Psychological therapy has made it possible for many people to disappear from their back pain.
- In France, the most common chronic pain is back pain.
- Most people with chronic back pain naturally think that their pain is due to injuries or other problems in the body.
- However, psychological therapy has made it possible to considerably reduce this pain.
Most people with chronic back pain naturally think that their pain is due to injuries or other problems in the body, such as arthritis or bulging discs. Yet, a recent study reveals that thinking of chronic back pain as a process that takes place in the brain rather than the back can promote healing.
Nine out of ten French people have already suffered from back pain
The most common chronic pain is back pain. Nine out of ten French people have already suffered from it according to an OpinionWay survey for Vexim. Among those affected by what is now called “evil of the century”, 38% say they have suffered back pain more than 10 times in the last five years. In this case, they try all kinds of treatments, often in vain.
A growing number of scientists now believe that many cases of chronic back pain are primarily due to changes in the brain. Pain may indeed originate in an injury, but the biological system producing pain may remain “blocked” and continue to trigger long after the injury has healed.
Back pain: “pain reprocessing therapy” tested on 151 adults
Armed with these elements, researchers decided to evaluate the effectiveness of a psychological treatment called “pain reprocessing therapy” on chronic back pain. To do this, 151 adults suffering from persistent back pain were included in a cohort. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the real therapy or a placebo.
The results were impressive: 66% of participants treated with the pain reprocessing therapy reported feeling little or no pain, compared to only 20% of those who received the placebo therapy. “These results are remarkable because previous trials of psychological treatments have rarely resulted in complete cure for chronic pain,” estimate the researchers.
Back pain: new treatment possibilities
“Helping patients think of pain as being in the brain can help relieve it.”therefore conclude the scientists. “Our research team found that viewing the root cause of pain as a process that occurs in the brain can help promote its healing. This is one of the key findings that my colleagues and I recently published in JAMA”, they add.
These results therefore suggest that chronic back pain is often caused by changes in the brain and that it is in this sense important to consider this dimension during its treatment. These results are also encouraging for people suffering from chronic back pain, as they open up new possibilities for treating and relieving persistent pain.
