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The musculoskeletal, immune and endocrine systems can all be potent triggers of pain signals in your body. Here's a way to use your subconscious mind to try to lessen the impact of those triggers.

The Musculoskeletal System

The musculoskeletal system consists of the muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, cartilage and other elements that make up the structural part of your body.

In chronic pain one or more parts of this system may not be working properly. Muscles may be cramped, joints may be out of alignment, tendons and ligaments may be overstretched or inflexible, cartilage may be inelastic, and so on.

These factors may be operating in back pain or pain in the neck or other extremities, arthritis pain, fibromyalgia pain , or neuropathic pain (nerve pain).

Chiropractic, massage and acupuncture are often helpful in relieving pain triggered by the musculoskeletal system. But if you don't get results, or if the pain keeps coming back after a short interval, it may be worthwhile to focus your subconscious on the structures involved.

The Subconscious and the Musculoskeletal System

The subconscious may be able to identify general or specific parts of the musculoskeletal system that are contributing to your pain. If so, it usually can then generate visualization statements directed at those parts.

Visualization statements represent the specific language that your subconscious wants you to read back to it to help ease your pain. They're simple and are targeted directly at the main factors that could bring you relief.

You can obtain these statements by learning how to communicate directly with your own subconscious mind. The process is straightforward and can be done at home by working with a facilitator over the telephone. You you need no special skills and no previous experience in working with the subconscious.

The subconscious appears to be able to relax muscles, align joints, increase the flexibility of tendons and ligaments, and make other changes that help to ease pain.

Any changes brought about may not need to be large. For example, removing just a slight amount of pressure from a nerve being pinched at a joint may be enough to provide relief.

The changes brought about tend to build on one another. For example, when a joint becomes more aligned, the muscles around it tend to relax. When a tendon becomes more elastic, it tends to stop pulling on muscles.

The Immune System

The immune system is a complex of organs and cells designed to defend the body when it is invaded. When the system is out of balance it could be implicated in arthritis, fibromyalgia and other conditions that cause pain. Visualizations may help to provide relief.

The major parts of the immune system include the lymphatic vessels, lymph nodes, lymphatic fluid, the spleen, the thymus and the T-cells it produces, and the bone marrow and the B-cells it produces.

Auto-immune problems occur when the system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues. In the case of rheumatoid arthritis pain or psoriatic arthritis pain, for example, it sends white blood cells into the joints, producing chemicals that cause inflammation. This swells the joint lining and wears down the cartilage, narrowing the space between the bones and causing pain.

In the case of fibromyalgia pain, it's not known whether the immune system is a cause of the condition or an effect of it. But it is known that a defect in T-cell activation is associated with the disease.

The immune system could also be a factor in back pain or pain in the neck or other extremities, or neuropathic pain (nerve pain).

The Subconscious and the Immune System

The subconscious may be able to help you deal with immune issues in two ways.

First, it may be possible to use visualization statements to reduce the intensity of the immune system attack on healthy parts of the body.

For example, we have had some success in reducing both joint pain and skin eruptions in psoriatic arthritis. This is done by using visualizations to suggest to the subconscious that immune T-cells are to be put into action only when the body is truly attacked by an outside invader.

Second, it may be possible to use visualizations to strengthen the immune system. Your subconscious may be able to identify whether regulatory, helper, and/or killer T-cells are weak, and suggest a way to alleviate the problem through visualizations. It may also suggest visualizing stronger bone marrow, a healthier spleen, or a more robust lymphatic flow.

The Endocrine System

Hormones are chemicals that circulate in body fluids and are designed to produce particular effects. Hormones are secreted by the adrenals, hypothalamus, pituitary, ovaries, testes, thyroid and other endocrine glands.

When the chemicals produced by these glands are out of balance with one another they appear to play a prominent role in causing joint pain, and may be one of the underlying causes of conditions as diverse as fibromyalgia pain, migraines, arthritis pain, depression, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

The endocrine system could also be a factor in back pain or pain in the neck or other extremities, or neuropathic pain (nerve pain).

The Subconscious and the Endocrine System

The subconscious seems to be aware of the existing levels of your individual hormones, and through visualization may be able to increase or reduce their levels enough to bring them into balance with one another. It also appears to be able to increase the absorption of DHEA, which is the basic building block of all hormones.

For example, it's possible to ask about the levels of adrenalin, estradiol, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, human growth hormone, melatonin, thyroxin, and other hormones. If your subconscious connects any of them to your pain it can then be asked to provide visualization statements to help bring them back into balance.

In addition the subconscious may be asked to identify which hormone-producing organs may need strengthening. Many times this turns out to be the adrenals and/or the thyroid gland. Visualizations to help shore these organs up can then be generated.

If the subconscious thinks the rate of metabolism needs to be adjusted up or down, it may be possible to obtain language helping the subconscious to make the desired change.

Programming the Subconscious

The subconscious is quite powerful. When programmed through the very visualizations that it suggests, it may be able to turn episodes of uncontrolled pain into events over which you have a degree of control.

Ben Plumb is CEO and President of The Visualization Group, Inc. The company's service is delivered by people like himself who personally suffered from years of chronic pain, and used the visualization method described in this article to obtain relief when nothing else worked.