People with chronic pain more likely to object to unpleasant sounds: Study

The study published in the journal Annals of Neurology has found that people with chronic back pain process sounds more intensely than those without pain.

People having chronic back pain (CBP) are more likely to get irritated with unpleasant sounds, a study has found out.

More than 600 million people have chronic back pain, others will experience it at least once in their lifetime.

While chronic pain is linked to increased moodiness, little was known about its connection to sensations of light, sound or touch.

A new study published in the journal Annals of Neurology has found that people with chronic back pain process sounds more intensely than those without pain.

For the first time, scientists found an overlap between pain receptors and brain structures associated with sensory experiences.

Overlapping in function

Pain researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine included 142 adults with chronic back pain and another 51 who did not have pain.

The second batch of participants were the control group in the experiment.

Functional MRIs of the participants were analysed to understand blood flow in various parts of the brain.

The participants were exposed to low and high intensity of noxious sounds and mechanical pressure, and were asked to rate them on a scale of unpleasantness.

As per the results, patients with back pain reported heightened unpleasantness to sounds than the control group.

Scientists observed hyperactivity in areas linked to sound processing like the primary auditory cortex and insula of these individuals, another structure associated with pain processing, emotional perception, taste and smell sensations and others.

Structurally, the auditory cortex and insula share spatial proximity and are functionally connected.

The study found greater activity in these regions in people having chronic back pain, and lower reactions in other areas of the brain.

However, experts could not establish if the pain was making the sound more unpleasant or it was the sound making the pain worse.

Pain processing therapy can help

The participants were also introduced to three modes of treatment to reduce sensory hypersensitivity: pain reprocessing therapy (PRT), a placebo treatment using ineffective saline injections and usual care which involved the participants using routine methods to ease their pain.

It was found that participants responded well to PRT as compared with other treatments. After re-interpreting the same sounds with an understanding that their mind was making it seem more unpleasant, the participants reported to not find those sounds as annoying as before.

The findings were more consistent with people having chronic conditions like fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), endometriosis and others.