Institute
for the Study and Treatment of Pain - Many people with chronic pain become
frustrated when medical examinations show no apparent cause. Their doctors
prescribe medication, physical therapy, massage, even surgery -- all without
lasting results. This is because medical diagnosis traditionally presumes
that pain is the result of tissue injury, conveyed to the central nervous system
by healthy nerves.
1) Pain caused by ongoing injury to tissue, such as an
unhealed fracture, or ongoing inflammation, such as rheumatoid
arthritis. This is usually treated with surgery or anti-inflammatory
drugs.
2) Psychogenic disorders such as severe depression.
These are treated by medications and counseling.
3) Neuropathic or Radiculopathic Pain, a large
category of persistent pain which typically occurs with no obvious
cause. This puzzling type usually comes from a malfunction in the peripheral
nervous system, with various manifestations: low back pain, tennis elbow,
repetitive strain injury, whiplash, frozen shoulder, fibromyalgia, and
others.
4) This is the kind of pain we target at iSTOP. Dr. C. Chan
Gunn. with I.M.S.
Neuropathic pain cannot be "cut out" by surgery; medications only
mask it temporarily. The painful part must be desensitized by relieving
irritation at its source -- typically at the nerve root.
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