Sensory System and Psychology of Pain

Sensory System and Psychology of Pain

This is the medical stuff for a layman to understand pain and pleasure principle.

The reason for me focusing on this is that two guys on the YouTube try to impose their own interpretation in a convoluted manner (confusing even for a medical guy in retirement) of the brain and its function.

The bottom line is, even if one studies the brain and its nervous system, the entire life, he/she would not understand them fully.

Equally, in one hour verbal presentation one won’t do the justice to the enormous amount of work and research done including meditation (mind you not the transcendental meditation of the New Age guys).

I hated neurology and the study of anatomy of the brain.

My professor of anatomy tried to teach us over three hundred cross sections of the brain “by heart” without its application to clinical work in the first year. 

We had to study it overnight and answer his question.

I got my worse Viva Vose rating of E (out of 5 A to E) on a Friday afternoon.

After this I went to my advisor and told her that I am going to leave the medical faculty for good and pursue a better career.

She was flabbergasted and ask me why?

I told her what the heck of learning all this stuff if I am going to a be a simple general practitioner and not a neurologist.

She took me to the professor who is no more and presented my concern and the stern action of mine that would follow.

He asked me are your serious (not the same outburst as of Tennis Star John McEnroe's)?

Yes was my answer.

I do not remember the next part of the dialogue (with the heat on) but I remember him saying you need to know only 10% of it at the examination.

I ask him why don’t you do that?

He had no answer and asked me to read the Clinical Anatomy by Ellis.

He also advised me not to divulge the conversation to my fellow beings, which I never did till we left the anatomy block.

Now I will dispense 1% of that 10% to you but before getting to the boring stuff let me tell you a real life story.

We had a small gang of Ceylonese doctors in our locality and we used to have frequent dinner parties and wine. 

Yet, I could not meet one of the very senior guys who worked alone in the remotest location as a G.P.

One day, I got a call and he invited me for lunch and closing the conversation he asked me for a favor.

He said his wife is mortally fearful of pain and I should remove the big toe nail, of one of her legs (cannot remember which) causing problems for her for some time (caused by bad footwear).

I said no problem and make it a day on a Sunday, I was not on call.

He wanted to come and pick me up and I said I did not want him to leave her at home by the time he goes back the local anaesthetic effect would wear off.

We had a book on local anaesthesia and peripheral nerves in the casualty and I photocopied the detailed innervation (mind you our undergraduate training was not at its best) of the particular side, (one photocopy was enough, the other side is a near enough mirror image) of the big toe.

When, I went there lunch was laid out and I said let me have cup of tea and finish the job first.

I looked at her face and told her I could take it out in a flash without local and she almost “flashed out” that very moment.

That was my preparation of the brain analgesics and how ever much, I inject local anaesthetics, she would panic, all the same.

I started with injecting all the big nerves first with the tiniest needle I took with me and closed on with (mind you big toe has complex innervation) near enough tiny peripheral nerves.

I told her it takes few minutes for the local to act and had some beer with, now my friend, in the meantime.

Finally, as a precaution I injected local around the toe and in a whisk, I took the nail out in one go, when she was not, focusing on it.

Is that it?

She asked me.

I told her I could now take the other toe nail out without a local (as a post surgery booster of her anti pain chemicals).

We had a quiet evening that day and all they wanted me was to stay in New Zealand.

By then, I have decided to come back home and that was the biggest mistake I have made in my life.

Mind you pain is 5% physical and 95% psychological.

These guys on YouTube are fear (psychological, too) mongers and do not listen to them.

They confuse your inner feeling and your self.