I know a few people with chronic pain in their knees and back. They manage with Physical Therapy and medications but cannot fully get rid of it. I also know people who have dampened/damaged receptors and cannot feel hot and cold which is also a problem when it comes to touching a turned-on stove. Like the video mentioned when we would pull away before we thought about it from the hot stove they do not and can cause more pain to their hand.
There are a lot of ways people try to manage their pain in today’s society and not all of them are healthy ways of doing so. Some decide to self-medicate with illegal substances while others pick up smoking, drinking, and even eating to cope with chronic pain. This is because all of these things give instant gratification to the body and work short term to make you feel better. They do not however make you feel better long term and can actually make you feel worse because they continue to feed the body toxins and can act as barriers to actually facing the problem and working on resolving it. There are also plenty of ways to healthily cope with chronic pain. One of these ways is to accept that “hurt does not equal harm” which is what I hear a lot during my internship at a Physical Therapy clinic. This means that this chronic pain doesn’t mean there is damage to the body and to change your psychological perception of your pain. Another way is to keep moving because a natural reaction to pain is to cease moving to protect your body from further injury and in the case for chronic pain can increase your pain. Finally, calming the body down is a big way to reduce pain. Pain is the body’s fight or flight response to a stressor and calming these nerves will reduce your pain.
The Scripps Research tell us that the NOP-coding genes are the genes targeted for gene therapy in the amygdala. They also say that drugs like morphine can inhibit pain in the amygdala since the NOP receptors do not bind with opioids.
I do think that psychological factors play a huge role in pain perception. While I do believe that there is a baseline of pain, it can be elevated or lowered based on psychological factors. Someone’s perception of pain as equivalent to damage to their body can feel elevated pain in order for themselves to subconsciously feel protected. On the flip side, there are those that become numb to pain and do damage to their body because they can’t feel that pain. Pain is important but it is important for that pain to be balanced.
Myers, ByWyatt, et al. “The Best and Worst Ways to Cope With Pain - Pain Management Center - Everyday Health.” EverydayHealth.com, 29 June 2012, www.everydayhealth.com/pain-management/the-best-and-worst-ways-to-cope-with-pain.aspx.Jones, Ted. “The 5 Coping Skills Every Chronic Pain Patient Needs.” Practical Pain Management, www.practicalpainmanagement.com/treatments/complementary/biobehavioral/5-coping-skills-every-chronic-pain-patient-needs.
“Nociceptin: Nature's Balm for the Stressed Brain.” Nociceptin: Nature's Balm for the Stressed Brain | Scripps Research, www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2014/20140108roberto.html.