Researchers have found an entirely new system related to touch hidden beneath our skin. The study, published in the journal Pain, suggests that this network may play a pivotal role in diseases that cause chronic pain, such as intense migraines and fibromyalgia.
The sensory network is completely separate from the long nerves nestled beneath our skin that send back signals of textures, temperature, and pain to our brains. That traditional system is a workhorse, gathering in all the data in such an effective manner that someone with a normally functioning touch system would never know that a second one was there.
But what about someone without a functioning touch system? When David Bowsher, MD, of University of Liverpool's Pain Research Institute diagnosed two patients with a rare form of an already rare disease, it was clear that something odd was happening. The patients had congenital insensitivity to pain. Most who have the condition struggle to feel anything, have injured themselves severely, and have some form of a mental handicap. But besides a lack of pain, the only issue with these patients was excessive sweating.
“For all intents and purposes, they had adequate sensation for daily living and could tell what is warm and cold, what is touching them, and what is rough and smooth,"said Bowsher. [EurekAlert]
He decided to send samples of the patient's skin across the Atlantic to Frank Rice, PhD at Albany Medical College, who specializes in pain studies. Inside that skin, there was a mystery. There weren't any of the normal nerves that tell us when something is frigid to the touch or that our cell phone is vibrating. But others were there, sensory nerves on the blood vessels and sweat glands.
"For many years, my colleagues and I have detected different types of nerve endings on tiny blood vessels and sweat glands, which we assumed were simply regulating blood flow and sweating. We didn't think they could contribute to conscious sensation. However, while all the other sensory endings were missing in this unusual skin, the blood vessels and sweat glands still had the normal types of nerve endings. Apparently, these unique individuals are able to 'feel things' through these remaining nerve endings," said Rice. "What we learned from these unusual individuals is that there's another level of sensory feedback that can give us conscious tactile information.” [EurekAlert]
Though discovered in those who feel little pain, researchers wonder if the new system can help explain problems in those that feel too much pain. Diseases with chronic pain like fibromyalgia and migraines have unknown causes, which makes thier treatments fairly ineffective. More research into the sensory system is needed, though, for it is a truly unique phenomenon.
"It's almost like hearing the subtle sound of a single instrument in the midst of a symphony," said Rice. "It is only when we shift focus away from the nerve endings associated with normal skin sensation that we can appreciate the sensation hidden in the background." [EurekAlert]
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