dr Sue, which helps you feel more empowered and reduces fear). That was good too. 

The other kind of breathing I did that helped was to inhale for 8 slow counts and then exhale for 8 slow counts. That gave my mind something else to focus on and it also counteracted the fight or flight stuff going on. 

So, Strategy #2 is breathing. As slowly as possible, into the belly. (And by the way, it’s all through the nose. I wasn’t mouth breathing onto my hygienist’s face.)

Get Through Pain Strategy #3

This is a tip my mom learned when she was going through some surgery. Her surgeon (or someone involved in the process) told her that when she felt pain, she could say 5-5-5-1-5 in her head. She tried it and found it to be effective.

I don’t know why it works, but I’ve used it over the years as well and it’s almost magical. Saying the numbers 5-5-5-1-5 got me through labour (although it wasn’t so much saying it in my head as it was yelling in my head. 5! 5! 5! 1! 5! Over and over… it worked though).

It’s also helped with dental work pain on a number of occasions, so it’s a go-to for me. The trick is just remembering to do it. I kind of combined this strategy with the deep belly breathing and it was very helpful. 

So that’s something you can use the next time you’re in what seems to be unbearable pain. It’s really quite soothing. 5-5-5-1-5.

Get Through Pain Strategy #4

This strategy was probably the biggest growth edge for me. I call it: Asking for help/Speaking up for yourself.

You may have never heard of that before, so let me tell you all about it.

In the past, I’ve tried to not make a fuss/ to get through tough stuff on my own/ to not be a bother. I noticed that old pattern showing up in the dentist chair as I tried to somehow hide the tears running down my face (even though the hygienist’s face was approximately 2 inches away from my own - I was trying to be sneaky about it! *shakes head with an expression of ‘nice try’)

As I was suffering through the pain, and also berating myself just a little bit for crying, I had the awareness that I might want to try something different, aka mentioning that it didn’t feel good. Of course, the Cavitron, the air sucker tool and the little mirror were all in my mouth, which made it a little challenging, but at the next opportunity, I told the hygienist that it was really uncomfortable. 

And guess what happened?! She had a solution!

Apparently, there’s a magical gel made from crustaceans that can help reduce nerve pain! And she went to get it! And she rubbed it on my gums! And it almost completely eliminated the pain! It was a miracle! A bonafide dental miracle!

What a great lesson I learned (again). When you don’t try to get through everything yourself and you speak up, get authentic and invite other people into your experience, suffering is reduced. Imagine that. 

Plus, the hygienist told me that the week before my next visit, I should go get this special toothpaste called Rapid Relief or something like that and use it every day until my cleaning. It will help reduce the sensitivity. That’s great to know! Two solutions that emerged when I courageously spoke up for myself. Wow.

Bonus Get Through Pain Strategy

And that’s not all. (Because I like you, here’s a bonus tip.) I debated telling my husband about my experience because I didn’t want to be in victim mode. Instead, I decided to make it more of a comical reenactment, and by sharing it with him, I got another great tip. 

We use homeopathic remedies as go-to solutions in our family, and he said that before my next visit, I should take some Hypericum, which is ideal for nerve pain. 

So will you look at that - another great tip thanks to taking the leap to connect and share.

To Recap

My Top Get Through Pain Strategies are as follows:

1- Hire Heavenly Helpers

2- Deep belly breathing with optional counting

3- 5-5-5-1-5

4- Ask for help/Speak Up for Yourself

5- Hypericum remedy for nerve pain

Whenever I go through a tough experience, I always console myself by saying: at least this will make a great blog post when I’m done. That makes it all seem worthwhile, because then at least I can share what I’ve learned with you. So thank you for reading. I appreciate you!

May your next dental trip or journey through pain be a breeze.

With connecting love and remedial courage,

Christina

>Creator of Courageous Self-Care

>Winning at Life by asking for help

>Brand New Body Awake Yoga Teacher! *see below

PS - Registrations continue for the very first Body Awake Yoga class I’ll be teaching on zoom this Friday, February 18th at 9am Mountain/8am Pacific. Hooray! If you haven’t yet and you’d like to join in the fun, click here to register. It’s my gift to you and even if you can’t make it live, there will be a recording sent your way, so please do join us. No experience or yogic ability required :)