Chronic Pain and The Brain
In our last post we shared that information from the body does not always produce pain. Pain is just a sensation until certain structures of the brain work together and become active. It is the brain that decides which sensations are pain and which are not.
Here is a little on the parts of the brain that create the structures and systems of pain:
The Thalamus - Located in the centre of the brain it acts as a relay centre that sends information to other parts of the brain. Primary and Secondary Sensory Cortices - Tells the brain where we are feeling the sensation and how that sensation feels. Anterior Cingulate Cortex - Lays between the two hemispheres of the brain and creates our emotional response to sensations and events. Insula - Monitors and evaluates the body's overall health and wellbeing. It becomes active if and when the brain perceives that something is physically wrong. Prefrontal Cortex - Processes memories about pain, the conclusions we make about the meaning of pain in our lives, and the decisions we make about how to cope with pain. Using this information, we can use hypnotherapy for chronic pain to interrupt the messages in different parts of the brain. As I mentioned in an earlier post there is a little trial and error to begin with to uncover each individuals’ specific needs (there are also more factors than just how the brain works, but we will get to that a little later.)
If you would like a little handout I have put together on hypnotherapy for chronic pain shoot me a message and I will send it through. Any questions, send them through too!
