I have been diagnosed with bilateral trapeziometacarpal osteoarthritis by several physicians. I have pain in only my left thumb as a result of an automobile accident in 2007 during which all three cars in the accident were "totaled" and only my left hand was on the steering wheel at the moment of impact. My question is this: What is the biology behind the traumatic onset of pain in previously asymptomatic primary osteoarthritis?
Q: Why the traumatic onset of pain in previously asymptomatic primary osteoarthritis?
Answers (1)
1/17/11 5:21pm
In a general sense of the question, let me restate your question: What triggers pain? Some joints with primary osteoarthrits can go years without triggering pain. Some spines have severly degenerative discs, yet pain is not felt. Some nerves are pinched without causing pain. So this question is very important and only can be answered by going to the brain, the origin of pain.
Trauma like a motor vehicle accident is very threatening indeed. So threatening, that the brain is now triggered to respond to the threat input with a pain output. Ultimately, threat triggers pain. That is the biopsychosocial model answer to your question: what triggers pain? Straight biology and the biomedical model does not explain pain very well at all.
Dr. Christina Lasich, MD
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By tom— Last Modified: 01/18/11, First Published: 01/11/11
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I understand the concept but had not applied it to this situation. Thank you for an insightful answer.