How does pain gate theory work?

Following an injury, pain signals are transmitted to the spinal cord and then up to the brain. Melzack and Wall suggest that before the information is transmitted to the brain, the pain messages encounter “nerve gates” that control whether these signals are allowed to pass through to the brain.

What are the 3 pain control theories?

The four most influential theories of pain perception include the Specificity (or Labeled Line), Intensity, Pattern, and Gate Control Theories of Pain (Fig. 1). The Specificity Theory refers to the presence of dedicated pathways for each somatosensory modality.

How can the gate for pain be closed?

In times of anxiety or stress, descending messages from the brain may actually amplify the pain signal at the nerve gate as it moves up the spinal cord. Alternatively, impulses from the brain can “close” the nerve gate, preventing the pain signal from reaching the brain and being experienced as pain.

What does the gate control theory of pain propose?

The gate control theory of pain developed by Melzack and Wall in 1965 [1] proposes that tiny neural networks distributed along the dorsal horn of the spinal cord are responsible for relieving the pain in a specific body location when an intense tactile stimulation is applied at the same place.

What type of pain can the gate theory of pain not account for?

The gate control theory of pain asserts that non-painful input closes the nerve “gates” to painful input, which prevents pain sensation from traveling to the central nervous system.

Who proposed the gate control theory of pain?

The Gate Theory of Pain, published by Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall in Science in 1965, was formulated to provide a mechanism for coding the nociceptive component of cutaneous sensory input.

What are the different pain theories?

The four most influential theories of pain perception include the Specificity (or Labeled Line), Intensity, Pattern, and Gate Control Theories of Pain (Fig. 1).

What is the gate control theory of pain and how does this block pain for a patient?

Which pain relief intervention is based on the gate control theory of pain?

The theory has also paved way for more research on cognitive and behavioral approaches to achieve pain relief. One of the tremendous advances in pain management research is the advent of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS). The gate control theory forms the basis of TENS.

How do you classify pain?

Pain is most often classified by the kind of damage that causes it. The two main categories are pain caused by tissue damage, also called nociceptive pain, and pain caused by nerve damage, also called neuropathic pain. A third category is psychogenic pain, which is pain that is affected by psychological factors.

What are the two theories of pain?

The pain theories that this activity will discuss below include the intensity theory, Cartesian dualism theory, specificity theory, pattern theory, gate control theory, neuromatrix model, and the biopsychosocial.

What are the 4 types of pain?

THE FOUR MAJOR TYPES OF PAIN:

• Nociceptive Pain: Typically the result of tissue injury.
• Inflammatory Pain: An abnormal inflammation caused by an inappropriate response by the body’s immune system.
• Neuropathic Pain: Pain caused by nerve irritation.
• Functional Pain: Pain without obvious origin, but can cause pain.

What is an example of the gate control theory of pain?

Experts explain this with the “gate control” theory. For example, receptors in your intestines, known as afferent receptors, pick up a pain signal and send it to the brain. But certain centers in the spinal cord can regulate the pain.

What is pain control theory?

Gate Control Theory of Pain describes how non-painful sensations can override and reduce painful sensations. A painful, nociceptive stimulus stimulates primary afferent fibers and travels to the brain via transmission cells. Increasing activity of the transmission cells results in increased perceived pain.

What is the gate theory?

gate theory. noun. a theory proposing that neural stimulation beyond a certain threshold level, as by application of an electric current, can overwhelm the ability of the nerve center to sense pain.