Meditation stronger than morphine for pain relief

The sheer strength of the mind has long been known, with examples such as the placebo effect. It seems that we may now have one more instance of mind over matter

Researchers have found that just one hour of meditation training can reduce immediate pain by nearly half and have a long lasting effect.

The technique appears to work as it calms down pain experiencing areas of the brain while at the same time boosting coping areas.

I have to admit, I was previously sceptical about the benefits of meditation (as I am with all things), but there may actually be something to this whole meditation lark

During these scans, a pain-inducing heat device was placed on the participants' right legs.

This device heated a small area of their skin to 120° F, a temperature that most people find painful, over a five-minute period.

The scans taken after meditation training showed that every participant's pain ratings were reduced, with decreases ranging from 11 to 93 per cent, Dr Zeidan said.

Not only that, but

At the same time, meditation significantly reduced brain activity in the primary somatosensory cortex, an area that is crucially involved in creating the feeling of where and how intense a painful stimulus is.

There is a huge benefit to this as it means that people wont have to take any drugs that will make them drowsy or potentially seriously ill. And there are many cases where patients cannot take morphine due to allergies that this could benefit too

Meditation stronger than drugs for pain relief

Stronger than morphine? Hard to believe unless you spice up your meditation with plant extracts.

reply to post by Griffo


So is Dilaudid. Fentanyl, too.

reply to post by Griffo


Can you get a link to the papers?

Seems to me there was no comparison to morphine at all in the actual study.

ETA: This "news" is at least 7 months old.

reply to post by Griffo


Meditation had to have been a pain suppressor for this guy.

WARNING: Graphic images. You may need to sign it to youtube to view this. He doesn't even flinch.
www.youtube.com...





The 9 Stages of Meditation

Originally posted by Snoopy1978
Stronger than morphine? Hard to believe unless you spice up your meditation with plant extracts.

It makes sense...

Morphine blocks pain receptors, and a proficient mediator would be able to simply "shut them off". Once you obtain "clarity" from meditation, you close yourself off from the physical world and become entirely aware of your "spiritual" (or mental, thought based or whatever you want to call it) being.

As a long time migraine sufferer, I have used pain killers for many, many years. About ten years ago, I participated in chronic pain clinic program. One of the pillars of treatment of the clinic was meditation. At first, I was extremely sceptical. I certainly was reluctant to "let go" of my pills. After all, they "worked". Sure..... they left me groggy, sleepy, foggy-headed. At least I wasn't in mind-wrenching pain.

In the program, I learned to meditate with the specific goal of pain reduction. What can I say? It worked! OK.... I still get migraines. I still do find myself in situations where I find myself totally unable to function and racked by pain. However, when I look at the 'big picture', I have reduced my intake of pain medication dramatically. The only reason why meditation doesn't seem to help at times is the fact that I occasionally will wake with a migraine and, well, it can be difficult to calm myself or relax sufficiently to meditate. Those are the times when I must resort to the pain meds. However, as an adjunct to pain medication, meditation has been nothing short of a miracle.

I'd like to add that I have been a devotee of meditation long before this. I had just never used meditation for pain relief. Perhaps this experience enabled me to have better results. Nevertheless, meditation is something I now do on a daily basis whether I am experiencing pain or not. I find that I am more focused, relaxed and better able to deal with what each day brings. It certainly is not something to be dismissed out of hand simply because of some prejudice or disbelief..... if you have chronic pain, give meditation a try. You really have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

There we go:

An abstract of the study here:
www.jneurosci.org...

And similar thread with additional evidence:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Old study from 2010. Needs more study. Good post OP

...meditation has long been a viable way to combat pain and the panic that often accompanies it... it is effective under certain circumstances...

...i used it during childbirth and my last baby was nearly 11 pounds, had shoulders like a nfl fullback in full drag... 30 some odd years later, i still dont like her father much, lol, jk...

...meditation will not help someone who is already in the throws of mind bending pain, such as people who have been burned badly, but the article seems to be pushing the contrary...

...what has been proven to my satisfaction (because i experienced it myself and i witnessed it with one of my kids) is that after extreme surgery, if you're so doped up that your brain cant focus on the pain and, therefore, cannot successfully store the associated memories, you heal faster...

I learned self meditation at an early age. I have used it for several years to ease pain ranging from a sprained ankle to tooth ache.

I don't know about anyone else, but I'd find it to be pretty difficult to try and meditate when I'm doubled over in pain.

If I were walking out of a burning building with third degree burns, I'd be pretty pissed off if a medic told me to get into the lotus position.

Google Catalyst and Hypnosis, They film a woman who allergic to painkillers and anesthetic learns to hypnotize herself being cut into with no pain killers for a stomach operation. She is conscious for the whole thing and describes the feeling like a pencil drawing on her skin. She does not even flinch. Well worth the search. Catalyst is a Science TV program in Australia.