Central Sensitization in many chronic pain conditions
Central sensitization is something I see in a lot of people with chronic health ailments and something we need to address for healing. According to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) the definition of central sensitization is ‘Increased responsiveness of nociceptive neurons in the central nervous system to their normal or subthreshold afferent input’. In simple terms, it’s an overreaction of pain or symptoms from normal or non threatening things. This could come from sound, touch, movement, smell, exercise, etc. Normal input creates abnormally large output because of an overreaction in the brain and nervous system. It is seen across a variety of chronic pain conditions. This review study linked sensitization with many types of pain.
‘Central sensitization appears to play a key role across many chronic pain conditions and contributes to the (1) transition process from acute to chronic pain, (2) amplification of pain in existing chronic pain conditions, and (3) promotion of the development of chronic post-operative pain.’
