Pain Is in the Brain
A study at the University of Pittsburgh looked into hypnosis and pain. Researchers placed subjects in an fMRI machine and administered pain with a hot probe. The pain regions of the participants’ brains lit up clear as day. Then the scientists took the same subjects, hypnotized them, and induced pain through suggestion. The exact same areas of their brains lit up on the fMRIs. Whether the pain was induced physically or through Hypnosis, the sensation was the same as far as the brain was concerned. - Gordon, Alan; Ziv, Alon. Book: The Way Out (p. 7).
A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 64 percent of people with no back pain have disc bulges, protrusions, herniations, or disc degeneration. These structural changes are actually quite normal and usually unrelated to pain. - Gordon, Alan; Ziv, Alon. The Way Out (p. 9). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Researchers in Germany conducted a brilliant and slightly crazy experiment to find out. They recruited volunteers for a car-crash study. The participants were placed in the driver’s seat of one car and slammed from behind by another car. Except they weren’t, actually. The whole thing was fake. Or as the scientists call it, a “placebo collision.” How do you fake a car accident? The researchers smashed a bottle to simulate the sound of a crash, and through a complicated set of pulleys and a ramp, the test subjects’ car moved forward slightly. There was no actual contact from the other car, but the participants thought they had been rear-ended. The sneaky scientists even scattered broken glass on the ground to further make it seem like the car had been hit. Three days after the fake collision, 20 percent of the participants had neck pain. Four weeks later, 10 percent of them still had symptoms. Their pain was real, but there was no structural damage to their bodies. There couldn’t have been, because there was no actual impact to the car. - Gordon, Alan; Ziv, Alon. The Way Out (p. 12). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
In 1995, the British Medical Journal reported on the case of a construction worker who accidentally jumped down onto a six-inch nail. Yikes! The nail went all the way through his boot and out the other side. He was in agony. His coworkers rushed him to the emergency room, and doctors carefully extracted the nail. When they took off his boot to assess the damage, they were stunned to discover no blood, no puncture wound, not even a scratch. By some miracle, the nail had gone right in between his toes! Why did he feel pain? He saw a nail go through his boot and assumed that he was injured. This changed the way his brain processed signals from his body. His foot was just sending normal signals—the texture of his sock, the tightness of his boot,In 1995, the British Medical Journal reported on the case of a construction worker who accidentally jumped down onto a six-inch nail. Yikes! The nail went all the way through his boot and out the other side. He was in agony. His coworkers rushed him to the emergency room, and doctors carefully extracted the nail. When they took off his boot to assess the damage, they were stunned to discover no blood, no puncture wound, not even a scratch. By some miracle, the nail had gone right in between his toes! Why did he feel pain? He saw a nail go through his boot and assumed that he was injured. This changed the way his brain processed signals from his body. His foot was just sending normal signals—the texture of his sock, the tightness of his boot, - Book: The Way Out Gordon, Alan; Ziv, Alon. The Way Out (pp. 24-25). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.