In addition to being non-addictive and (Geezer's favorite benefit) not requiring a co-pay, meditation relieves pain more effectively than morphine, at least according to research conducted at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. A med center news release reports that researchers put 15 healthy volunteers who had never meditated in four, 20-minute classes to learn a meditation technique known as focused attention, a form of mindfulness meditation where people are taught to attend to the breath and let go of distracting thoughts and emotions. Both before and after meditation training, the students’ brain activity was examined using arterial spin labeling magnetic resonance imaging (ASL MRI) while a pain-inducing heat device heated a small area of their skin to 120° Fahrenheit. The scans taken after meditation training showed that every participant’s pain ratings were reduced, with decreases ranging from 11 to 93 percent. At the same time, meditation significantly reduced brain activity in the area of the brain involved in creating the feeling of where and how intense a painful stimulus is. Overall, the researchers found a 40 percent reduction in pain intensity and a 57 percent reduction in pain unpleasantness, a greater reduction in pain than is found with morphine or other pain-relieving drugs, which typically reduce pain ratings by about 25 percent.
Read more from the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.