Could Workplace Pain be all in the Head?

Hi folks,

Last week at the Health & Well being @ Work conference I came across an interesting concept about pain symptoms related to injury & workplace MSDs (muscular skeletal disorders). Obviously we usually think of pain being a product of some physical trauma in the body but some recent research suggests this is not always true.


A group of physicians where assessing one of their clients who presented with scoliosis (lateral curvature of the spine), however this client reported no pain despite there being some structural degradation. This lead the physicians to research further, gradually forming the concept that often pain is a mental response to an emotional trigger. For example, the anniversary of a death or another stressful period of time may subconsciously cause the stress felt at the time to re-occur, lowering our resilience. This then, depending on our job & workplace dynamics, may raise our exposure to pain.

Other research has also been done on the separate areas of the brain that deal with emotion and pain, and apparently a direct connection can be traced ie. the pathway doesn't have to involve the physical.


So in summary:
1) Not all MSDs / degenerative conditions cause pain
2) Underlying emotional stress can increase the risk of injury = pain
3) Underlying emotional stress may be able to trigger pain symptoms with no physical injury apparent. 


With so many HR managers, H&S managers, & OC health advisers having to deal with a number of employees with pain (often back pain) on a daily basis, this blog may be of interest & support more bio-psychosocial elements being included in any FCEs (functional capacity evaluations) your company may have.

Thanks

James