Chronic pain is defined as “pain that persists beyond the expected timeframe for treatment, or pain associated with a progressive noncancer disease.” In other words, pain alone remains even after the period required for the treatment of disease.
Under normal circumstances, pain is a sign that something is wrong with the body, and the pain subsides with recovery from the disease; however, chronic pain remains after the disease is cured. Even when the disease that is supposed to be the cause of the pain is considered to be healed, the pain does not disappear, and in many cases, the degree of pain does not correspond to the condition of the disease.
In chronic pain, the pain itself is the problem rather than the disease that causes it. Chronic pain has adverse effects on mental and psychological aspects such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Chronic pain can be divided into several categories depending on the cause of the pain.
| neuropathic pain | central pain | psychogenic pain | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cause | Nerve damage due to spinal cord injury or cerebrovascular disorder, neuropathy, invasion of cancer cells into nerves | Brain or spinal cord disease or injury | Anxiety and fear of illness and pain, and stress in daily life |
| Pain Mechanism | Nerves are stimulated by injury or illness and become abnormally excited | Pain caused by damage to the central nervous system in the brain and spinal cord | Pain caused by stress, anxiety, or other mental or psychological problems |
Stem cells administered into the body have the property of gathering at injured sites in the body, suppressing inflammation and repairing damaged tissues.
Therefore, by suppressing the chronic inflammation that causes pain and repairing the damaged sites of peripheral nerves, the effect of alleviating infiltrative pain and neuropathic pain can be expected.
These properties of stem cells may also provide pain relief for some non-organic pain for which the cause is unknown.
Treatment for chronic pain is mainly symptomatic, and there is currently no radical treatment such as surgery.
Conservative treatments, including drug treatments (oral medicines, patches, nerve blocks, intrathecal continuous infusion, etc.), non-drug treatments (heat therapy, traction therapy, massage, acupuncture), physical therapy (laser therapy, linearly polarized near-infrared light therapy, etc.), and psychotherapy such as counseling are the mainstays of treatment; however, the current treatment methods do not provide adequate pain relief.
As described above, current treatment methods are limited to controlling pain symptoms and minimizing the side effects of treatment, and many people are still suffering without a full cure.
This treatment has the potential to be a curative therapy, because the patient’s own adipose-derived stem cells, which are free of side effects, are administered and act directly on the site of peripheral nerve inflammation and hypersensitivity of the peripheral neuropathy.
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