COLUMBUS, Ohio — A new study that is the first of its kind reveals a critical connection between opioid addiction and the condition of chronic pain. It's a connection that's called central sensitization.
Central sensitization happens when there is abnormal pain processing in the brain and spinal cord. The condition causes people to have spinal cords that are highly efficient at sending pain signals to the brain. But the problem is that the brain is challenged to turn off the signals when they arrive which triggers more pain.
This is a wake-up call according to Ohio State University Addiction Medicine Physician Dr. Trent Hall, who is the lead author of the study.
“It is clear from this study that pain is a trigger for many with opioid use disorder,” Hall said. “We have to do a much better job of taking pain seriously and treating it effectively.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define chronic pain as pain that lasts three months or more and can be caused by a disease or condition, injury, medical treatment, inflammation or even an unknown reason.
Addiction treatment specialists and medical experts point out that chronic pain may lead to opioid use disorder. Research shows that it is a high challenge to quit for people who have chronic pain and are addicted to opioids, even more so than people who are only fighting opioid addiction.
Central sensitization was associated with worse quality of life among patients with OUD. Researchers from the University of Michigan said patients with the condition were more likely to report pain as a major reason for the start of their opioid addiction.
The next steps include following patients with central sensitization and OUD over time to find out if they respond differently to treatments or have different outcomes.
The study is published in “PAIN Reports,” which is the official journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain.