Physical pain is an unavoidable part of life. A cut finger, a migraine headache, a stubbed toe; we’ve all felt the ache and discomfort associated with pain. Feeling even a minor wound the moment it occurs can play a critical role in protecting us against a more severe injury. However, most of us don’t realize that the hurt we instantly feel when we pull a muscle or scrape our knees is a highly complicated and immediate display of our bodies and minds working in perfect physical harmony.
Understanding The Pain Process: A Step-By-Step Breakdown
The perception of pain is a physiological function where the body relays negative stimulation from the site of impact through the central nervous system and ultimately to the brain for final administering. A basic breakdown of the pain development process includes:
Stimulus Contact
This is where the hurt or injury originates, registered by the microscopic receptors on your skin.
Reception and Transmission
Every pain receptor helps form our bodies’ nerve endings and is connected to our spinal cords by elongated nerve fibers or axons. After a receptor has been activated (made aware of the stimuli), it conveys the pain signal through the axon to our spinal cord, typically engaging multiple neurons as it transmits the stimuli from the central nervous system to the brain.
Brain Processing
Once the stimuli reach the brain, they are passed to the thalamus. Once sorted, it is relayed to the appropriate part of the brain for processing. Pain signals may be sent to:
- Limbic System (emotional response)
- Somatosensory Cortex (physical stimulation)
- Frontal Cortex (intelligence reaction)
Does this seem like an extremely sophisticated and complex sequence of events? It is. Our brains can identify, receive, and transmit pain in mere fractions of a second. Thus instantly alerting our bodies of potential dangers so we can alter our course of action and keep ourselves safe.
The Mind’s Role In How We Interpret Pain
Of course, not everyone experiences it in the same way; our brains identify our hurts and injuries and process several factors that play a role in our individual “pain thresholds.” Some key cognitive components that may influence our pain levels can include our current emotional and mental well-being, memories of previous injuries, expectations of pending discomfort, as well as our beliefs and values. Our brains interpret these factors along with the external stimuli for a personalized final pain experience that can differ from one person to the next.
Are you suffering from chronic pain? Chiropractic neurology can help. Contact us to schedule a consultation with one of our experienced physicians today.