‘Unexplained’ Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

Amanda Gomes

The longer you have pain, the more complex it becomes.  One in four people who experience an injury have pain that continues long after the injury is completely healed.  The pain can last long after the tissue damage is a distant memory.

Does this sound odd?  Have you had an injury where you were told that you are now extra sensitive or have ‘centralized’ pain?  Is your pain out of control?  Is it spreading to other areas like it has a mind of its own?  Is it starting to interfere with your job? Your life?

Pain Neuroscience is important to understand.  Research shows that unless you understand why the pain persists, you have a much smaller chance of ever recovering.  It’s important for you to understand what drives your pain and how you can successfully get rid of it.

You would benefit from Pain Neuroscience Education if:

  • Your pain has become chronic long past when the injury should be healed.
  • You have had multiple tests and investigations with your medical practitioner to try and find the cause of your pain and they all come back ‘normal’.
  • You avoid activity because of fear of provoking more pain (fear avoidance behavior).
  • You have tried several different treatment options, but they were unsuccessful at decreasing this pain, let alone get rid of it.
  • You are READY to change your pain behavior and start getting back to your regular activities.
  • Your pain increases when you are under emotional stress.
  • Your pain seems to interfere with your ability to focus or concentrate and it exhausts you.
  • The pain now seems to be spreading to other areas that were not painful with the initial injury.

You need to understand how it works in order to get rid of it.  This condition responds well to pain education combined with physiotherapy.

 

Adapted from MedBridge Course, Application of Pain Neuroscience Education by Adriaan Louw, PT, PhD