Understanding Persistent Pain
I have a special interest in pain problems, why do some people have persisting pain long after their original problem or injury should have resolved eg. CRPS? I find Graded Motor Imagery an interesting and useful treatment addressing the role the brain and general nervous system has in deciding how you feel and react to injury.
People with persistent pain often think of themselves as suffering from a specific ailment eg. an arthritic knee, back pain, migraines or a frozen shoulder. Usually it is much more complex than that, and they are described as having the condition “chronic pain”.
Some cases of chronic pain can be traced back to a specific injury that doesn’t resolve in the expected time, a fractured wrist, a sprained ankle or maybe a surgical procedure. Other cases have no apparent cause, no injury or underlying tissue damage.
Treating any underlying condition is, of course, the first step, but sometimes that does not resolve the persistent pain. Sometimes more of the body’s systems, the nervous system and the brain become involved.
Understanding the Psychological Impact of Chronic Pain
On a basic biological level, persistent pain is caused by oversensitive nerves sending impulses to alert the brain about tissue damage that has long since healed or never existed in the first place. It may be that the brain is misinterpreting the data it is receiving. In addition, other things going on in your life, emotional and psychological factors can play their part and seem to have an important role in whether you are going to make a fast recovery or if it’s going to take a bit longer and need a bit more work.
Negative emotions, such as sadness or stress, seem to aggravate chronic pain. People who have other problems going on in their life tend to be more affected by chronic pain than people who are generally happy and stress free.
Negative emotions can be a result of chronic pain as well as a cause. Depression is understandably common in chronic pain patients, but this is not to say persistent pain is all in your head. Chronic pain affects all aspects of your life, it’s important to treat the symptoms both medically and emotionally.
Have a look at this short Understanding Pain video from Australia.
This explains things very simply and is a good place to start.
Another good video from the same team about pain medication