The Science of Pain

The Science of Pain
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Pain can be described as a “distressing feeling” often caused by intense or damaging stimuli. ⁣⁣⁣
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It motivates the individual to withdraw from damaging situations, to protect a damaged body part while it heals, and to avoid similar experiences in the future. ⁣⁣⁣
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Our body doesn’t actually have “pain sensors” but rather sensors that detect threat which are then processed by the brain, who ultimately decides whether or not you are being threatened by something or not. ⁣⁣⁣
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These sensors are called “Nociceptors” which are sensory neurons that respond to stimuli, (potentially harmful) such as mechanical, thermal and chemical ones. ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣
When enough sensors are activated, electrical signals shoot up to the nerve to the spine and onto the brain. The brain weighs the importance of these signals and decides whether or not the body needs protection by increasing pain. (Nociception) ⁣⁣⁣
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You read it correctly: pain is protection induced by the brain in order to avoid potential damage. ⁣⁣⁣
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Nociceptors aren’t the only way you can experience pain though, which is why more tissue damage doesn’t correlate to more pain experienced, like chronic pain (see non-specific back pain)⁣⁣⁣
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In fact, psychological factors such as our emotional state, pain beliefs, and memories, can trigger Nociceptive signals to the brain too… which again trigger more pain. If fibers are continuously activated, then they become even more sensitive, because the brain detects more threat.⁣⁣⁣
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It’s a vicious cycle in which the brain wants to actually help us based on what signals we’re feeding it with, increasing the alertness towards the issue by increasing pain to protect you.⁣⁣⁣
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What do we end up doing? We typically start fearing/restricting movement, fearing more damage, which ultimately only ends up increasing pain. ⁣⁣
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What we should do instead ? First of all, educating ourselves on basic pain knowledge should be the first step in understanding how we can finally overcome the issues we may be facing at the moment. Having a positive mindset, PRO-movement is important too, since research does not support the mechanical model of pain.