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Marissa Patterson's picture

Chronic back pain

Submitted by Marissa Patterson on Mon, 04/07/2008 - 10:05am.

I was reading some articles on the internet and I came across one entitled "TV Commercials can literally be a pain..." which highlighted a study done in Germany after the wall of the Berlin Wall, when East Germany began to see TV commercials for pain relievers that had previously only been seen in West Germany.

Before unification the chronic back pain rate was less than 70% in East Germany, and 85% in West, but by 2003 the rates were nearly identical. The researchers say this is because "in the absence of injury or trigger, the mind is tricked into thinking the body is in pain when reading about the problem or hearing others complain about their pain"such as on tv shows or commercials.

They also say that only 15% of chronic back pain has an underlying physical problem (that is apparent using our current diagnostic techniques). It is an interesting way to look at and think about the origins of pain. How much of it comes from suggestion?

 

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