Thalamus Stimulation & the Management of Chronic Pain

For many individuals complications of chronic pain impair quality of life, resulting in loss of productivity and mobility. For chronic pain patients, the options for controlling chronic pain are as varied as the underlying cause and origin of chronic pain.

To capture a better understanding of your chronic pain, and to understand why and how your pain can be best managed, it is important to understand how chronic pain develops. While there are many facets of the chronic pain phenomenon, the result is the sensory impression of pain which can alter all of your life events.

While some treatment options work to diminish the sensory response to chronic pain, other treatment options work to resolve the underlying health complication and, thereby, alleviate pain without further disease or injury. For most chronic pain patients, just alleviating the chronic pain is enough to improve quality of life, even when disease or injury is not resolved.

Chronic pain research and development lends the primary focus of pain management to both the lateral and medial thalamus. With the use of injections, pain medications and biofeedback, some individuals have learned to manage the stimuli and cells that evoke pain responses from the thalamus, without regard to the location stimulated.

The thalamus, however, only accounts for one-third of the ascending fibers that come from the spinal column. In other words, when pain messages are transmitted to the brain, or the thalamus, only one-third of the message is received in the brain. Therefore, finding ways in which to manage the pain to this one-third ascending fiber group may be key to improving overall pain responses.

One way in which many patients are working to alleviate chronic pain, is through the use of electric stimulation. However, unless managed appropriately, the use of electrical stimulation in managing chronic pain may lead to additional health complications including dizziness, rapid eye movement, dyspnea and a spike in body temperature.