Pain Conditions We Treat
Not all pain is the same.
Did you know neuroscience has identified different pain types and that each type needs different treatment?
Did you know you can have more than one pain type at a time?
Treatment that helps one pain type will commonly increase symptoms of another pain type. This is why understanding your pain type(s) is crucial to your recovery.
All pain is real.
Pain is how our brain gets us to pay attention and take action. Current neuroscience shows us that sensation from our body enters the brain and the decision center of our brain generates a response to help us survive, stay well, or be safe. Pain is a response. When pain lasts more than a few months it is an indication that the brain has developed unpredictable and disordered responses often leading to severe and debilitating pain.
For more information on the neuroscience of pain watch these videos below created by PPDA Co-Founder Dr. Howard Schubiner and Dr. Sohrab Gollogly.
Approximately 1 in 40 adults in the United States suffer from pain
According to the World Health Organization, pain is one of the top 20 causes of disability worldwide. While pain does tend to run in families, researchers are still unsure exactly what causes someone to develop pain.
When an individual suffers pain, their whole life can be thrown out of balance. Ketamine can treat pain symptoms, giving many another chance at life. Ketamine treatments have a host of positive effects on pain. It increases endorphin production, desensitizes overactive nerves, and improves well-being.
How Ketamine Works
Recent evidence points to ketamine’s inhibitory effects on the NMDA receptor in the lateral habenula. The lateral habenula is a brain region primarily responsible for encoding negative rewards or anti-reward cause-and-effect relationships. As a non-competitive NMDA antagonist, ketamine prevents glutamate from activating the NMDA receptor.
The inhibition of the NMDA receptor may cause a build-up of free glutamate, which then activates the AMPA receptors. When surplus glutamate activates the AMPA receptor, it releases a brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) chemical. BDNF, in interaction with mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), promotes new neural growth. This new growth may reroute the brain from hyperactive areas associated with negative reward signals, thereby providing long-term relief from mental health conditions and pain conditions.
Boosting Endorphins in the Central Nervous System
Many studies suggest that ketamine stimulates the production of endorphins, natural compounds that can reduce pain. Endorphins are related to improved well-being, greater energy, heightened focus, and diminished anxiety. By increasing levels of endorphins, ketamine may work proactively to prevent severe levels of pain in the future.
Decreasing Neural Signals That Could Exacerbate Soreness
According to recent studies, intravenous ketamine can prevent the brain from sending numerous neural signals, and the medication could reduce signals related to pain. Generally, ketamine can decrease neural signals for more than two weeks.
Working Against Stress
Ketamine can substantially reduce levels of cortisol. The reduction in cortisol likely means ketamine is effective at reducing stress. Stress reduces cognitive capacity and long-term memory and hampers critical thinking. Ketamine may, over time, reverse these effects, yielding higher cognitive performance, better retention, and more task focus resulting in improved critical thinking.
Getting Relief
Pain can interfere with your ability to work, sleep, and engage in activities you enjoy, and it can also lead to feelings of depression, anxiety, and isolation.
In addition to these emotional and social effects, pain can also have serious physical consequences. Pain can cause changes in the nervous system that make the pain worse over time, leading to muscle weakness, stiffness, and decreased mobility. These physical changes can make it more difficult to perform everyday tasks and increase your risk of falls and other accidents.
Treatment for pain can help to improve your symptoms and reduce the impact of pain on your life. If you or a loved one suffers from pain, Kairos can help. Now is the time! Contact us today.
