Why People Feel Pain
,Before we get into how food can cause or keep you in pain
it helps to have a basic understanding of how pain works. Like
,everything in the body, it’s a physical and chemical response
governed by nerve fibers that we can imagine as telephone
wires. Throughout the body we have strings of these nerve
fibers, much like the thousands of telephone wires that
connect various parts of the country. At one end of a single
fiber is a pain receptor, which we can think of as the phone in
your house, and at the other end is the receiver—the
“.operator”—set up in the spinal cord
When the body senses something is wrong, the nerve
endings, or receptors, send a message. The message travels as
an electronic signal along the nerve fibers to the spinal cord.
There, either the “operator” transmits the message to the
brain—in which case you feel the pain—or the “operator”
fails to send the message and you don’t feel the pain. Only if
and when the signal reaches the brain are you consciously
aware of it
As you already know, all pain isn’t the same. There are
different types. One is in reaction to an injury, like a broken
bone, burnt finger, or tissues eroded by cancer. Another is
caused by abnormalities in the nerves, spinal cord, or brain,
and is usually felt as a burning, tingling, shooting, or electric
sensation. There is acute pain, which is normally very sharp
but resolves quickly when the problem is solved. Finally, there
is chronic pain, which goes on and on for a long time
Chronic pain can be caused by ongoing tissue damage or it
can be a disorder in itself, where something is wrong with the
pain receptors, the nerve pathways, or the spinal cord
The main point is that pain is a physical/chemical response
that can be affected by any physical or chemical changes in
the body. Put contaminated fuel in your car and you will
notice a change in its function. Your car may not be able to
say “ouch,” but you can
,Before we get into how food can cause or keep you in pain
it helps to have a basic understanding of how pain works. Like
,everything in the body, it’s a physical and chemical response
governed by nerve fibers that we can imagine as telephone
wires. Throughout the body we have strings of these nerve
fibers, much like the thousands of telephone wires that
connect various parts of the country. At one end of a single
fiber is a pain receptor, which we can think of as the phone in
your house, and at the other end is the receiver—the
“.operator”—set up in the spinal cord
When the body senses something is wrong, the nerve
endings, or receptors, send a message. The message travels as
an electronic signal along the nerve fibers to the spinal cord.
There, either the “operator” transmits the message to the
brain—in which case you feel the pain—or the “operator”
fails to send the message and you don’t feel the pain. Only if
and when the signal reaches the brain are you consciously
aware of it
As you already know, all pain isn’t the same. There are
different types. One is in reaction to an injury, like a broken
bone, burnt finger, or tissues eroded by cancer. Another is
caused by abnormalities in the nerves, spinal cord, or brain,
and is usually felt as a burning, tingling, shooting, or electric
sensation. There is acute pain, which is normally very sharp
but resolves quickly when the problem is solved. Finally, there
is chronic pain, which goes on and on for a long time
Chronic pain can be caused by ongoing tissue damage or it
can be a disorder in itself, where something is wrong with the
pain receptors, the nerve pathways, or the spinal cord
The main point is that pain is a physical/chemical response
that can be affected by any physical or chemical changes in
the body. Put contaminated fuel in your car and you will
notice a change in its function. Your car may not be able to
say “ouch,” but you can
