"Treatment of central sensitization..."

[Ren]

"Treatment of central sensitization in patients with 'unexplained' chronic pain: an update."
Nijs J1, Malfliet A, Ickmans K, Baert I, Meeus M.; 2014

Abstract and full-text: http://www.researchgate.net/publica...nts_with_'unexplained'_chronic_pain_an_update

Note: ME/CFS is not in the abstract, but CFS is included in the body of the paper.

...…Research findings have repeatedly shown that such pain neuroscience education is therapeutic on its own, with level A evidence supporting its use for changing pain beliefs and improving health status in patients with CS pain (e.g., fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic low back pain) [108].

Practice guidelines for therapeutic pain neuroscience education were presented previously [109].

Detailed pain neuroscience education is required to reconceptualize pain and to convince the patient that hypersensitivity of the CNS rather than local tissue damage may be the cause of their presenting symptoms. Hence, therapeutic pain neuroscience education is changing pain beliefs through the reconceptualization of pain [110-113].

Inappropriate pain beliefs and cognitions, such as pain catastrophizing, anxiety, hypervigilance and kinesiophobia, have been shown to contribute to sensitization of the dorsal horn spinal cord neurons (through inhibition of descending tracks in the CNS) [114-117].

By changing these maladaptive pain beliefs and cognitions, therapeutic pain neuroscience education might be able to ‘treat’ core features of CS, namely, descending nociceptive facilitation, the overactive pain neuromatrix and endogenous analgesia.

A recent randomized controlled clinical trial has shown that therapeutic pain neuroscience education, compared with activity pacing self-management education, resulted in improved endogenous analgesia in patients with fibromyalgia at 3 months posttreatment [28]…

Note: the 2011 IOM report on Lyme disease described CFS as a central sensitivity syndrome - http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/cfs-within-iom-lyme-report-2011.32184/ - just to call attention to who's using these terms and how they're being used.

 

[jeffrez]

Omg, I never actually had pain at all -- I was just uneducated about it! I'm so glad these helpful doctors could clear that up for me. I feel so much better already. LOL

 

[Snow Leopard]

Its just another review article, eg further speculation based on other speculative papers.