Pain modulation Flashcards
Duality of pain
- Physiological experience
- Psychological experience
Function of pain
- warning for withdrawl
- alerts that something is wrong
- protective function ( spasm)
Goals of pain treatment
- To resolve the underlying pathology causing pain
- to modify the patient’s perception of pain so as to allow them to participate in other PT interventions
- to allow the pt to maximize their functional abilities
categories of pain nociceptive: Somatic
Activation of nociceptors found in most body tissue
- respond to mechanical and chemical stimuli
- found in integument, arthromusculoskeltal systems
- caused by injury, disease, or surgical intervention
- often referred to as normal pain
- often treated with EPAs
categories of pain nociceptive: Visceral
Activation of nociceptors found in viscera
- Referred
- diffuse and poorly localized
- specificity: not all visera are sensitive to pain
- EPAs not effective
categories of pain neuropathic: Peripheral pain
disease associated with peripheral nerves
-often treated with EPAs
categories of pain neuropathic: Central pain
due to pathological functioning of the CNS
- often delayed as in stroke, MS, Parkinson’s
- Seldom treated with EPAs
categories of pain psychogenic
- originates from nonorganic sources
- associated with emotional, cognitive, and behavioral responses
- Not treated with EPAs
categories of pain carcinogenic
- Caused by cancerous pathology
- severe
- EPAs not effective
Types of pain
- Acute
- Chronic
- Referred
- Radicular
Acute pain
- time limited
- mediated through rapidly conducting pathways
- associated with increased sympathetic nervous system activity
- intensity: related to extent of tissue damage
- location- well localized and defined
- duration- as long as noxious stimulus persists
- serves as protective function
- may impair function
Acute pain treatment aimed to:
- Facilitate resolution of underlying disorder
- reduce inflammation
- modify the transmission of pain from periphery to CNS
Chronic pain
- duration: several months to years
- symptoms: similar to original symptoms
- history of many treatment failures
- history of many medications tried
- continued use of analgesics and tranquilizers despite no long term effects
- intensity: unbearable or incapacitating
- often seeking the “right treatment” to cure pain
- result
Chronic pain psychosocial changes
- Depression
- Disturbed sleep
- Altered moods
- weight changes
- decreased energy
- decreased physical, social, and recreational activities
- increased family stresses
- increased economic difficulties
Chronic pain psychosocial results from
changes in sympathetic NS, adrenal activity, reduced production of endogenous opioids, or sensitization of primary afferents
- increased sensitivity to both noxious (hyperalgesia) and non-noxious (allodynia) stimuli
- wind-up or central hypersensitization
Referred pain
Pain felt at a location distant from its source
-from a nerve to its area of innervation
- from one area to another derived from the same dermatome
- from one area to another derived from the same embrionic segment
Peripheral nerve pathways from different areas converge on the same area of the spinal cord
-synapse with the same second order neurons to ascent to the cerebral cortex
Referred Pain example
Pain is referred from the diaphragm to the tip of the shoulder-both areas initially develop in the neck region during embyological development
- both have efferent innervation from phrenic nerve
- both have afferent innervation to the second & fourth level of C-spine
Pain of visceral or musculoskeletal origin converging on sam neuron in spinal cord
- usually interpreted as musculoskeletal
- musculoskeletal more common thus brain learns that stimulus along this pathway is more likely to be musculoskeletal and distributed to musculoskeletal area
Radicular pain
- Originating from an irritated nerve root
- follows dermatomal reference
Danger alarm system
- Transduction-Danger receptors
- peripheral transmission
- modulation
- central transmission
- perception
- pain control theories
Transduction
Sensors-danger receptors
- in walls and at ends of neurons
- convey info to spinal cord
- can be specialized
- mechanical
- chemical
- temperature
Superficial peripheral sensory receptors
- Mechano
- Thermo
- Noci
Mechano receptors
- Meissner’s corpuscles-Pressure and touch
- Pacinian corpuscles- Pressure and touch
- merkle cells- skin, stretch, & pressure
- Ruffini endings- skin, stretch, & pressure
Thermoreceptors
- Cold receptors
- Hot receptors
- **Temperature and temperature change