Chronic Pain Management and Neuroplasticity

A surprising consequence of neuroplasticity is that the brain activity associated with a given function can move to a different location as a consequence of normal experience or brain damage/recovery. In the case of chronic pain this can mean that pain signals keep occurring despite lack of a trigger or tissue damage.

According to research published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2001) titled Spinal Cord Neuroplasticity following Repeated Opioid Exposure and Its Relation to Pathological Pain; convincing evidence has accumulated that indicates there are neuroplastic changes within the spinal cord in response to repeated exposure to opioids. Such neuroplastic changes occur at both cellular and intracellular levels.

Unfortunately, most pain conditions in this country are treated with opiates—some research shows as high as 90 percent of people undergoing pain management are prescribed opiates. With so many people living with chronic pain and using opiates, these neuroplastic changes need to be better understood.

I like to use simple language and metaphors or visual images when educating my patients. Many people may not understand the term Neuroplasticity so I use the metaphor of the hijacked brain. I tell them the reality of neuroplasticity science is much more complex, but in essence what happens is that the brain forms pathways (called neuro-networks) that eventually become super highways—in other words the new neuro-network becomes more complex and elaborate. Another major problem is the deeper the trance goes the less obvious it becomes. In fact, our inner saboteur (AKA denial) often surfaces at this point and our problem can get even worse.

To learn more about neuroplasticity please go to our 2008 News and Research Archive and scroll down to the posting The Role of Neuroplasticity in Chronic Pain Management that you can download for free.

To learn about the inner saboteur and chronic pain management please check out my article From Denial to Effective Chronic Pain Management that you can download for free on our Article page.

You can learn more about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website http://www.addiction-free.com/ If you are working with people in chronic pain or if you are someone living with chronic pain and think you may have any resistance or denial and want to learn how to develop a plan for identifying and managing denial please go to our Publications page and check out my book the Denial Management Counseling for Effective Pain Management Workbook. To purchase this book please Click Here.

To learn more about my upcoming trainings check out our Training News Update by Clicking Here. You can also go to our Training Calendar to sign up for any or all of these great training opportunities.

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