"Pain pays the income of each precious thing." ~Shakespeare
Today, I was sitting in a cancer conference where we discuss treatment options for the various patients that come into the hospital. Many of those sick people experience enormous amounts of pain, so they invited a pain specialist to talk about the latest strategies for combatting chronic pain issues.
The pain specialist presented a patient he is treating for multiple myeloma (the cancer my mom has); the guy was wheelchair bound due to multiple fractures in his spine. The specialist described an amazing new tool that assist with chronic pain called the Stimulator. However, he got a bit cheeky in his PowerPoint presentation, pasting an I-Pod interface onto the pacemaker-like tool and called it I-Stim. Doctors do have a sense of humor after all!
While listening to his presentation, I learned some other interesting factoids. One being that when you hit your finger with a hammer, shaking it actually has significant physiological benefits. The shaking actually releases something very scholarly & impressive-sounding (read: I have no idea how to spell it) that quickly sends a message to your nervous system to shut down the pain transmitters.
So, the "knee-jerk reaction" to shaking that finger as it is completely throbbing is not just a physical reaction to a painful episode; it is your body's way to magically and automatically cope with the pain response.
Isn't the body an amazing thing? I love my job because I learn something absolutely interesting every day!
The pain specialist presented a patient he is treating for multiple myeloma (the cancer my mom has); the guy was wheelchair bound due to multiple fractures in his spine. The specialist described an amazing new tool that assist with chronic pain called the Stimulator. However, he got a bit cheeky in his PowerPoint presentation, pasting an I-Pod interface onto the pacemaker-like tool and called it I-Stim. Doctors do have a sense of humor after all!
While listening to his presentation, I learned some other interesting factoids. One being that when you hit your finger with a hammer, shaking it actually has significant physiological benefits. The shaking actually releases something very scholarly & impressive-sounding (read: I have no idea how to spell it) that quickly sends a message to your nervous system to shut down the pain transmitters.
So, the "knee-jerk reaction" to shaking that finger as it is completely throbbing is not just a physical reaction to a painful episode; it is your body's way to magically and automatically cope with the pain response.
Isn't the body an amazing thing? I love my job because I learn something absolutely interesting every day!
1 comment:
Very interesting facts. Glad you were able to attend the conference.
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