Ask Dr. Nick
On today’s episode, Dr. Nick talks about pain and the purpose to alert the brain of possible danger. Pain is a biopsychosocial experience in which it involves the physical nature and maybe location of pain but also incorporates the mental, emotional, and social realms in dealing with the pain. One cannot have pain without the brain! Normally, the pain process starts at the receptor site and the signal of damage travels up a nerve to the spinal cord. From the spinal cord, the signal needs to travel through the brainstem to get to the cortex in order to experience pain. However, people can experience emotional pain when a loved one passes away. This emotional pain can lead to physical pain in the body, which means that the root of the pain is not in the body but in the brain. It is important to identify the root cause of pain in order to treat it well and prevent the progression to chronic pain. Check out the video for more in depth information on pain processing and how cognition and emotion can affect the pain experience!
Reference: Bushnell MC, Ceko M, Low LA. Cognitive and emotional control of pain and its disruption in chronic pain. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2013;14(7):502-511.
