In the US, about 50 million people have some form of chronic pain, yet there is little known about how and why we feel pain. (Although the revelation that chronic pain may be caused by healthy nerves, not damaged ones as previously though, may change that.)
FOX News examines chronic pain in The Pain Truth: How and Why We Hurt. From describing how little is known about pain to the complexity of it to ways to treat it, the article teaches the basics of pain.
According to FOX, researchers at the Mayo Clinic say “chronic pain, which might result from inflammation, can be amplified and distorted like music turned up beyond a speaker’s capability, causing pain out of proportion to the source.”
Fox had a pretty good article – we should know more. You would think that something as widespread as pain, and the numbers of people with chronic pain, would have led to a lot more research by now.
And when you think a that it may be healthy nerves that contribute, well, it’s mind boggling!
*********
You’re right. It’s only in recent years that chronic pain has been considered “real” enough to warrant a lot of research. Maybe the Decade of Pain Control and Research will be fruitful.
For more info, see http://www.ampainsoc.org/decadeofpain/
K