Pain - Why Are There Nothing But Theories - 10/23/06 08:06 PM
G'day all,
This is a query that only probably has relevance if you are studying medicine or the processes of brain function etc.
I suffer from chronic pain syndrome. Fancy name for terrible pain all the time often unrelated to the current clinical condition of the body part. In my case, I even have bizarre problems such as cold water burns my lower legs.
But back to pain. I've always thought that the brain itself must have some mechanism that kicks in after a few weeks to repeat pain that may or may not have any organic cause left. Take a compressed neural exit for instance. In my case it might cause bladder and bowel failure (or that might be the spinal cord damage but at least some of the bladder problems is a neural exit problem) and it causes pain down my leg in areas that are totally undamaged. Why?
Never been a great fan of the gate theory of pain because it might describe how pain works to some extent but it certainly doesn't seem to provide a real model for what is going on.
Anyway, I am wondering if there are any new theories out there or anyone with some knowledge in this area would like to provide any explanations.
Regards
Richard
This is a query that only probably has relevance if you are studying medicine or the processes of brain function etc.
I suffer from chronic pain syndrome. Fancy name for terrible pain all the time often unrelated to the current clinical condition of the body part. In my case, I even have bizarre problems such as cold water burns my lower legs.
But back to pain. I've always thought that the brain itself must have some mechanism that kicks in after a few weeks to repeat pain that may or may not have any organic cause left. Take a compressed neural exit for instance. In my case it might cause bladder and bowel failure (or that might be the spinal cord damage but at least some of the bladder problems is a neural exit problem) and it causes pain down my leg in areas that are totally undamaged. Why?
Never been a great fan of the gate theory of pain because it might describe how pain works to some extent but it certainly doesn't seem to provide a real model for what is going on.
Anyway, I am wondering if there are any new theories out there or anyone with some knowledge in this area would like to provide any explanations.
Regards
Richard