Shingles Pain: Neuropathic Pain

You know, I've been cruising through some materials that challenge my concept of the brain, and perception. I always thought that the senses picked up information from the outside world and transmitted it to the brain sort of like data over a modem. The brain then sent back a response, etc.

Well, some of the stuff I read recently makes me think that is all wrong. The important part is that the brain is much more active in the process than I thought. In fact, the brain kind of guesses, or constructs reality from incomplete and faulty input sent by the senses.

Have you ever heard of a Doctor Ramachandran? This guy is doing all kinds of experiments with simple devices and techniques that make one wonder about sensations.

Here is one easy one. Take a plastic dummy hand and place it on the table. Put your hand next to it in the same position. Now hide your hand from sight. The experimenter now begins to stroke, and tap you hand and at the same time do the exact types of touching to the fake hand. Remember, you cannot see your own hand.

What happens is that in a matter of minutes, as you watch the experimenter touch the fake hand, your mind switches over and you get the very real sensation that the fake hand is your hand. Your brain constructs a reality from faulty data, and fools itself into thinking that the dummy hand is yours.

This process may be useful for post herpetic neuralgia (PHN), or the pain experienced after shingles rash has gone away. The nerve endings in PHN are only a small part of the pain experience. It may be that the pain is coming from the brain. More on this later.