Chronic Pain and Brain Injuries

Brain injuries, according to some studies, appear to have a correlation to chronic pain. In most cases it is related to headaches but it can also be related to other injured areas as well. Most physicians agree that chronic and acute pain is a further complication of traumatic brain injuries and is difficult to deal with.

According to the Mayo Clinic, your brain sends messages that influence your perception of pain. It's believed that how our pain is tolerated depends upon our emotional and psychological states, what our past pain experiences have been, what our childhood pain memories and experiences were, and our expectations of the pain we will have. Also, quite simply some people experience pain to a greater degree than others do.

According to research, there may be some influence in how we tolerate pain if we were raised to be brave when confronted with pain or other difficulties versus if we were catered to for the slightest discomfort. Fear and anxiety can also increase the intensity of the pain we feel.

Although headaches are quite often the main cause of chronic pain in cases where there has been a traumatic brain injury, but there are often other severe injuries as well that can cause prolonged and severe pain.

Chronic pain can be a result of nerve damage resulting from an accident but in some cases there may be no evidence of anything that doctors can link pain to and the pain will still be felt long after the injury has healed.

Malingering may also be considered as a possibility in instances where there is the incentive of financial remuneration where there is a lawsuit pending. Most doctors, however, believe that when a patient says they are in pain, they must be feeling pain and are not exaggerating the degree of pain they feel.

There is also a theory that chronic pain could be a symptom of a neurotic personality type who hopes to acquire nurturing through chronic pain complaints so as to receive more attention and sympathy from family and friends. Those with neurotic tendencies tend to be dissatisfied with their lives in general and will often complain to others. People who are survivors of a traumatic brain injury quite often are not happy with their lives, the changes in themselves or with their limitations. This may possibly cause them to focus more on their pain level than otherwise may be the case if they were leading a more active and contented lifestyle.

Unfortunately, there is very little understanding of chronic pain and there are a variety of theories as to its causes. As a result, little seems to be able to be done about it.