What is Allodynia?

Jul 27

Allodynia is an unusual perception of pain that results from several neurological conditions. It is a type of chronic pain that arises from a stimulus that would not normally produce pain. Something as simple as clothing touching your skin or the wind blowing on your face can provoke allodynic pain. The pain may also occur somewhere other than in the area being stimulated. Allodynia can cause symptoms that range in intensity from a trivial odd pain that is unexpected, to terrible disabling pain.

How Common is Allodynia?

The exact prevalence of allodynia is difficult to determine, as it is present in a number of different diseases and conditions. Neuropathic pain, a common cause of allodynia, affects roughly 10% of the population. Allodynia is estimated to affect 15-50% of people suffering from neuropathic pain (1).

What are the Symptoms of Allodynia?

The main symptom of allodynia is pain from sensory input that would not normally cause pain. This can make sensations like changes in temperature become painful. Pressure on your skin can provoke allodynic pain, as can movement of clothing (2).

Allodynia is usually a secondary condition provoked by another neurological disorder. In such cases there are often symptoms associated with the primary condition that present along with allodynia.

If allodynia results from fibromyalgia, you may also experience depression, anxiety, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and difficulty with concentration.

If your allodynia is associated with migraines, you may also deal with headaches, light and sound sensitivity, visual disturbances, and nausea. People with migraine-associated allodynia often relate that their hair hurts during migraine attacks.

What Causes Allodynia?

Allodynia is the result of dysfunctional pain processing circuitry in the central nervous system, known as central sensitization. Spinal cord, brainstem and other associated pathways that relay pain to the perceptual centers of the brain become overly sensitive when allodynia has developed. This can make virtually any sensory input be perceived as painful.

Allodynia is usually the result of another underlying neurological condition. The most common are fibromyalgia, migraine headaches, peripheral neuropathy, and postherpetic neuralgia.

Fibromyalgia is a neurological condition that produces pain throughout the muscles and joints of the body. Fibromyalgia may start with an injury however it can remain present and spread throughout the body long after the injury is healed. It appears to involve dysfunctional pain processing circuitry within the spinal cord, brainstem, and brain. It may have several other triggers, including stress, viral infection, and autoimmunity.

Migraines are very painful headaches that are related to changes in blood flow and inflammation in the brain. When unresolved they can become severe and lead to allodynic pain, usually throughout the head and face.

Peripheral neuropathies are conditions involving nerve damage from a host of different types of insults. These range from direct nerve injury to chemical and toxic exposures. Metabolic conditions including Diabetes are common causes of peripheral neuropathies. Depending on the type of nerve fibers injured in a peripheral neuropathy, the result can be allodynic pain produced in the region of the body mapped by the damaged nerve.

Postherpetic neuralgia is the result of the Varicella Zoster virus, which also gives rise to Chicken Pox. When the virus infects peripheral nerve ganglia, it can lead to painful skin eruptions along the nerve distribution, better known as Shingles. Allodynic pain is very common following a shingles attack.

What Happens in the Nervous System with Allodynia?

The mechanism behind allodynia is not fully understood. The best current research suggests that sensory neuronal fibers may mis-wire from their spinal cord targets and begin to inappropriately stimulate pain pathways. Other studies imply the involvement of superficial sensory nerves in the process. Aspects of the brain’s limbic system also appear to be involved, as there is evidence that different emotional states can affect the perception of allodynia (1).

How is Allodynia Diagnosed?

The unusual nature of sensory perception in this condition makes allodynia relatively easy to diagnose. An allodynia diagnosis usually leads to a deeper clinical investigation in order to uncover and treat the root cause of the disorder.

How is Allodynia Usually Treated?

Allodynia treatment can take many forms depending on the nature of the underlying condition. Pain management usually involves some form of medication management, ranging from analgesics to anti-inflammatory drugs. In many cases of severe allodynia, opiod medications are prescribed.

All of these medications give rise to unwanted side effects. At times the side effects can be of a greater consequence than the pain itself.

If pain management is unsuccessful, psychiatric medications may be employed along with counseling.

What are the Consequences of Allodynia?

Allodynia is generally a progressive condition. It worsens over time as the improperly connected neurological pathways become reinforced and more efficient. This can have a profound impact on school and job performance, can limit social interaction and relationships, and degrade mental and emotional health.

How is the NeuroRescue Program Different?

We use cutting edge diagnostic technologies and advanced therapies to get to the root cause of your allodynia. Successful pain management in allodynia requires more than treating the condition that caused the problem, and more than using strategies to shut of incoming pain signals. It requires a comprehensive approach that evaluates every aspect of the nervous system involved in allodynia, from sensory receptors to peripheral nerves, from spinal cord to brainstem, from cerebellum to basal ganglia, and from frontal and parietal lobes to the limbic emotional brain. This is the foundational premise behind the NeuroRescue program.

How Does the NeuroRescue Program Work?

We design your unique NeuroRescue Program to be among the most comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic protocols available today. We create individual NeuroRescue Programs based on a comprehensive analysis of every relevant neurological system and pathway, using gold-standard, cutting edge neurodiagnostic technologies and examination procedures and state-of-the-art therapies.

We begin with your Discovery Day, wherein we perform a comprehensive history of not only your condition, but your life on a timeline. This allows us to dive deeply into your case and see all of the factors that led to where you are now. It helps us uncover hidden problems and associated conditions that may be making it difficult for you to move your recovery forward.

Our examination allows us to identify the areas and pathways of your brain that are involved in your allodynia. In all of our cases of chronic pain, we begin by making certain that there are no central nervous system factors contributing to your symptoms. We do this by precisely quantifying the function of your visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems through computerized analysis of your eye movements, your inner ear reflexes, and your balance in a host of different sensory conditions.

We employ technologies including Videooculography and Saccadometry to measure several classes of eye movements. We use Video Head Impulse Testing to measure the function of your inner ear, and Computerized Dynamic Posturography to assess your balance in different sensory conditions.

We use NeuroSensoryMotor Integration testing to evaluate hand-eye coordination and cognition, and Virtualis testing to assess dynamic eye tracking and perception of vertical in a virtual reality environment.

We combine all of this with a comprehensive physical and neurological examination of your sensory, motor, autonomic, and cognitive systems. We review any relevant laboratory testing, radiological imaging, and prior neurodiagnostic testing, and integrate that information with our findings.

We use this information to identify which parts of your nervous system are working properly, which systems are struggling, and the precise point at which your systems fatigue.

We can then design a NeuroRescue Program that is unique and specific to your brain, and yours alone. Your NeuroRescue Program works to rejuvenate and reintegrate the damaged neurons and pathways in your central and peripheral nervous systems. It works to improve energy, endurance, and functional capacity within your involved fragile systems.

We use our technologies and procedures to not only see what we need to address, but also when it is time to stop and let you rest. We address your impaired neurological function from multiple angles of therapy, and provide metabolic support to improve neurological recovery. We employ a vast array of therapies and technologies that have been shown in research to help with central sensitization pain, ranging from electrical stimulation (5), to low level laser (6), to transcranial magnetic stimulation (7), to virtual reality therapies (8). We tailor all of these along with neurological rehabilitation exercises to the specifics of your case, in order to create your unique protocol to resolve your allodynia.

While we cannot bring back neurons that have been lost, your NeuroRescue Program allows us to take the pathways that remain and maximize their efficiency and endurance. And by focusing on the integration of systems, we can do more than just get pathways working better, we can get them working together again. This gives us our best opportunity to return you to living a healthy, vibrant, and fulfilling life.