Pain relief associated with decreased oxyhemoglobin level in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

Pain in the elbow, shoulder, knee, lower back, and various other joints is relieved by adhesion of pyramidal thorn patches. To elucidate the pain relief mechanism induced by the patches, we established a quantitative method for estimating the pain reduction and investigated the brain regions that change in association with pain relief. We first attempted to quantify the pain relief using transcutaneous electric stimulation (TCES) and a visual analog scale (VAS), and then applied near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to the prefrontal cortex, including the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC).

A Proposed Molecular Mechanism for Physical Analgesia in Chronic Pain.

Although pain is indispensable for survival, chronic pain places a heavy burden on humans. As the efficacy of opioid treatment is limited, the development of alternative methods of pain relief without medication is desirable. Recently, we have developed a novel method of physical analgesia using an adhesive "pyramidal thorn patch.