What causes chronic pain?

Is pain a gift? Some people may say ?yes,? as pain is a normal experience which is needed in order to protect our bodies from injury for survival. However, people who suffer from chronic pain may say ?no,? and say ?it is the farthest thing from a gift,? as it can be frustrating, and draining both physically and mentally. Over the last several years there has been an increase in the amount of research devoted to how pain works and what causes pain to become chronic. The research suggests persistent pain is due to a shift in the nervous system (i.e., brain, spinal cord, nerves), as opposed to coming from tissues, such as muscles, ligaments, and joints. Tissues typically heal within three to six months, so pain that lasts longer than this may be due to changes with the sensitivity of the nervous system. According to the most up-to-date research, the more people know about their pain and understand how it works, the better they become at controlling and reducing their pain.

During an injury, the nerves are ?activated? and send a message to the spinal cord, which then sends a message to the brain to alert you that you are being injured and need to protect yourself. As the injured tissues heal, the sensitivity of the nerves gradually goes back down to a normal level. An example of this would be if you are lifting a pan from the oven and accidently touch the side of the oven with your arm. The nerves in your arm would be activated and tell your brain you burned yourself. In turn, your body would react to move your arm quickly away from the side of the oven. The burned area on your arm would be extra-sensitive for the next few days, but eventually the sensitivity would decrease back down to normal.

Research shows that one in four people have nerves that never calm back down to normal after an injury, leaving them with an extra-sensitive nervous system. The extra-sensitive nervous system is what leads people to develop chronic pain. Here are some things you may have noticed, if your nerves are ?extra-sensitive:? your pain is widespread and in multiple body areas, you are not able to do as much activity now compared to before you had pain, and your skin becomes painful with light pressure or touch from certain types of clothing.

People in chronic pain often times wonder why their nerves became extra-sensitive instead of going back down to normal like their neighbor?s, friend?s, or co-worker?s did after having an injury similar to theirs. Research also tells us there are different things that influence the pain experience which can cause the brain to keep the nervous system elevated, such as: failed treatments, family and job concerns, fear and anxiety, and different explanations from the Internet, family members, doctors, therapists, and friends about what is causing the pain.

If you believe you may have a nervous system that is extra sensitive or you suffer from chronic pain, please contact your physical therapist for more information. There are several treatments and carefully guided exercises that can be done in order to help calm down your extra-sensitive nerves and to allow you to get back to your normal activities.

Remember, pain is a gift when it is protective and your nerves calms back down to normal. If you are living in persistent pain, then this is not normal, and there are ways to reduce the pain so you can get your life back.