Rewiring the Brain to Ease Pain

Millions of adults struggle with pain addressed in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal (11-15-2011). Areas of the brain that can be addressed to relieve pain.  The anterior cingulate cortex registers the emotions of pain, the unpleasant feelings and people who are highly sensitive to pain have greater activity there.  Somatosensory Cortex registers the sensation of pain and there is less activity here when people focus attention away from their pain.  Prefrontal cortex processes pain as a rational problem and plans action.  This area becomes active when one is consciously trying to reduce pain.  Medial prefrontal gyrus focuses on the negative personal implications of pain and there is a heightened activity in this area when anxiety is present.  Right lateral orbitofrontal cortex is the brain area that evaluated sensory stimuli and decides upon a response particularly if fear is involved.  This area can be calmed down with mindfulness meditation.  Therapeutic approaches can reduce pain.  44 percent decreased pain by focusing on something else.  40 percent decreased pain using mindfulness mediation.  30 percent reduced pain after receiving cognitive behavioral therapy.   There is a growing recognition that drugs are only part of the solution to the problem of chronic pain and the search is to reduce pain naturally without the complications of drugs that tend to become less effective over time.  Think about the times that you have ignored or been unaware of your pain when there is a more traumatic event going on or something else more important that you are focused on at the time.  The task becomes that of ignoring our pain which we have been taught to pay attention to as a means of identifying and treating a problem.  Those in chronic pain need to find the methods to ignore the constant pain that plagues their life and over time encompasses their life which only increases their sensitivity.  This can be done through various methods.