Dr. Danan weighs in on study suggesting possible future treatments for chronic pain in connection to your brain.
Article Links: Chronic back pain: Can you train your mind to relieve pain? (medicalnewstoday.com)
- About 20% of people around the world live with chronic pain. One of the most common types of chronic pain is chronic back pain.
- Previous research shows behavioral modification techniques like meditation and cognitive behavioral therapy are helpful treatment options for this condition.
- Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus provide new evidence supporting the effectiveness of brain-based treatments for chronic back pain.
Chronic pain can occur in any part of the body. One of the most common types of this condition is chronic back pain.
A recent study by researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus provides new evidence supporting the effectiveness of brain-based treatments for chronic back pain.
What’s the connection between the brain and chronic pain?
MNT also spoke with Dr. Ilan Danan, a sports neurologist and pain management specialist at the Center for Sports Neurology and Pain Medicine at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles, CA, about this study.
“I’ve been a firm believer in looking at indirect ways in which to address pain beyond just direct treatments, medications, injections, and such,” Dr. Danan explained.
“And the concept behind the connections between the brain and how one perceives and interprets pain has been studied on several occasions. And this study, I think, just further confirms how we can address what we interpret as centrally mediated pain Trusted Source.”
“I think the more word gets out about ways in which we can address chronic pain, beyond medications and interventions, I think the more buy-in we’ll get from our patient base. That can be the difficult and challenging issue at times is patient buy-in (to) this concept. But the overwhelming majority of patients that do elect to buy into this belief do find tremendous benefit.”
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