Allostasis as a model to understand and treat pain with Oliver Crossley

Today Oliver Crossley (Yogic Physio) and I discussed allostasis as a model to better understand and treat pain. 

Allostasis potentially helps us to better understand how apparently disparate things like psychological stress and social pressure can place a cumulative load on our bodies and ultimately combine with other stressors to produce or enhance pain, using principles more in line with a more recent understanding of pain such as neuro-immune-endocrine factors that can lead to nociception. 

Oliver included some great examples along the way to better illustrate and explain the model and also included some great tips and takeaways about how he uses allostasis to help people with persistent pain. 

Outline

What is Allostasis?

What is the Allostasis model and how can it help us to explain or understand pain?

What are the possible mechanisms of allostatic load and pain?

• Stress can produce a paradoxical response within the immune response within the immune and nociceptive systems. 

• Acute stress - analgesia

• Chronic stress more variable and can produce stress-induced hyperalgesia

Top down of central governance of stress response

• Brain determines what a person perceives as threatening or stressful in a particular context, influenced by past experiences and beliefs.

• For example muscular strain during lifting could be perceived as threatening or non-threatening depending on the person’s expectations and previous experiences. 

• If person has negative beliefs - your inhibitory responses may be lost and you experience a stress response in the absence of tissue trauma. 

Multiple dimensions possibly contributing to, and interacting in pain presentations:

• Central and peripheral nociceptive processes

• Movement

• Psychology 

• Social 

• Genetic + Epigenetic factors 

• Health + lifestyle

Oliver Crossley 

https://www.yogicphysio.com/