Dr. Aneesh Singla

Pain is a symptom of a problem.

And if we treat pain in isolation, then we sometimes risk missing the problem that's causing the pain.

So I think that's one of the key points that I want to make about pain is that it again, it points us in a direction and we've really got to take that journey and find out what is causing the pain so that you can actually come up with a really good holistic solution to get that pain under control.

That's a great question.

And it varies.

And I wish it were easy to say, you know, without a doubt, oh, it's this causing the pain or that causing the pain.

I think that that would certainly make my life easier as a pain specialist.

What we have to do is we have to look at the specific area where the pain is being, that the symptom is being generated.

So let's, for example, use the low back, which is a very common thing in our society.

We have lots of folks with low back pain and folks come in and say, doc, you know, my back's hurting, you know, where's this pain coming from?

What do I do about it?

And again, it starts with

taking a careful history, understanding what the physical exam is telling us, what the imaging studies show.

If we're talking about the low back, for example, there's many things that can cause pain.

The intervertebral discs, which are cartilage in between the spinal vertebrae, can sometimes become degenerated, cracked, or torn, and that can cause pain.

Well, that's done by nerves.

So you have nerves all through your body.

And when you have an injury or you have inflammation, for example, that is then transmitting a signal down that nerve.

into your spinal cord, and then ultimately to your brain.

And it's, you know, pain is really what in this situation is like an alarm system.