Shockwave Therapy Could Offer New Hope for Chronic Pain Sufferers
Title of Study: A neural model for chronic pain and pain relief by extracorporeal shock wave treatment
Author: Othmar J. Wess
Chronic pain, a persistent and debilitating condition, is often a result of a pathological control function of memory. This is because the nervous system can form memory traces of painful stimuli, resulting in a vicious cycle of pain and muscle or vessel contraction.
However, a recent study proposes that extracorporeal shockwave therapy may provide a solution to this problem. The study suggests that shockwave therapy can help reorganize the pathological memory traces, providing real and permanent pain relief.
The concept is based on the idea of associative memory functions of the nervous system. This means that conditioned reflexes can link the sensory input of afferent signals with motor responses of efferent signals. Some of these reflexes may lead to inappropriate or pathological reactions, resulting in chronic pain.
The study explains that shockwave therapy can reorganize these memory traces, breaking the pain spiral and offering real and permanent pain relief. The concept could also lead to new treatments for other disorders of the nervous system.
Overall, this study provides new insights into the underlying causes of chronic pain and offers hope for those suffering from this condition. Shockwave therapy could potentially offer a new treatment approach that targets the root cause of chronic pain, rather than simply treating the symptoms.