People who suffer from chronic pain may have reduced levels of body awareness, and improving sensorimotor awareness could help reduce pain.
In a new study, 512 chronic pain patients were assessed. The researchers found a significant correlation between body awareness and pain levels. Subjects were given training in mind-body awareness, and improvements in body awareness correlated with reductions in pain levels.
Conclusions
For decades, practitioners such as Feldenkrais or Thomas Hannah’s Somatics have theorized that reduced sensorimotor awareness could increase pain perceptions. This study lends credence to this theory. This idea is congruent with the biopsychosocial approach to pain, which would suggest that better body awareness should reduce the brain’s level of threat perception and dim the pain response. Clinicians who deal with chronic pain patients who exhibit signs of central sensitization may benefit from using their existing treatment protocols as opportunities to help improve patients’ sensorimotor awareness.
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