Is your stress showing up as back pain? When you feel a twinge of pain in your back, you probably attribute the source to “overdoing it”. What you might be overdoing is the stress you’re living with. Is your stress showing up as back pain? Stress changes the way the body works. Stress can trigger…
Nerve Sensitization Symptom Evaluator Author: Shana L Johnson MD, AskDrShana Signs that pain is related to nerve sensitization (nociplastic pain) includes long-standing symptoms symptoms (> 3 months), spread of symptoms beyond the boundary of the injury area, marked increased sensitivity to painful stimuli, and non-pain symptoms that cause system-wide symptoms like severe fatigue, disrupted…
Author: Shana L Johnson MD, AskDrShana There are multiple classes of medications that lower the reactivity and pain signals from nerves. Many of the medications were developed for other medical conditions but were found to reduce nerve pain. I refer to them as “neuropathic agents” since they lower reactivity and pain signaling from the nerves.…
Author: Shana L Johnson MD, AskDrShana Nerves gone rogue! How stress sparks extreme pain Imagine suffering from constant headaches, debilitating back pain, or embarrasing digestive symptoms but being told nothing is wrong. Your told your medical tests are mostly normal. This discrepancy between pain and pathology can be explained by nerve sensitization.…
Mechanical low back pain is back pain coming from the bones and muscles of the spine. It is very common and increases in frequency with age. Many people start experiencing back pain in their 30’s and 40’s. Fortunately, exercise helps most people with back pain feel better. More specifically, functional exercise that includes core strengthening…
Central sensitization is a phenomenon that complicates chronic pain. It represents a change in the nervous system that is associated with the development and maintenance of pain. The change results in a persistent state of high reactivity and a lowered threshold for feeling pain. For example, in one study, a person with central sensitization…
Lower back pain arises from multiple areas in the back. Whiles many are familiar with back pain from injured discs, pain may also arise from small joints in the back called the facet joints. Facet joint pain is a cause of lower back pain that is frequently overlooked.
A disc herniation in the back is a common cause of lower back pain and pinched nerves. The pain often shoots down the leg and into the toes. The pain is from both nerve compression and inflammation. The symptoms are commonly described as painful numbness and tingling, as well as burning shooting down the…
Lower back pain is very common and increases in frequency with age. Many people start experiencing back pain in their 30’s and 40’s. Fortunately, exercise helps most people with back pain feel better. More specifically, functional exercise that includes core strengthening and stretching gets people back to the activities they enjoy.
Chronic pain is different from the pain after a new injury for many reasons. Inflammation is no longer the predominant cause of the discomfort. Treatment with opioid pain medications is also less effective because it fails to treat the other contributing factors. Additionally, opioid pain medications carry addiction risks. Their prescribed use contributed to an…
Lower Back Pain from Spinal Stenosis A common cause of lower back pain in older adults is spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is commonly caused by arthritis changes in the spine. Arthritis causes narrowing of the spinal canal. If the spinal canal becomes too narrow the nerves are compressed which results in pain. Then, a unique…
