The Pain Chronicles: Cures, myths, mysteries, prayers, diaries, brain scan, healing & the science of suffering

Chronic pain often outlives its original causes, worsens over time, and takes on a puzzling life of its own … there is increasing evidence that over time, untreated pain eventually rewrites the central nervous system, causing pathological changes to the brain and spinal cord, and that these in turn cause greater pain. Even more disturbingly, recent evidence suggests that prolonged pain actually damages parts of the brain, including those involved in cognition.