Pain Pathways
Part 2 Theory of Chronic Pain (see part 1)
Chronic pain is processed differently from short acting acute pain. When you burn yourself on an iron the sensation of pain is transmitted quickly to your brain causing you to remove your hand at once, without even thinking about it. Chronic pain reaches the brain more slowly and, unlike acute pain, it passes through the hypothalamus, an organ that orders stress hormones to be released, and through the limbic system, which is responsible for thoughts and emotions.
The brain is also able to send a message back down the nerves to block the pain if we are in mortal danger and need to fight back or flee. This descending pathway provides a mechanism which can be used to block pain under non-life threatening conditions and can also be a useful tool with which to fight chronic pain.
Neurotransmitters Of Pain
Another mechanism for transmitting pain is by the chemicals, found in every nerve cell, called neurotransmitters. These either send or block pain messages. Serotonin is one such neurotransmitter. Serotonin blocks pain and induces a feeling of well-being. You may have heard of it in connection with prescription drugs such as Prozac, which causes serotonin to remain in our system longer than it normally would, thus reducing depression.
Endorphin is another neurotransmitter, a natural pain killer similar to morphine. This is where the runners high comes from. The level of these chemicals varies between people and their production can be voluntarily increased, for example by vigorous exercise. That is one reason why exercise is an important facet of pain treatment.
Based on these facts we can begin to understand why therapies that help us to literally change our minds about pain are helpful.
If you have a chronic pain that has been thoroughly investigated without success then you can help yourself best by learning some simple techniques to reduce pain by influencing your brain's perception of the sensations that cause it to send out a pain signal.
