To the editor: As a doctor who has evaluated workers' compensation cases for four decades, I have endlessly explained to patients that their chronic back pain is not due to a defective disc or nerve compression. (“That pain in your back? It really is a pain in your brain”, Opinion, January 29).
People hate to hear that their pain originates in the nervous system. They mistakenly consider this to be a major personality flaw or character weakness.
It is a fact that the brain can create or extinguish pain. Some people who experience severe trauma report no pain, but a hypnotic suggestion can create severe pain with a light, harmless touch.
Different people experience physical symptoms due to perceived threat. They can be palpitations, difficulty breathing, diarrhea, fatigue or headaches. Sometimes it's back pain. Insisting that it must be a disc or nerve compression only leads to unnecessary surgery that is ineffective.
If the message of Nathaniel Frank's op-ed became public knowledge, it would help many people avoid susceptibility to counterproductive advice.
Gary Stewart, Laguna Beach
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To the editor: Frank's article on the brain's perception of pain was fascinating. I have watched people I know who have chronic physical pain and wondered if their deep-seated emotional pain has prevented them from healing.
It would have been helpful if Frank had mentioned therapies that are known to change the way the brain processes pain signals. Yoga? Biofeedback? His book is not yet available for answers.
Carol Penido, La Cañada Flintridge
