Pain

Back pain is the end result of things which take place throughout your body. This includes sensors in your back, the message path into and up your spinal cord, and processing in your brain.

The brain makes pain when all the information it has says the back needs to be protected. This includes what you’re doing, what you’re thinking, how you’re feeling, what’s happened in the past, and what you expect.

Figure adapted with permission from Tracey I, Mantyh P (2007) The cerebral signature for pain perception and its modulation. Neuron 55, 377-391.