Is Pain All In The Brain

Here we will explore 

• A few intriguing points from 'The Top Ten Things You Don’t Know About Pain'
• A wonderfully engaging 5 minute video that describes the pain mechanism process in a speeded up, in action, illustration.

Over at forwardthinkingpt.com, they published an article titled 'The Top Ten Things You Don’t Know About Pain'. It attracted some emotionally charged reader comments.

From the list of 'Top Ten Things…' the first point offers a simple summary of the neuroscientific theory about the pain process.

1. Pain is 100% of the time, an output from the brain. 

Description:
In 1996, Ronald Malzack developed the concept of the neuromatrix. The neuromatrix, in simplistic terms, is all of the mechanisms within the brain, that when activated, produce pain. So when your ankle hurts, the pain is generated by information gathered by the brain. Pain is simply a defence mechanism developed to protect the body. 

Okay, nothing too wild about that theory.

Here are a few more from the Top Ten list:

2. The degree of injury does not always equal the degree of pain

4. Psychological variables, such as depression and anxiety, can make your pain worse

7. Education about pain can be more effective than core stabilisation in the prevention of low back pain

10. You likely do not have a high tolerance for pain, despite what medical professionals may tell you

and number 5 on the list

Arthritis does not cause pain

Well, this particular point raised some strong challenges in the comment section of theptproject.com where this article also featured.

An extract from one disturbed reader:

"All you’ve done is angered a bunch of people who are in pain every day because of their disease(s), who don’t care that it’s their brain telling them they’re in pain because they have a condition that has caused a problem and you’re there telling the world that their Arthritis isn’t causing them pain."

A couple extracts from the publishers responses to the many challenges:

"You may not be able to cure Rheumatoid Arthritis, but I believe we can do a much better job at controlling associated symptoms such as pain by altering our approach."

and the other;

"There is a lot of good research to indicate that secondary variables such as psychological variables including depression, anxiety, pain catastrophising, kinesiophobia and decreased activity increase your ability to develop chronic pain. There is research indicating that educating the public about pain neuroscience is beneficial in reducing pain. That was the goal of this piece."

I appreciate why such an article could be difficult for some people to accept. I don't believe the author, certainly nor I for discussing it here, had any intention of denying that the pain people suffer is very real. It seems this researcher is trying to raise awareness of the more complex workings of the brain and how a greater understanding of these mechanisms may actually help reduce people's pain. The author provided a number of credible sources for his research and claims to be quoting from the leading authority on the study of pain.

These are still relatively new theories and will no doubt take time to become more widely understood and accepted by the general public if they continue to be substantiated further. This still makes for a very interesting read I believe.

I invite you to read the full Top Ten list here
http://forwardthinkingpt.com/2011/12/15/the-top-ten-things-you-dont-know-about-pain/

And then go to the comment section to see the readers opinions at the bottom of the article published here
http://www.theptproject.com/clinical-practice/the-top-10-things-you-dont-know-about-pain/

Also on forwardthinkingpt.com

A wonderfully engaging 5 minute video

describing the pain mechanism process in a speeded up, in action, illustration.

Watch it here - Understanding Pain : http://www.mmphysiotherapy.com/treatments/self-treatment-tips

In good health!

Simon Coghlan.