Essay On Central Sensitisation
Central Sensitisation Syndromes
Central sensitisation is a term that is being used more frequently across all medical professions, osteopaths, physio’s, psychotherapists and consultants alike but was first coined by the neuroscientist Clifford Woolf in 1983. CS, as I will call it for the rest of this blog, is linked with disproportionate musculoskeletal and other kinds of pain and more specifically is thought to be a discrepancy between the pain the patient is experiencing and whatever is causing it. Central is referring to the brain and the spinal cord, our processing centres, anything outside of this is our periphery.
In normal circumstances if the tissue is sufficiently irritated, often inflammation, the brain will be interested by that impulse and interpret it as some kind of pain. …show more content…
Sometimes this ‘dampening down’ doesn’t occur and CS stays switched on even tho’ the tissues have had time enough to heal, this causes altered representations of our tissues in the brain. Which can lead to chronic injury and/or over sensitivity of the tissues, know as ‘late phase CS’ by Woolf.
There are numerous reasons why this may happen in some people and not others but it is more recently thought ho be due to psychological factors. such as excessive worrying, fear of movement with ie low back pain, memory of previous injury or memory of previous unsuccessful treatment. It is know that excessive anxiety can suppress our immune system and this will in-turn reduce our ability to heal. CS and musculoskeletal pain can also occur without any physical injury, triggered by psychological disorders, stress or a viral
Central sensitisation is a term that is being used more frequently across all medical professions, osteopaths, physio’s, psychotherapists and consultants alike but was first coined by the neuroscientist Clifford Woolf in 1983. CS, as I will call it for the rest of this blog, is linked with disproportionate musculoskeletal and other kinds of pain and more specifically is thought to be a discrepancy between the pain the patient is experiencing and whatever is causing it. Central is referring to the brain and the spinal cord, our processing centres, anything outside of this is our periphery.
In normal circumstances if the tissue is sufficiently irritated, often inflammation, the brain will be interested by that impulse and interpret it as some kind of pain. …show more content…
Sometimes this ‘dampening down’ doesn’t occur and CS stays switched on even tho’ the tissues have had time enough to heal, this causes altered representations of our tissues in the brain. Which can lead to chronic injury and/or over sensitivity of the tissues, know as ‘late phase CS’ by Woolf.
There are numerous reasons why this may happen in some people and not others but it is more recently thought ho be due to psychological factors. such as excessive worrying, fear of movement with ie low back pain, memory of previous injury or memory of previous unsuccessful treatment. It is know that excessive anxiety can suppress our immune system and this will in-turn reduce our ability to heal. CS and musculoskeletal pain can also occur without any physical injury, triggered by psychological disorders, stress or a viral