Thread by @painphysio

You won’t find the cause of your pain on a scan or a x-ray.

🤔

Cont…

#thepaincoach #pain

Firstly, you cannot see pain on a scan or in the person. There is nothing to see.

👇

And just in case you are thinking brain patterns, you are seeing a brain pattern not pain. Those coloured pictures in studies are also created to show certain things that the authors want you to see, so read the method carefully…

👇

What if you see an actual injury, pathology or inflammation? Surely that’s the cause? Not so fast…

👇

For there to be a pain experience, the brain has to predict that pain is the best explanation for what is going on, based on prior experiences. There is also a weighing up: priors and context—which seems most trustworthy?

👇

It is entirely possible to have pathology and inflammation and injury without pain.

So we need a way of understanding all circumstances.

👇

The biomedical model cannot do this, which is why a negative test is assumed to mean that all is well. It isn’t. It leaves the person still wondering why they hurt.

👇

This is not to ignore tissue state or pathology because they may well need to be addressed—create the conditions for healing, particular treatment etc.

👇

But we must see and understand the bigger picture in order to make sense of the person’s lived experience—person first.

👇

Pain is shaped by past experiences, beliefs (about pain), mood, emotions, context, expectations, attention and more.

This is why pain and pathology/tissue state are poorly related.

👇

To believe that they are often takes people down a wrong and fearful path.

👇

We must change the way society thinks about pain. The out-dated messages still predominate. While they do, suffering continues.

This is not necessary. We can understand pain to unlock the door and shape a positive future.

#thepaincoach #pain

richmondstace.com

#unroll @threadreaderapp