UCO Research Fellow publishes paper on central sensitisation

Dr Jerry Draper-Rodi, Senior Research Fellow at the UCO, has co-authored a paper on the limitations of broadly-applied definitions of central sensitisation.

The paper, titled 'Stuck in the Middle With You: Why a Broad-Brush Approach to Defining Central Sensitization Does Not Help Clinicians and Patients', has been published today in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 

Dr Draper-Rodi explains:

"Chronic pain is a common symptom for patients attending osteopathy and central sensitisation has become key in understanding it, explaining it to patients and driving management considerations.

In this paper, we argue that central sensitisation is increasingly interpreted as central nervous system hyperexcitability accounting for a general increase in sensitivity, and used to explain a variety of pain and non-pain symptoms. Such a broad interpretation might not be clinically useful because it fails to distinguish one patient from another based on pathophysiological mechanisms and does not facilitate tailored treatment.

To read the full paper visit https://www.jospt.org/doi/10.2519/jospt.2021.10340