In the not so recent past pain management providers did not for the most part attempt to understand or treat the emotional components of chronic pain.  Fortunately we’ve come a long way and today most pain management providers see the importance addressing the whole person biologically, psychologically (thoughts and emotions), socially and even spiritually.  When I work with people I help them differentiate between pain and suffering—physiological symptoms versus psychological/emotional symptoms.
 
Today I found an article by Salynn Boyles titled Emotions May Influence Arthritis Pain and wanted to share some of it below.  If you want to read the entire article please click here.

The fear and distress arthritis patients feel about their condition can make a big difference in how they perceive the pain that comes with it, a novel brain-imaging study shows.  The findings suggest that interventions designed to reduce pain-related fear and anxiety, such as [cognitive] behavioral therapy, should play a bigger role in the treatment of chronic arthritis pain, the study’s researcher tells WebMD.

The study by Jones and colleagues from the University of Manchester Rheumatic Diseases Center is the first to directly examine how the brain processes arthritis pain using a specific type of brain imaging.

“Most arthritis patients don’t have access to these types of therapies, or if they do, they tend to get them after they have lived with pain for many years,” says neuro-rheumatologist Anthony K.P. Jones, MD. “We believe patients would fare better if they were treated with these therapies much earlier.”

The study by Jones and colleagues from the University of Manchester Rheumatic Diseases Center is the first to directly examine how the brain processes arthritis pain using a specific type of brain imaging.

Two parallel areas within the brain have been identified as pain processing centers — the lateral system and the medial system. While both systems share many of the same functions, earlier work by the University of Manchester research team identified the medial system as being more involved in the emotional aspects of pain, such as fear and stress.

To learn more about chronic pain management please check out our website at www.addiction-free.com and go to our Publications page and check out my book Managing Pain and Coexisting Disorders: Using the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System. If you want to learn more about emotions and chronic pain management you can find my article Pain Versus Suffering that you can download for free on our Ariticles page.

To check out our July Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here.

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