Researchers at Northwestern University have been studying the brain-chronic pain connection for well over a decade. Based on their multiple studies “we argue that the state of the brain’s emotional and motivational circuitry, as well as its reorganization following a pain-inciting event, determine the transition to pain chronicity.” Once we rule out any major structural issue, […]
I’ve posted before about how we see stronger one-way brain signals from the amygdala to the pre-frontal cortex in anxiety and how this is one-way signaling can cause the amygdala to hijack someone into more anxiety or panic. https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2020/04/stanford-study-finds-stronger-one-way-fear-signals-in-brains-of-.html We also see altered connections in the amygdala to pre-frontal cortex pathway in chronic back pain. […]
What this fMRI brain study and many others are showing is a loss of whats called cortical control over the pain system. This is where the prefrontal cortex loses its power (strength) and firing rates with chronic pain. It can’t exert the regulatory control it needs to diminish pain. The prefrontal cortex is the answer […]
This 2020 study in the New England Journal of Medicine from Harvard Medical School looked at people taking statin medications for high cholesterol. It really highlights the power of the brain in producing physical symptoms in the body. The nocebo effect is the opposite of the placebo. It’s where the brain works in a negative […]
Central sensitization is something I see in a lot of people with chronic health ailments and something we need to address for healing. According to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) the definition of central sensitization is ‘Increased responsiveness of nociceptive neurons in the central nervous system to their normal or subthreshold […]
Radiating leg pain from a lumbar disc herniation is often attributed to either mechanical compression of the nerve root by the herniated disc, and/or local inflammation. This study of 53 subjects searched for associations between pain intensity and 5 contributing factors: 1) inflammatory markers, 2) herniated disc size, 3) infection, 4) psychological factors and 5) […]
How we deal with and handle anger can have an influence on our pain levels. This recent 2022 research review article highlights that either overt anger expression like blowing up or anger suppression like holding our anger create more pain in the body. We need to learn how to deal with anger, as it’s one […]
Two of the biggest mental health issues out there are depression and anxiety. It is important to screen for both these emotional conditions as they can both manifest physically in the body with symptoms. Depression can show up in the body through various physical symptoms as seen in the article below. When I work with […]
I see a lot of people with what is being called ‘Worried Sick’. It’s where health anxiety (fear) is the driving force behind symptoms. Excessive worry, hypervigilance, combined with being an empathatic and highly sensitive person (HSP) can lead to a multitude of physical symptoms that are actually just health anxiety. Anxiety is the cause […]
Interoception is not a word that many are familiar with but it can have a big impact on your health. Interoception is the ability to ‘tune in’ to your body signals and notice what’s arising in your body sensations in an accurate way. A loss of interoception ability is highly linked with emotion regulation difficulties, […]
