RESISTANCE TO SCIENCE IS FUTILE

Science marches on, with or without the non-believers.

But there are still a few hold outs. And, I guess this is to be expected – at least until a way to make pain visible is developed.

The literature on long-term or chronic pain is truly voluminous. Only the truly unread would dispute this. And, everyday there are new findings which help us understand just how pain works in our bodies and brains.

What we have learned about these inner workings will be discussed in many posts to come. Here is a teaser.

We now know that pain signals from our injured body are processed in several parts of our brain and spinal cord. These intricate parts are all interconnected and work together as a pain neuromatrix – a term coined by Professor Ronald Melzack, a giant in the  field of pain research.

There is nothing imaginary or psychogenic about chronic pain or how it works. Professors Dennis Turk and Ronald Melzack, in their classic work,  Handbook of Pain Assessment (1992, 2001, 2010) make this exact point:

“The search for a ‘pain-prone personality’ and for ‘psychogenic pain’ has proven to be futile”.

This was said a little more dramatically, in a heavy ominous voice, by The Borg:

                           “Resistance is futile” (Star Trek:The next generation).

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Mike