Building Bulletproof Backs Ep 29 - The New ‘Sng’ Pain Pathway and What It Means for Back Pain Sufferers

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Welcome to the 29 th episode of the Building a Bulletproof Back podcast.

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This podcast aims to empower listeners with HOPE that healing is possible when you know how. We discuss strategic tools addressing mindset, movement & emotional health.

I am your host, Marion McRae,  physiotherapist, psychedelic assisted therapist,  & movement addict on a mission to see the existing model of treating back pain evolve. 

In this round-table with Dr Guy Bewick (Univ. of Aberdeen), Prof Chih-Cheng Chen (Academia Sinica), Dr Robert Banks (Durham University), and Dr Jiann-Her Lin (Taipei Medical University Hospital), we explore research showing that chronic, muscle-type soreness, called “sng” in Taiwanese/Mandarin, runs on a separate physiological pathway from sharp, injury-type pain. The team describe how glutamate released in muscle can drive a distinct circuit, why standard painkillers often miss it, and how a newly identified glutamate receptor target could open drug development for conditions like fibromyalgia, DOMS, rheumatoid arthritis pain, and persistent pain post surgery.

Research Link - https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/24440/

What we cover

• What “sng” means culturally and clinically, and how it differs from sharp pain. 
• Evidence that proprioceptive pathways (not classic nociceptors) can carry sng-type signals.
• The muscle glutamate → unusual receptor mechanism; blocking it stopped chronic pain signalling in models. 

Key takeaways

• Different pathway, different tools: The “ache/sour” sng signal often doesn’t respond to common analgesics because it’s not the same pathway as sharp pain. New drug targets are now on the table. 
• Why some patients don’t fit the script: Post-surgery or long-standing back pain can persist as sng even when scans look fine and sharp pain has eased. 

Guests

• Dr Guy Bewick, University of Aberdeen (neuroscience of muscle receptors & glutamate signalling). 
• Prof Chih-Cheng Chen, Academia Sinica (pain biology; led the broader sng program). 
• Dr Robert Banks, Durham University (long-time collaborator on muscle spindle physiology). 
• Dr Jiann-Her Lin, Taipei Medical University Hospital (spine surgery; clinical observations of sng in patients). 

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