Ischemia is the technical medical term for oxygen deprivation. The term comes from the Greek words isch meaning restriction and hema meaning blood. The body can suffer blood restriction to any of its systems or tissues.
There are many purely physical reasons for oxygen deprivation to occur, including disease processes and circulatory concerns. However, one of the most common types of regional oxygen deprivation is due to a mindbody causation. This explains why this common source of suffering is rarely correctly identified as the true underlying symptomatic process which is responsible for creating many dorsopathy conditions.
What is Ischemia?
Oxygen deprivation is a process that can cause pain and neurological symptoms in almost any location of the body. All human tissues need oxygen in order to function properly.
Oxygen is delivered throughout the body by means of the circulatory system. Oxygen is breathed in through the lungs. Blood runs through the lungs and becomes oxygenated. This blood is sent to deliver oxygen to all the systems and parts of the anatomy. The power to pump this blood is provided by the heart.
Circulation is achieved by the precise control of the diameter of individual blood vessels. The regulatory power over the heart rate and dilation of blood vessels is controlled by the autonomic system. The autonomic system is controlled by the subconscious mind. This is where things get interesting.
What Causes Cellular Oxygen Deprivation?
Physical causes for ischemia include:
Injury or compression to blood vessels can prevent oxygenated blood from reaching its target. This process can be caused by external or internal pressure from cancer, trauma, muscular interaction, stenosis or vascular constriction.
Blood diseases, such as sickle cell anemia, can prevent proper oxygenation of blood cells.
Blood clots (Thromboembolism) can stop blood from flowing in an artery or vein.
Heart problems can create oxygen deprivation. If blood can not be adequately pumped, then oxygen deprivation will result. Low blood pressure (Hypotension) can result from several causes. Heart attack (myocardial infarction) can stop the heart from beating all together.
Clogged arteries (Atherosclerosis) can prevent blood from reaching its destination.
All these are very serious health problems. If you suspect that you might be suffering from any of these conditions, get to a doctor or hospital immediately.
Mindbody-Enacted Ischemia
One of the most common types of ischemia is caused by the subconscious mind, using the autonomic system. The subconscious will create this condition as a defense mechanism against sensitive unresolved emotional issues. The subconscious mind will use the physical symptoms as a way to prevent conscious realization of emotional issues it chooses to repress.
The subconscious can create this type of pain through a subtle process that leaves almost no evidence. A few simple and subtle contractions of targeted blood vessels and oxygen deprivation begins. All the bodily systems served by those small blood vessels will suffer reduced oxygenation and resulting physical symptoms. The effect can be extremely painful, yet the process is nearly invisible to medical science. This type of pain is most often misdiagnosed as coming from some coincidental scapegoat condition.
Evidence of this process has been found in cells of chronic pain and fibromyalgia sufferers. The changes are remarkably similar to alterations seen in the leg muscle cells of long distance runners. The cell loses actual integrity and functionality due to a lack of oxygenation.
The result is pain, spasm and a variety of neurological effects, such as tingling, weakness or numbness of the subjective or objective varieties.
Ischemia Experiences
I suffered from this type of chronic and acute back pain for decades before learning what it was or how to treat it. My doctors never suggested that this might be the cause of my pain. Instead, they blamed herniated discs and degenerative disc disease for all my suffering. The pain was so bad that I really thought I would end my days at an early age with complete disability.
Luckily, I discovered that I was actually suffering from psychologically induced oxygen deprivation back pain. I was able to cure myself in a matter of weeks. This was a virtual miracle, since I had run the gauntlet of medical treatments for a full 18 years with no success or relief.
I used Dr. Sarno’s method of knowledge therapy, which provided several years of complete bliss without any symptoms whatsoever. However, some degree of pain eventually returned due to a complex mixture of structural factors and life circumstances.
I know that my pain is likely to exist for both anatomical and psychoemotional reasons. I worked to control both, given an aging body full of injuries from full-contact martial arts and a back pain prone personality. I finally found a complete cure.
All patients should consider ischemia as a possible explanation for certain types of chronic and treatment-defying pain, especially if traditional diagnostic theories have not turned out to be correct.
Ischemia plays a vital role in the grand scheme of chronic pain and can act as a symptomatic exacerbator in even the most structurally-motivated pain syndromes. We detail this occurrence and provide proven ways to cure the condition in our Cure Back Pain Forever Program, which is conveniently available for download if you need immediate help with severe pain.
