The Science of Pain

For many people, pain is a day-to-day nuisance. It’s ever present, always looming, always reminding. For others, it comes and goes, hanging around for a period of time before relenting its grip.

So why do we experience different levels of pain? Why do some pains stick around for what seems like way too long, while others seem to fade in and out—or abate altogether?

A lot of how we experience pain is multifactorial and could be discussed at great length beyond the scope of this article.

In short, some of the key elements that determine our pain-experience include; the severity of the injury, the environment in which the injury occurred, your current state at the time of the injury (mentally, emotionally, and physically), your view on life events (internal vs external locus of control), your age, your diet, your genetics, and ultimately—your own view of your injury.

Whoa, that’s a lot to unpack.

Let’s dive into just one area of pain that afflicts many around the world—chronic pain.

For those with chronic pain, many of the elements above added together can create a scenario that results in a “ramping up” of our central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) so much that it becomes overloaded with pain signals.

These signals get louder and louder over time, until the pain networks in our brain are literally rewired. We become hypersensitized to any pain in the location of the injury (or even weirder, not in the location of the injury). Even weirder still, sometimes these networks become so sensitive, we can experience pain when there is no physical cause to point to.

It becomes like that of a car alarm continuously blaring, sounding the alarm until you have to pay attention to it.

This is not to say that the pain is not real. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The pain is so real to the brain, that it lights up the proverbial warning torches to make sure you know it’s happening.

So how is this fixed? Well, that requires a lot of work and patience. The brain must be “remapped” so-to-speak, to begin to quiet that signal.

Over time, the car alarm will get more and more quiet. Eventually, you can move beyond that ever-present, always-looming, always-reminding pain that has kept you from the things you love for too long.

Here for your continued health,

Dr. Tyler Pollock, PT, DPT