I Don’t Understand Why When I Watched A Video From A Hospital In My State Says That My Pain Is All In My Head ??? | MyChronicPainTeam

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I Don’t Understand Why When I Watched A Video From A Hospital In My State Says That My Pain Is All In My Head ???
A MyChronicPainTeam Member asked a question 💭

If my pain is in my head then WHY DO I HURT 😞 SOO BAD !!! You can’t even poke me with out hurting me !!!

posted June 16, 2018
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A MyChronicPainTeam Member

The pain is only partly in our heads as in the brain is the control center of the body. Neuropathways are formed over time and shoot pain signals to other parts. There are pains that are psycho- somatic meaning our brain’s condition literally causes pain to occur. None of this means your pain isn’t very real and I recommend you may find doctors and hospitals that take you seriously. It can take hunting though. Good luck and may God bless your journey.

posted June 16, 2018
A MyChronicPainTeam Member

That is complete bullcrap. Let them have it for a week and then say that.

posted July 2, 2018
A MyChronicPainTeam Member

Part 2:
But, that's where the understanding of neuroplasticity (which allowed the brain to become so sensitive to signals to generate "PAIN!" all the time) can also be utilised to unwind that oversensitivity and allow the brain and CNS to (hopefully) get back to normal.

Keep in mind too that it's not that simple. When our bodies sense alarm, different internal systems (endocrine, sympathetic nervous system, etc) switch on and release chemicals into the blood stream readying us for "fight or flight". Chronic pain is an alarm signal and the other systems in the body are reacting to those signals as well (which can, unfortunately, aid in keeping the pain signal running).

So a lot has changed (or starting to change) in the CNS and it takes time and persistence to retrain the CNS that everything actually is okay and for it to calm down.

Prof. Moseley uses the phantom limb phenomenon to explain how parts of the body are not needed in order for pain to be "sensed" in those body parts, which shows that the brain decides to generate pain there or not. However, phantom limb pain is real pain!

There is a great article written by a former (or current/not sure) product manager at Google who had a motorcycle accident in 2014 and was left with a paralysed arm - yet the pain he feels in that arm is excruciating. It's not great that he had the accident, but it is great that he has shared his story. (His name is Yariv Adan and his story is "50 Shades of Pain": https://medium.com/@yarivadan/50-shades-of-pain...).

I hope that helps. Just remember: All pain is real!

posted June 27, 2018
A MyChronicPainTeam Member

Part1:
There is research that shows that patients who are educated about pain have lower levels of pain and less disability (so I am told).

The video that you watched was probably part of that new paradigm: educate the patient.

However, this can be done brilliantly (by Prof. Lorimer Moseley in a TEDxAdelaide talk) or infuriatingly.

One of the first things that Prof. Moseley states in his "Explain Pain" book is: "All pain is real!" He also states that each person's pain is unique and real. It appears that these points are too often left out of "educational" tools.

Nociceptive, inflammatory and neuropathic pain are all (hopefully) adaptive pain sensations: i.e., the adaptive responses they elicit are protecting the body from harm (burning sensation - remove hand/body part/self! from source, etc.).

However, the "sensing system" once engaged by chemical/heat/pressure/etc sensors, can wind up so much that the Central Nervous System, including areas of the brain that are used in sensing pain, and areas around the initial injury, infection, etc, can become so good at sensing (i.e. over-sensitised) pain that it's always interpreting the signals as "GENERATE PAIN SIGNAL!!!".

That's a very oversimplified interpretation of the situation, the book Explain Pain does a much better job (and I am only going from memory from my readings). However, I hope it shows that while areas within the brain determine whether to generate pain from the incoming signals, it's much more complex than the simplistic and misguided message "all pain is in your brain". It's also much harder to "undo", since there are chemical, neuronal, and learning processes that have become (almost) "hard-wired".

posted June 27, 2018
A MyChronicPainTeam Member

You have to be kidding...what state and that is bull....in your head as every other bodily function, feeling is but to say your pain is all in your head is insane! Go somewhere else. Wish anyone or any place that has the gull to live in my body for 5 minutes let alone any of ours. Bet your bottom dollar that they would bow their heads in shame for ever trying to make anyone not heard just because pain is subjective does not mean it isn't real. For me there is nothing else they can do and I am cursed to live the rest of my life in agony. Sorry for the rant but it made me angry that you had to experience what you did.

posted June 21, 2018

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