Suffering from chronic pain? Or are you a person who is constantly anxious?
Luckily an NHS doctor has revealed a rather simple technique to manage your chronic pain or any feeling of anxiousness.
In his Channel 4 documentary Live Well with the Drug-Free Doctor, Dr. Rangan Chatterjee suggests that this method could benefit everyone, chronic pain or not.
Dr. Chatterjee, who is also an author of six-best-selling books, explained: "The latest neuroscience research is showing us that the brain can create pain and one of the ways in which you can get the brain to stop creating pain is by doing some things that help to calm down your nervous system."
He further emphasised that it is not only for those who deal with chronic pain, stating: "What is amazing is that this calming of the nervous system through the brain retraining can benefit all of us - even if we do not suffer from chronic pain."
"I know as a doctor that stress affects every single organ system in the body. It can affect your brain, your mental well-being and your physical health,” Dr. Chatterjee added.
As he started speaking of the method, Dr. Chatterjee stated, "With this in mind, I developed an easy technique called the 3-4-5 breath.”
"You need to find a calm place and simply breathe through your nose for three seconds, hold for four and exhale for five. And by simply doing this, you turn off your flight and flight response, lowering stress hormones, like cortisol, which leads to lower inflammation and a boost to your immune system,” the medical expert explained.
Discussing the technique further on his website, Dr Chatterjee said: "I find that this exercise can be extremely effective for patients who are prone to anxiety or stress.”
"It could hardly be simpler", he noted, explaining: "When your outbreath is longer than your in-breath, you reduce the activation of your stress state and encourage your body to move into a thrive state. You can do a few rounds of this breath or extend it to take five minutes. Listen to your body and see what works for you."
There are also existing studies that support Dr. Chatterjee’s claims, like one study demonstrates that relaxation techniques are a key element in chronic pain management they shouldn't be relied upon as a sole treatment method.
Evidence suggests these approaches work best when incorporated into comprehensive, multi-modal treatment programs.