Pain
09/06/16 05:37
The human body is an amazing creation. We are complex creatures with incredible abilities and amazing diversity. The fact that my brain can think of ideas, translate those concepts into words and then direct my fingers to manipulate a keyboard to write those words to post in the blog is very amazing if you analyze all of the components that have to work together to accomplish this task.
Since we are creatures of such complexity, it shouldn’t surprise us that there are many details of how we function that are not fully understood. Scientists have made great strides towards more fully understanding brain functions in recent years, but it is clear that there is much that is not yet understood.
Complex organs such as the brain and heart have electrical, chemical and mechanical components. Responding to one system can affect another. For example there are medicines which are chemical that can help regulate heart rate which is electrical.
A significant focus of medical research has been into controlling pain. For millennia humans didn’t have very sophisticated methods of dealing with pain. Physicians and surgeons tried to correct the cause of pain, but had few tools for alleviating that pain beyond the body’s natural processes. As recently as the American Civil War, surgeries were routinely performed without anesthetics and patients were forced to endure significant pain without much relief.
The human body, however, is fairly adept at dealing with pain without artificial pain killers. When trauma occurs, there is a natural response activating glands to secrete different chemicals that assist in dealing with the pain. Certain receptors in the brain mute the effects of pain and allow the brain to focus on immediate tasks of solving the problem. Accident victims routinely report that they were able to recognize and respond to injury without feeling unbearable pain. Human bodies produce endorphins that act as natural pain killers.
Pain, however, is necessary. It is a defense mechanism that enables us to stop destructive behavior and seek solutions. If we didn’t experience pain, we wouldn’t have the necessary information to refrain from damaging ourselves.
Pain, however, can be debilitating. This is especially true of chronic pain. There are certain conditions that may be the result of injury or normal deterioration of an aging body that result in pain that is nearly constant. Experiencing such chronic pain can cause the sufferer to focus attention solely on the pain and render that person unable to fully participate in life.
The development of opioid drugs for the treatment of pain has improved the quality of life for many people who suffer from pain. They are especially useful in the treatment of acute pain that results in relatively quick healing. These drugs, however, don’t provide relief for all sufferers. More importantly, they carry with them dangerous and potentially fatal side effects. Addiction to opioids is on the increase in America and abuse of the medicines is rampant in some communities.
What happens is the the brain responds to the pain medicine by increasing the number of receptors for the drug while nerve cells that report the pain cease functioning. The chemical stimulation in the brain causes it to lower the production of endorphins because it is receiving opiates instead. If the medication is continued, nerve cell degeneration continues and often accelerates causing a physical dependency on the drugs.
Most people who take opioids for more than a couple of weeks will experience a decrease in the effectiveness of the drug. This phenomenon, called tolerance, means that a patients need to increase dosage to feel the same effect. Increase the dosage and the dependency of the body on the medication increases. Chasing pain by using increasing dosages finally results in the medication becoming inadequate to deal with the pain while at the same time a physical addiction to the drug means that the sufferer cannot function without it.
It is a viscous cycle and a growing problem. More than 15,000 Americans die each year as the result of opioid overdose, a number that has tripled in the past decade.
Part of the problem is that the pills are so easily obtainable.
Physicians and dentists prescribe the medications because they genuinely want to reduce pain. Patients ask for the medicines because they are afraid of pain. It is common for physicians to overprescribe the medication and it is common for patients who have become addicted to engage in manipulative behavior including obtaining prescriptions from multiple providers, and even stealing medications from others.
To top off those problems the drugs produce a euphoria that is pleasant, especially for those who have not take the drugs previously. This euphoria also is subject to medicine tolerance so that it takes increasing amounts of medicine to produce the same effect for regular users. The recreational use of opioids is on the increase across the country. The effects of addiction are devastating to individuals, families and communities.
These drugs, which have a very useful application in medicine, have become dangerous to many people because of their abuse.
It all stems from our unwillingness to experience pain. A little pain from a dental procedure is not the end of the world, but dentists are afraid of even the most minor pain for their patients fearing that the patients will not return. Enduring a bit of arthritis pain can build endurance and character, but it doesn’t take much time in the pain killer section of a pharmacy or even a grocery store to know that huge amounts of marketing are invested in promising the alleviation of all kinds of pain.
Although over the counter pain medications work on different principles than opioids, the contribute to the problem by promising that people don’t need to experience any pain at all.
Pain has several useful functions in a meaningful life. Among other things, pain is a very effective teacher. Although education researchers have significant evidence that reward is even more effective than punishment, it remains that we can learn from pain. Pain imposed artificially from outside might not be a good practice, but learning to listen to our bodies and learn from our pain is a healthy practice. Overcoming fear of pain to engage more fully in living is a valuable spiritual discipline.
Fortunately, I have not experienced much pain in this life. But as I age, I notice a few more aches and pains. I pray that I will continue to learn from my pain before reaching for a pill to make it go away.
Since we are creatures of such complexity, it shouldn’t surprise us that there are many details of how we function that are not fully understood. Scientists have made great strides towards more fully understanding brain functions in recent years, but it is clear that there is much that is not yet understood.
Complex organs such as the brain and heart have electrical, chemical and mechanical components. Responding to one system can affect another. For example there are medicines which are chemical that can help regulate heart rate which is electrical.
A significant focus of medical research has been into controlling pain. For millennia humans didn’t have very sophisticated methods of dealing with pain. Physicians and surgeons tried to correct the cause of pain, but had few tools for alleviating that pain beyond the body’s natural processes. As recently as the American Civil War, surgeries were routinely performed without anesthetics and patients were forced to endure significant pain without much relief.
The human body, however, is fairly adept at dealing with pain without artificial pain killers. When trauma occurs, there is a natural response activating glands to secrete different chemicals that assist in dealing with the pain. Certain receptors in the brain mute the effects of pain and allow the brain to focus on immediate tasks of solving the problem. Accident victims routinely report that they were able to recognize and respond to injury without feeling unbearable pain. Human bodies produce endorphins that act as natural pain killers.
Pain, however, is necessary. It is a defense mechanism that enables us to stop destructive behavior and seek solutions. If we didn’t experience pain, we wouldn’t have the necessary information to refrain from damaging ourselves.
Pain, however, can be debilitating. This is especially true of chronic pain. There are certain conditions that may be the result of injury or normal deterioration of an aging body that result in pain that is nearly constant. Experiencing such chronic pain can cause the sufferer to focus attention solely on the pain and render that person unable to fully participate in life.
The development of opioid drugs for the treatment of pain has improved the quality of life for many people who suffer from pain. They are especially useful in the treatment of acute pain that results in relatively quick healing. These drugs, however, don’t provide relief for all sufferers. More importantly, they carry with them dangerous and potentially fatal side effects. Addiction to opioids is on the increase in America and abuse of the medicines is rampant in some communities.
What happens is the the brain responds to the pain medicine by increasing the number of receptors for the drug while nerve cells that report the pain cease functioning. The chemical stimulation in the brain causes it to lower the production of endorphins because it is receiving opiates instead. If the medication is continued, nerve cell degeneration continues and often accelerates causing a physical dependency on the drugs.
Most people who take opioids for more than a couple of weeks will experience a decrease in the effectiveness of the drug. This phenomenon, called tolerance, means that a patients need to increase dosage to feel the same effect. Increase the dosage and the dependency of the body on the medication increases. Chasing pain by using increasing dosages finally results in the medication becoming inadequate to deal with the pain while at the same time a physical addiction to the drug means that the sufferer cannot function without it.
It is a viscous cycle and a growing problem. More than 15,000 Americans die each year as the result of opioid overdose, a number that has tripled in the past decade.
Part of the problem is that the pills are so easily obtainable.
Physicians and dentists prescribe the medications because they genuinely want to reduce pain. Patients ask for the medicines because they are afraid of pain. It is common for physicians to overprescribe the medication and it is common for patients who have become addicted to engage in manipulative behavior including obtaining prescriptions from multiple providers, and even stealing medications from others.
To top off those problems the drugs produce a euphoria that is pleasant, especially for those who have not take the drugs previously. This euphoria also is subject to medicine tolerance so that it takes increasing amounts of medicine to produce the same effect for regular users. The recreational use of opioids is on the increase across the country. The effects of addiction are devastating to individuals, families and communities.
These drugs, which have a very useful application in medicine, have become dangerous to many people because of their abuse.
It all stems from our unwillingness to experience pain. A little pain from a dental procedure is not the end of the world, but dentists are afraid of even the most minor pain for their patients fearing that the patients will not return. Enduring a bit of arthritis pain can build endurance and character, but it doesn’t take much time in the pain killer section of a pharmacy or even a grocery store to know that huge amounts of marketing are invested in promising the alleviation of all kinds of pain.
Although over the counter pain medications work on different principles than opioids, the contribute to the problem by promising that people don’t need to experience any pain at all.
Pain has several useful functions in a meaningful life. Among other things, pain is a very effective teacher. Although education researchers have significant evidence that reward is even more effective than punishment, it remains that we can learn from pain. Pain imposed artificially from outside might not be a good practice, but learning to listen to our bodies and learn from our pain is a healthy practice. Overcoming fear of pain to engage more fully in living is a valuable spiritual discipline.
Fortunately, I have not experienced much pain in this life. But as I age, I notice a few more aches and pains. I pray that I will continue to learn from my pain before reaching for a pill to make it go away.