I think this hypothesis for some kinds of chronic pain makes sense and is helpful to me. Thanks for posting. The only thing I would comment on is in regard to the physiological mechanism at work. For me, the vicious cycle enabler of my own chronic pain (neck—ascribed to incipient arthritis, wheneverI ask a professional) is, I’m pretty sure, not blood flow restriction but muscle spasming. I wonder if others might say the same? I do find it is frequently self-fulfilling. If I think I’m going to get a seriously stiff neck in the night, then I will get a seriously stiff neck by morning plus accompanying serious headache. I too have no medical training so disclaimers as to what is really going on.
Vasoconstriction commands from the brain → Nerve doesn’t get enough blood → abnormal nerve firing → muscle spasm
Vasoconstriction commands from the brain → Muscle doesn’t get enough blood → muscle has insufficient oxygen, buildup of waste products, ion imbalance, etc. → muscle spasm
I think this hypothesis for some kinds of chronic pain makes sense and is helpful to me. Thanks for posting. The only thing I would comment on is in regard to the physiological mechanism at work. For me, the vicious cycle enabler of my own chronic pain (neck—ascribed to incipient arthritis, wheneverI ask a professional) is, I’m pretty sure, not blood flow restriction but muscle spasming. I wonder if others might say the same? I do find it is frequently self-fulfilling. If I think I’m going to get a seriously stiff neck in the night, then I will get a seriously stiff neck by morning plus accompanying serious headache. I too have no medical training so disclaimers as to what is really going on.
Hmm. Speculating on some possibilities:
Vasoconstriction commands from the brain → Nerve doesn’t get enough blood → abnormal nerve firing → muscle spasm
Vasoconstriction commands from the brain → Muscle doesn’t get enough blood → muscle has insufficient oxygen, buildup of waste products, ion imbalance, etc. → muscle spasm
Skeletal muscle commands from the brain → “chronic, excessive muscle tone” → muscle spasm
(I’m speculating that 1 and/or 2 might be real things, on the basis that you can get muscle spasms after a really intense workout.)
I know very little about the physiology of muscle spasms. But it’s fun to speculate! And thanks for your comment :)