New Study Predicts Who Will Develop Chronic Pain

Maybe poor posture, uncomfortable seating at your job, or repetitive back movement has exacerbated back pain throughout your life. Maybe you sustained an injury from a car accident or fall. Whatever the situation is, back pain affects 80 percent of the American population and is one of the most common reasons for missed work. New research from Northwestern University reported that brain abnormalities could “predispose people to develop chronic pain.”

At Southwest Spine and Pain Center, our physicians are committed to finding the root cause of your pain. We don’t just hand out prescriptions in hopes that patient’s will find relief; we stick with patients throughout their entire journey to managing pain and getting their lives back. Our four convenient facilities are scattered across Utah, to provide better access to suffering pain patients.

The Northwestern Medicine® research team’s new findings could vastly change the way pain specialists diagnose and treat chronic pain. Senior author of the study and professor of physiology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, A. Vania Apkarian, says the researchers discovered that irregularities in the brain actually trigger pain. They actually “push someone to develop chronic pain” after an injury, Apkarian adds.

The researchers assessed MRI scans of people who recently sustained a back injury and with 85 percent accuracy, know which participants’ pain would continue. By identifying an axon irregularity in the brain, scientists could identify which pathways in the brain were manipulated after a person sustains a back injury.

Not everyone has abnormalities in the axons of their brains, but Apkarian points out that, “The brain abnormalities exist in the general population, but only those people with a back injury go on to develop the chronic pain.”

Chronic pain is becoming one of America’s heaviest societal burdens, and research like this could vastly alter and improve treatment. To learn more about the study, please visit http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2013/09/predicting-who-will-have-chronic-pain.html. Contact Southwest Spine and Pain Center if you or someone you know suffers from persistent back pain today!

If chronic pain is impacting your life, don't wait to schedule an appointment at Southwest Spine and Pain Center. With three locations and growing, the pain management specialists at Southwest Spine and Pain Center are dedicated to helping those who suffer from chronic pain live the life they want to! To schedule an appointment, visit our locations tab!

The advice and information contained in this article is for educational purposes only, and is not intended to replace or counter a physician’s advice or judgment. Please always consult your physician before taking any advice learned here or in any other educational medical material.

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