Brain Science:
There is a direct link between your brain and your pain. Scientists are learning how to understand this connection and how your brain can help curb your pain. The pain impulse takes a short cut to the thalamus. The thalamus directs the pain to a selected few areas for interpretations. In the mean time the cortex figures out where the pain came from, and compares it to other kinds of pain which the brain has experienced before. As we have discovered, pain often enough creates facilitated pathways in the brain that can increase the severity of the pain considerably.
Pain and emotion circuits (pathways) overlap in the brain. This shared neural network has been called nature’s “economy route”, because it allows the brain to process a lot of sensations at once. The interlacing of Pain and emotions is now being studied and therapies designed to use these shared pathways are just now being developed. Studies show that positive emotional expectations can tone down chronic pain. Negative expectations can ramp pain up.
Brain Facts:
· You have every right to be offended if someone says your pain is all in your head. But the truth is, pain is constructed entirely in the (head) brain. That doesn’t mean your pain is any less real-
It’s just that your brain literally creates what your body feels, and in the case of chronic pain, your brain helps perpetuate it.
· According April Vallerand, Phd, a pain researcher and professor at Wayne State University, At present most people with chronic pain won’t experience a cure.
· Opioid drugs are commonly used to curb pain. Most generally they just mask the pain. They are highly effective but present some severe side effects, most notably addiction.
· Many studies show that positive expectations or beliefs change brain chemistry, causing the body to produce your own brains ability to produce your own pain-blocking chemicals like opioids and dopamine.
· Negative emotions are like gasoline thrown on the fire of pain, not only making chronic pain much worse, but can even cause it.
· Recent studies show depressed people are three to four times more likely to develop chronic pain than others.
· Positive emotions can significantly lower pain when patients stop focusing on how bad they feel. Patients with chronic pain agree that when they are in the worst place emotionally they are less motivated to exercise and see friends and family. These are essential to changing pain patterns because they help break the pattern of ruminating (see there was a reason we did a text on ruminating.) on pain and they release feel good endorphins and the body’s natural opioids.
· All of the above have to do with pain. The causes of the pain sometimes can’t be corrected, however even in that case life is more livable doing something about the pain.
So What:
You know I had a situation a couple of years ago where I was in chronic pain. Pain is familiar to me as I had the beginnings of hydrocephalus years ago and have been through three back surgeries and numerous injections. A close friend indicated to me that the pain was all in my head. I was offended. Then I thought this person had a bunch of experience with pain as a family situation caused her to see the most sever pan possible. I thought… she has had the experience to know. So I have looked into this idea of the head (brain) controlling pain. I had not read at that time what is noted here on this text. But I did start thinking about not thinking about the pain. At that point it was at the worst. I decided that when the pain was about to get me that I would do something. I did… I went to the Dawgleg. (The restaurant bar in my neighborhood) No not to drink… that only made it worse. I went to talk. I found every time the pain was really bad that engaging in conversation took my mind off the numeration and in most all cases I felt like the pain subsided and in some cases went away. I don’t know if it works for other people but it worked for me. When I could not get to the dawgleg, and Sue was home or we were on the road, we played cards. I just don’t know about other people but I do know it started me on the road to managing my own pain… without drugs!
Next time we are going to talk about some coping and pain management strategies you can do or help someone else do.}
Comments