Why Doesn’t The Brain Feel Pain?
The brain is the organ responsible for treating pain, integrating the information that arrives through the nerve terminals and interpreting these signals. But, oddly enough, the brain doesn’t feel pain.
Pain is a vital signal that alerts us to an injury or damage happening to our body. It sets in motion natural mechanisms to deal with it. To do this, we have a series of nerve endings that pick up this signal.
These endings are called nociceptors and they are responsible for receiving sensory information from outside and inside our body. They are located at the end of the axons of sensory neurons. They are capable, in a few tenths of a second, of transmitting to the brain, and to the nervous system in general, information on mechanical, thermal or chemical damage.
Why doesn’t he hurt us?
Paradoxically, there are no nociceptors in the brain, so the brain itself cannot hurt. Far from knowing the benefits that this brings to survival, today it allows neurosurgeons to perform operations on the brain using local anesthesia.
So the patient can stay awake. And, during the procedure, we can check that the other areas are not damaged or that everything is fine.
Therefore, even though we think our brains are in pain or are going to explode, when we experience a headache, it is the nerve tissue, meninges, blood vessels, or muscles around the brain that are really affected.
These elements, which have nociceptors, can become inflamed, damaged or dilate, sending a signal to the brain that something is wrong, producing widespread pain in the head. In cases, such as brain tumors or a brain hemorrhage, where pain exists, it does not come directly from the brain. But from the pressure on the surrounding blood vessels.
Headache pain
Usually, headaches are not severe and are caused by tension headaches, migraines, sinusitis, or inflammation of the neck. The head can also be affected by a simple cold, flu, or other viral illnesses that cause alterations in the blood supply or inflammation.
However, there are other more serious issues that can cause pain. Some of them would be:
- An abnormal connection between arteries and veins in the brain
- A heart attack that causes blood flow to stop
- Ruptured blood vessels or brain aneurysm
- Bleeding inside the brain or intracerebral hematoma
- Bleeding around the brain: subarachnoid hemorrhage, subdural or epidural hematoma
- Acute hydrocephalus or cerebrospinal fluid interruption
- Very high blood pressure
- Infection of the brain or nearby tissues
When to see a specialist?
Since the brain does not feel pain, the main sign of damage to this organ is a headache, but as noted above, not all headaches indicate something serious.
It is important to know when this pain may be due to really vital causes. And when to go to the doctor. Thus, medical assistance is necessary in the following cases:
- Pain interferes with everyday life
- Pain is severe after physical activity
- She appears suddenly and explosively
- It is associated with alterations in vision, mobility, language or memory
- Pain gets worse within 24 hours
- It is associated with other symptoms such as fever, stiffness or nausea
- It is accompanied by redness in one of the eyes
- You have a history of cancer or a weakened immune system
- The headache wakes you up or prevents you from sleeping
In conclusion, when we experience a headache, it is the tissues, vessels and muscles that surround the brain that suffer. Because the brain, although its role is to process pain, is unable to feel it.
Thus, if the headache presents itself in an atypical way, it is essential to go to a specialist to assess whether it reflects a vital lesion of the tissues or inside the brain.
Our thoughts The puzzles of the human brain are a permanent source of research that science has not yet been able to answer.
