Think You Know Pain? Think Again.

If you live with chronic pain, you’ve probably become something of an expert on the subject. You know about your pain; what activities cause or exacerbate it, what times of day or night to most expect it, what not to do to amplify your pain condition and what methods help to relieve your discomforts.

But because pain is subjective, no one else can know your pain the way you do, and in turn, you can’t possibly know what someone else’s suffering feels like. Everyone experiences pain in different ways, and each individual has their own unique threshold for what they consider to be unbearable or excruciating. Varying factors such as age, gender, mental or emotional state can have significant impact on how a perceives the level of their pain.

While no one can put a definitive label on how different types of pain are experienced as a whole, what is certain is the science of how the human body recognizes and reacts to injury and discomfort.

How Pain Works

Many people believe that pain is simply the body’s way of letting your brain know that some part of you has been injured in some way. And it is true that this ‘warning system’ serves the human body well in alerting you to something wrong. But there’s even more going on behind the scenes…

Here’s a brief overview of what happens in the split seconds when an injury to the body is interpreted as pain in the brain:

1. The body sustains an injury such as a cut, bruise, burn, puncture or fracture.
2. Nerve endings in the body sense the injury.
3. The nerves send a signal of the injury to the central nervous system, which transmits the signal(s) to the brain.
4. The brain receives the signal and reacts with pain symptoms.

Of course, this is an over-simplified version of the intricate process that takes place in the human body when injury and pain are present. But it helps explain why each individual feels pain differently; because the human body is unique to each person, it only makes sense that the way pain is received, transmitted and interpreted would also vary greatly.

That said, even your own level of pain can not always be considered a reliable indicator as to the presence or extent of your injury or physical condition. Certain variables may cause symptoms to be masked; numbness in the affected injury area, for instance, or a rush of adrenaline in the moment, or any number of other factors that can play into how much — and when — a person perceives pain symptoms.

Are You Suffering from Your Own Unique Kind of Chronic Pain?

At Florida Pain Relief Centers, we understand that you are unique, and so is your pain. Our board-certified pain physicians are dedicated to diagnosing and treating every single patient as an individual with an exclusive pain condition, to find the best treatment option for reducing or eliminating your specific kind of pain.

If you are tired of living with chronic pain and want more information on options for minimizing your suffering to restore your quality of life, contact Florida Pain Relief Centers today at 800.215.0029 or visit www.yourpainreliefcenters.com to set up a consultation at one of our clinics.