01/07/2022
When pain becomes prolonged, we often experience increased sensitivity to stimuli (touch, movement, temperature) which can even make normally non-painful activities or experiences painful.
The mechanisms by which these changes occur are varied and complex, but often lead to decreasing the threshold needed to generate nociceptive (pain-related) information. This means normal sensory info can get flagged as dangerous and elicit pain response, and the longer we are in pain, the more sensitive our nervous system can get. These changes include and increased size of sensory fields (ie. you initially just injured your elbow but not touching/moving your shoulder elicits pain response) and decreased pain modulation capacity.
If this sounds foreign to you, it might be time to brush up on your knowledge of how pain actually works. Week 2 of PPM dives into pain-related maladaptive changes, where they occur, and how they relate to the system at large (ie. whole person).
Looking to become confident and effective in the persistent pain space? Check out Persistent Pain Comprehensive Management with and .britt_lade. Next cohort: AUGUST 22ND, 2022 Head to ICEPHYSIO.com for details.
