Central sensitization syndrome

Clinic

• Central sensitization, in short, is a hypersensitivity to stimuli from things that are not typically painful.
• Central sensitization has been proposed as one of the key pathophysiological mechanisms of fibromyalgia.

Pathophysiology

Three possible mechanisms are

1. Activation of peripheral pain receptor due to muscle pathology
2. Regional ischemia due to autonomic dysfunction
3. Small fiber neuropathy cause pain generation and maintenance in muscles.

Related with Spasm

• Central sensitization leads to increased excitation in the spinal cord and to referral of muscle pain. The motoneurones of a painful muscle are centrally inhibited.
• Muscular spasm is mostly secondary to a painful lesion in another muscle or joint.
• The pain of fibromyalgia is assumed to relate to a dysfunction of central nociceptive processing.
• Psychosocial factors also contribute to pain.