Can pain help pain? Acupressure can hurt. What at first seems illogical, even frightening for some, has a physiological meaning that we want to explain to you in this article.
Those who feel an acupressure mat on their skin for the first time are often surprised by the intense sensation caused by the tips. Some describe it as stimulating, others as a good ache and for some it is again an impulse so violent that they let go of the mat in fright. Now you might think (and some people say it) that some people are just "too sensitive" or "not strong enough" to use acupressure. Here we want to clarify and say very clearly: You and your sensation of pain, pressure or intensity are individual and just right the way they are. You are not too weak, you are not too soft, you are simply an individual with your own unique body sensation.
Below we'll tell you more about why acupressure can feel painful, what happens in your body when you do it, and what techniques are available to customize your ShaktiMat acupressure mat so you feel comfortable on it.
What does pain management mean?
Pain management basically means "managing" pain. But how should one be able to manage pain? And what is the point of it all? Justified questions, which we would like to answer here. Of course, it is not about pain in files and forms, but about understanding pain better. To do this, we first record and analyze the sensation of pain itself. For example, what kind of pain is felt, where it occurs and how severe it is. The goal of pain management is not to push the pain away, but to recognize it and relieve it through various measures or therapies. In the field of pain management and care, the main focus here is on preventing pain and preventing chronic pain.
Pain management in personal responsibility
Although not everyone suffers from chronic pain or is in pain management, it is useful to learn how to manage pain. We can actually do this through introspection during each acupressure session, and in turn, it can help us better deal with those first few prickly minutes. Because your head knows there's no injury, just an intense acupressure massage, but the rest of your body may just want to get off all those little spikes quickly. Now if you can manage to observe, breathe and accept the pain, it will get easier. Guided meditation can be very helpful.
To accompany your session on the acupressure mat, we have put together various sound journeys, meditations and healing sounds . Take a look and try out what works well for you personally.
What is healing pain?
Many people who come to the mat already in pain (whether it's tension in their back or a chronic ache) report feeling better immediately after an acupressure session. Why is this? How can the pain added to the already existing pain by the tips make for less pain overall? Surely 1+1 should become two and not zero?
The at first sight astonishing effect is explained by the body's own opioids. The human body secretes its own substances to regulate pain (and also hunger and sex hormones), most of which we have heard of as endorphins.
They are sometimes referred to as "happy hormones," although technically they don't make you happy, they act more like a pain inhibitor and, in addition to the other functions mentioned above, simply make our bodies feel good again. They do this by taking the spikes out of pain and stimulating the production of dopamine (which is also called a happy hormone). This is the reason we can use the ShaktiMat pain stimulus to feel less pain as the end result.
Which acupressure type are you?
Acupressure is a very personal thing. Through your countless feedbacks in the reviews, personal mails to us, conversations with our customer service and on social media, we know that everyone uses, discovers and feels the mat very uniquely for themselves. ShaktiFan Regina and tells us how the acupressure feels for her:
"I don't want to miss the ShaktiMat anymore. As already described, I regularly lie down on the ShaktiMat 3-4 times a week. Especially when I have pain. But everyone has to weigh it up for themselves, because every body also has a pain memory. Too much is too much. It's a different sense of pain. A more redemptive one."
As we have already revealed above, there is not one sensation on the ShaktiMat. Each person is completely individual in their sensation of pain. Where one person feels relief, another wants to run away. How painful the acupressure mat is felt cannot really be mapped into numbers because it is so individual. But we have found with our experience of thousands of mat fans from the ShaktiCommunity that most people fall into one of three acupressure types. See if you find yourself and if our tips fit you!
Type I: The deep pleasure
Relaxation is your keyword. The acupressure mat feels like a little vacation for you. When the tips are waiting for you, you feel anticipation. As soon as you feel them, you feel good, you can let yourself go and breathe deeply. You associate acupressure with relaxation, and you may even find it hard to understand why others seem to find the mat so painful.
Tips for deep enjoyment
Keep enjoying, your body is ready for the relaxing effects of acupressure and you already bring the inner ability to drop into the pressure. So how about an experiment? Does your whole body already feel this way, or are you only in such deep enjoyment in one area, for example your back? In our blog you will find many concrete examples of how to use the mat - just try it out if you feel like it! And if not, just continue to enjoy it unchanged.
Type 2: The fireworks
The Shaktimat means for you tension and strain at the same time. It sometimes costs you an effort to feel the points, but as soon as they have sunk in deeply and the first impulse of pain has passed, a wave of deep relaxation comes over you. The change from pain to well-being does you good and keeps you motivated to return to acupressure, even though sometimes at the beginning of acupressure you think "ouch, that really hurts today!"
Spikes
Your body already knows that acupressure is doing you good, but it's also clearly telling you "Hey you, my nerve endings are sensitive and this is intense here!" This is something quite normal and can also vary greatly with the shape of the day. For some ShaktiFans, just knowing about the fireworks of nerve stimulation & subsequent relaxation is enough to easily tolerate the initial pain. Others help themselves over this first violent impulse with nice music, a radio play or focused inhaling and exhaling. It is not uncommon for firework types to report to us that after an initial sensation of pain, a short time later they already enter a deep sleep as soon as the body goes into relaxation.
Type 3: The pain focus
Acupressure means pain to you first and foremost. You usually feel better after a session than you did before, but getting there feels prickly in the truest sense of the word. You work with discipline, resolve to get on the mat and follow through - maybe some days and not others. You often struggle with circling thoughts and the impulse to leave the mat immediately.
Wonderful relaxation!
"For years I have been tormented by pain, the mat helps me through the day. My physical therapist also bought the mat, she could see the effect on me and is also thrilled."
- Meike S.
Spikes
Accept yourself as you are and don't fight it. Allow your nerve endings to get loud, but support your body where you can. There are many ways to reduce the intensity of the spikes. You can wear socks when you stimulate your feet (yes, really thick ones too if that helps you!) or put a cloth over the tips before you place your back. You can brace yourself to take weight off before you get on it, or half-cover the ShaktiMat in the supine or prone position so you only feel a smaller part at first.
Depending on the challenges your body is dealing with, the "slow increase in intensity" with the mat that we often talk about in our tips may just not happen for you. You may just need a cloth on the mat forever. And that's okay. Don't orient yourself to what others are doing or feeling - you are individual. No one feels exactly what you feel and only you know how much support your body needs today.
Why does my type change?
Depending on your physical condition, you may not feel pain the same way all your life. Depending on how well your hormonal balance is working, what you're thinking about, and what previous experiences you've had, acupressure may feel different intensities at different stages of your life, sometimes even from day to day. This is perfectly normal. Embrace a change in your type with curiosity instead of getting upset, for example, if you feel more pain today than usual. Ask yourself: Why has my sensation changed and be open to exploring how your body and emotions are constantly changing and interacting with all the impressions of your life.
Today we would like to give the closing word to ShaktiFan Toni:
"Yesterday I made an amazing discovery. I have stomach and intestinal problems with moderate to severe pain. When I fell asleep I had severe pain, which prevented me from falling asleep.Out of pure curiosity I reached for the ShaktiMat, because I wondered if it could help me. The idea was obvious, in the past, children in movies, when they were hit on the hand with a cane, pricked themselves with a needle simultaneously in the other hand, as an example, to reduce the pain of the cane. In fact, the usual pleasant pain triggered by the ShaktiMat was such a flood that it drowned out my cramps and pain from the gastrointestinal area. It was such a great feeling, I am just thrilled! It was the best wow effect and instant mat effect I have ever felt. I'm curious to see how it fares with other aches and pains."
Your Anni & your Shakti Mat Team
If you would like to share your thoughts on healing pain and pain management through acupressure or acupressure mats and give tips or ask questions to others struggling with acupressure pain, please leave us a comment or visit in our Facebook community .
About the author
Antje Wickboldt is a freelance writer from Berlin. She has been working with the body's self-healing powers for over 10 years and, as a lecturer, explains in interactive presentations for companies and offices how tension can be released with the help of acupressure and massage.
Sources for this article:
- Andrews, Synthia and Dempsey, Bobbi: Acupressure & Reflexology for Dummies. Wiley Publishing, Indianapolis 2007. p. 15 ff., 108 f., 313
- Reed Gach, Michael: Healing Points. Acupressure for the self-treatment of diseases. Knaur, Munich 1992. p 309 ff.
- Dr. Kenyon, Julian: Acupressure Techniques. A self-help guide. Thorsons, London 1987. p 16 f.
- Schwind, Peter: Fascia. Tissue of life. 2nd edition, Irisiana, Munich 2015 p. 180 f.
- https://www.doktorweigl.de/allgemein/das-schmerzgedaechtnis-entstehung-und-durch-multimodale-therapie-loeschen-6133/ (Einsichtnahme 28.01.2019)