{"id":950,"date":"2017-11-17T14:38:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-17T14:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/?p=950"},"modified":"2023-09-19T15:09:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T15:09:28","slug":"how-brain-injuries-can-lead-to-chronic-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/how-brain-injuries-can-lead-to-chronic-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"How Brain Injuries Can Lead To Chronic Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/practice.patientpop.com\/blog\/traumatic-brain-injury-linked-to-increased-dementia-risk-in-seniors\">Traumatic brain injuries<\/a>&nbsp;can cause neurological issues like dizziness, confusion and memory loss, but new research into the inner-workings of TBIs revealed that they can also lead to the onset of chronic pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to statistics, roughly 1.5 million Americans experience a traumatic brain injury each year. While more than three-quarters of these cases are considered mild and result in relatively quick symptom resolution, researchers discovered that chronic pain in other areas of the body can develop as a result of the original head injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAccumulating evidence suggests that chronic pain is common after TBI,\u201d said Dr. Karen-Amanda Irvine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Link Between TBI and Chronic Pain<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>For their study, researchers reviewed a number of studies involving combat veterans and civilians who suffered a TBI. Researchers uncovered that more than 50 percent of civilians and 43 percent of combat veterans suffered from some sort of chronic pain&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/practice.patientpop.com\/blog\/5-brain-functions-impacted-by-traumatic-brain-injuries\">after their TBI<\/a>. The most common areas of pain were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chronic back pain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Shoulder pain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Neck pain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Extremity pain<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Migraine headaches<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe most common sites of pain [other than the head] are the neck, back, shoulders, and extremities, and TBI-associated pain has been characterized as primarily musculoskeletal,\u201d said Dr. Irvine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So why does chronic pain tend to develop after a traumatic head injury? According to Dr. Irvine, it has to do with a disruption in the neural pathways that send pain sensory signals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBoth clinical investigations and animal studies have suggested that dysfunction in the brain and spinal cord contribute to chronic pain after TBI,\u201d said Dr Irvine. \u201cSpecifically, descending neural connections&nbsp;from the brain to the spinal cord, which normally inhibit pain circuits, become dysfunctional after TBI and contribute to pain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Preventing Chronic Pain After A TBI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>However, now that we\u2019re more aware of this link, we can help prevent the onset of chronic pain after a TBI by taking a few steps after a head injury. Researchers noted that the best way to reduce the likelihood of chronic pain after a TBI is to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Get an early diagnosis of your TBI<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Undergo pain management and psychological distress counseling<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Educate yourself about expectations and pain management<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Have routine follow up appointments with a neurologist<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers also believe that doctors and neurologists need to take a more individualized approach to treating TBIs, because what works for one person may not work for the next. They also say multi-disciplinary approaches that combine TBI care and chronic pain management may work best for individuals with more severe head injuries, as they may be more likely to develop a chronic condition resulting from their head injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if you\u2019ve suffered a head injury, make sure you have a doctor take a closer look. If you ignore it, there\u2019s a chance that you may have to deal with lingering pain for months to come. If you\u2019re concerned about a head injury, reach out to Dr. Chang\u2019s office today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Traumatic brain injuries&nbsp;can cause neurological issues like dizziness, confusion and memory loss, but new research into the inner-workings of TBIs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":954,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/950\/revisions\/954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidchangspine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}