Ideas worth spreading

The mystery of chronic pain

2,160,461 views | Elliot Krane • TED2011

We think of pain as a symptom, but there are cases where the nervous system develops feedback loops and pain becomes a terrifying disease in itself. Starting with the story of a girl whose sprained wrist turned into a nightmare, Elliot Krane talks about the complex mystery of chronic pain, and reviews the facts we're just learning about how it works and how to treat it.

We think of pain as a symptom, but there are cases where the nervous system develops feedback loops and pain becomes a terrifying disease in itself. Starting with the story of a girl whose sprained wrist turned into a nightmare, Elliot Krane talks about the complex mystery of chronic pain, and reviews the facts we're just learning about how it works and how to treat it.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

About the speaker

Elliot Krane

Pediatric anesthesiologist

See speaker profile

At the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford, Elliot Krane works on the problem of treating pain in children.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.