ADVERTISING: Advertorial — What’s causing my pain?
Dr. Wayne M. Fichter Jr.
Debilitating chronic pain is on the increase and if you do not know why you are in pain then it is difficult to know what to do or how to cope. At Natural Spine Solutions, we treat people with chronic pain every day and Dr. Fichter focuses on the underlying cause of the pain. When working with patients that have chronic pain, it is not always straightforward and can be a time consuming process to determine the main factors contributing to the issue. These underlying factors can include emotional, physical, and chemical trauma. It may be surprising to find out that one of the following triggers may be affecting your chronic pain.
No. 1: Pain medication. Pain medication interferes with you body’s response to pain and over time you may need to take more medication or need a more potent pain medication to alleviate chronic pain. In some individuals this can lead to increased sensitivity to pain in the long run. We has seen this with the current opioid epidemic. The Department of Health and Human Services reports that Opioid overdoses accounted for more than 42,000 deaths in 2016, more than any previous year on record. An estimated 40% of opioid deaths involved a prescription opioid. Some other consequences of continued use include addiction, liver damage, and brain damage due to hypoxia, nausea and vomiting.
No. 2: Emotional trauma. Doctors are beginning to realize that post-traumatic stress or abuse can manifest itself as chronic physical pain. A clear correlation is still unknown but one prevailing theory, is believed that emotional trauma, physical injury, or environmental toxins appear to stimulate microglia. Microglia are molecules that live in the central nervous system to create a continuous supply of inflammatory chemicals whenever they’re stressed. Your body’s response to this constant inflammation can manifest itself in two significant ways: chronic pain and psychological disorders like depression and anxiety.
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