Last weekend I was in Phoenix for an Integrative Medicine conference on Pain Management.

One of the biggest lessons for me, however, came the day after I returned home. I spent the holiday Monday out with my husband and my dogs. I noticed that my right knee was a bit limited and I had trouble bending it, but it wasn’t painful and I still chased the dogs and ran around.

It wasn’t until that night when I finally happened to look at my knee that I realized it was hugely swollen. And a funny thing happened. I then started to limp and it started to bug me more.

I laughed at myself and told myself that it was partly in my head, but visually seeing that I had cause to be limited made me more limited!

Pain is physical, but there is so much more to it than that, so when I use acupuncture, herbs, and supplements to treat pain, I keep that in mind.