Breaking Free from Chronic Pain: The Surprising Truth About Reversing Your Pain and Reclaiming Your Life

Discover the science behind neuroplastic pain and how you can overcome it to live pain-free, starting today.

Photo by Markos Mant on Unsplash

Do you live with chronic pain that robs you of your quality of life?

Do you feel misunderstood and powerless against pain that never seems to end?

If so, I understand. I’ve been there.

There was a time when I felt utterly isolated by my pain. People couldn’t see it, couldn’t grasp the depths of what I was experiencing. Friends and family might say, “But you look fine!”—yet every day was a struggle. My future felt bleak, weighed down by questions like, “How will I ever enjoy life again with this pain?” And despite trying everything—doctors, physiotherapy, osteopathy—nothing worked. I thought, “Maybe this is just how things will be forever” and “this what happens when you get old”.

But here’s the thing: It doesn’t have to be. There is hope. You don’t have to endure your symptoms forever. You can understand and tame your pain. It is possible to reclaim your life—and I’m here to show you how.

My Journey Through Pain

For two years, I lived with debilitating chronic pain. I had intense back pain, a stiff neck, and sciatica that made even basic movements excruciating. Despite endless consultations and therapies, nothing helped. In fact, it seemed like the more I tried, the worse it got. Sound familiar?

Then, I stumbled across something that would change my life. I discovered mind-body approaches and the groundbreaking work of experts like Alan Gordon and Dr Schubiner. What I learned was a revelation: My pain was neuroplastic. In other words, it was persistent, but there was no ongoing physical cause—it stemmed from my nervous system misfiring.

The day I realized this, everything shifted. These pains that I thought were my future turned out to be reversible. Today, I am completely pain-free. I move freely, practice yoga, hike, swim, and have a life filled with joy and excitement.

That experience didn’t just change my life; it gave me a mission. Now, as a therapist, I help others break free from the chains of chronic pain using a unique, holistic approach.

Challenging Common Misconceptions About Pain

For so long, we’ve been taught to believe that pain equals damage. We assume that if something hurts, there must be a physical injury, right?

Wrong.

Here are a few myths that may surprise you:

Myth 1: Pain = Injury

Many of us have been taught to believe that pain is a direct sign of injury or damage to the body. If something hurts, the logical conclusion is that something is physically wrong—right? However, in the case of chronic pain, this belief is often misleading.

Chronic pain is different from acute pain, which is the body’s natural response to an injury or a threat. Acute pain serves a purpose: it protects you by alerting you to damage, like when you touch something hot or sprain your ankle. But with chronic pain, the situation is more complicated. Your body may have healed from the initial injury, or there may never have been an injury to begin with. The pain persists because your nervous system has become overly sensitised, reacting as if there’s still a danger when none exists.

This is what makes chronic pain so confusing. Your body may feel like it’s injured, but there’s often no physical issue at play. The pain is very real, but it’s driven by the brain’s misinterpretation of signals, not by ongoing tissue damage.

Myth 2: Pain Is a Fact

We tend to think of pain as an indisputable fact: If I feel it, something must be wrong. But in the context of chronic pain, just because you feel it doesn’t mean it reflects a current physical problem.

The brain is a powerful organ, and its role in interpreting pain is crucial. Pain is not just a mechanical response to an injury; it’s influenced by a range of factors including your emotions, past experiences, and even your thoughts. For example, stress or anxiety can amplify your perception of pain. When you’re in a heightened state of fear, your brain may interpret harmless sensations as dangerous, thereby increasing your pain levels.

Imagine this scenario: You stub your toe on a day when you’re feeling stressed and overwhelmed. The pain may seem worse than it would on a relaxed, calm day. That’s your brain amplifying the sensation based on the context. In chronic pain, this amplification can go on for months or even years, even when the body itself is not in danger.

Myth 3: The Body Creates the Pain

In neuroplastic pain, the pain doesn’t start in the body—it originates in the brain.This doesn’t mean the pain is “all in your head,” but rather that the brain is misinterpreting signals from the body. The brain’s job is to protect you by assessing whether or not a part of your body is in danger, and sometimes it gets this wrong.

When your nervous system becomes over-sensitized—often due to past traumas, stress, or a prolonged state of anxiety—your brain can start misfiring, sending pain signals even when there’s no physical issue to protect against. This is neuroplastic pain, and it explains why you might feel pain even though there’s no longer an injury or structural problem.

What’s even more surprising? Studies show that many people without any pain symptoms still have abnormalities on their medical scans. For example, a large study revealed that 67% of people without back pain had abnormalities like disc herniation on their MRI scans. This suggests that just because you have an abnormal scan doesn’t mean it’s causing your pain. Many of these so-called “structural problems” (like herniated discs or arthritis) might exist without ever causing any pain. In other words, structural abnormalities do not necessarily lead to pain.

This disconnect between structural issues and pain is why some people with terrible-looking MRI scans can live pain-free, while others with “perfect” scans might suffer from chronic pain. The brain, not the body, is often the primary source of the problem.

By dispelling these myths, it becomes clear that understanding and treating chronic pain requires a shift in focus—from trying to fix the body, to retraining the brain. This is the core of neuroplastic pain treatment: learning to calm the nervous system and reshape how the brain interprets pain signals.

It’s empowering to realise that your pain is not necessarily a life sentence of physical damage—there is a way to retrain your brain and break free from the cycle of chronic pain.

How Chronic Pain Develops: The Role of the Nervous System

Have you heard of neuroception? It’s the body’s unconscious way of scanning the environment for threats—whether external (like fire or loud noises) or internal (such as viruses, tension, or, yes, pain). When your nervous system is on high alert, it’s more likely to interpret everyday sensations as dangerous.

Pain works like a security system. Normally, it alerts you to something that needs attention, like an injury. But when the nervous system becomes dysregulated due to stress, trauma, or fear, it can send out false alarms. The brain, based on past experiences, beliefs, and stressors, mistakenly decides that the body is in danger and triggers pain, even when there’s no physical harm.

Could Your Pain Be Neuroplastic?

If you’re wondering whether your pain is neuroplastic, ask yourself:

• Do you have a diagnosis without a clear cause?

Chronic pain often lingers even after tests show no structural problems. If doctors haven’t found a concrete physical issue, your pain could be due to the nervous system misfiring rather than ongoing damage.

• Did your pain start during or after a stressful time in your life?

Stress is a common trigger for neuroplastic pain. The nervous system becomes hyper-alert and may start sending out pain signals even without a physical cause.

• Does your pain appear without a clear reason or worsen for no apparent reason?

Unlike pain from an acute injury, neuroplastic pain can arise unexpectedly, without any clear physical trigger.

• Do your symptoms move around or change in intensity?

Neuroplastic pain is often inconsistent. You may notice that the pain shifts from one area of your body to another, or that it fluctuates in intensity throughout the day.

• Are your symptoms symmetrical or present in multiple places?

Pain that occurs on both sides of your body or in multiple locations at once is often a sign that the brain, rather than a specific injury, is responsible.

• Is your pain triggered or worsened by stress or emotional factors?

Emotional stress can worsen neuroplastic pain, since the brain interprets stress as a threat, ramping up the pain response. For example, if you notice your pain flaring up during anxious or stressful periods, this could be a sign of neuroplasticity at work.

• Do you experience delayed pain?

Neuroplastic pain can appear not during, but after, an activity—sometimes hours or even a day later. This is because the brain’s response is delayed, rather than immediate.

• Do you often feel emotions like anxiety, anger, or sadness along with your pain?

If your emotional state regularly ties into your pain, this suggests a connection between your brain’s emotional processing and the physical symptoms you’re experiencing. Neuroplastic pain is often linked to heightened emotional states.

• Do you have a personality that tends to be perfectionistic, overly conscientious, or self-critical?

Certain personality traits, like being hard on yourself, constantly striving for perfection, or always trying to please others, are associated with neuroplastic pain. These traits can lead to a more heightened stress response, keeping the nervous system in an overactive state.

• Have you noticed any inconsistencies in your pain that don’t seem to make sense?

Neuroplastic pain is often illogical. For example, you might feel fine while walking but experience intense pain while sitting down, even though sitting is less physically demanding. These inconsistencies suggest that the pain is driven by the brain’s misinterpretation of signals, rather than an injury or structural problem.

The Vicious Cycle of Pain and Fear

Pain often triggers fear. You might think, “What if this gets worse?” That thought creates stress, which heightens your body’s pain response. It’s a self-fulfilling cycle:

1. You feel pain.

2. You worry about the pain getting worse.

3. This worry triggers fear, which tightens your muscles and amplifies the pain.

4. You avoid certain activities, withdraw, or obsessively research solutions.

5. This only intensifies the pain.

Breaking Free: A Path to Healing

So, how do you break free from this cycle?

It’s simpler than you might think, though not always easy.

The key is to calm your nervous system and send it a message of safety. This is where practices like Somatic Tracking come in. Imagine your pain is like an explorer observing a rainforest. You’re not trying to escape it or fix it—you’re simply watching it with curiosity. What does it feel like? Is it sharp or dull? Does it move? This practice of curious observation helps deprogram your brain’s fear response to pain.

In this process, you also want to ground yourself in a place of safety and joy. Imagine a scene that brings you peace—whether it’s a cosy fire or a serene beach. As you meditate on your pain in this state of relaxation, you’re telling your brain, “This is just a false alarm. I’m safe.”

The Skills You Need:

1. Direction: Keep your long-term goal in mind—living a life free from chronic pain.

2. Intention: Focus on sending messages of safety to your nervous system.

3. Attention: Bring a light-hearted, relaxed attitude to your practice.

Imagine you’re about to embark on a grand sailing journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Your goal is clear: you want to reach a far-off destination, perhaps the shores of a beautiful tropical island where life is filled with ease and freedom. In the same way, your goal with chronic pain is to reach a place of healing, to live free from the pain that’s been holding you back. This is your Direction—your guiding star that keeps you moving forward no matter how rough the seas might get.

Now, as you sail, you know you can’t control the wind or the waves. You can’t stop the ocean from being unpredictable, just like you can’t force your nervous system to stop reacting to pain all at once. But what you can control is your Intention. In sailing, this means tending to your sails, watching the weather, adjusting your course in response to the currents and wind. You’re not fighting the elements; you’re working with them, making sure your boat stays balanced and on course. Similarly, when managing chronic pain, your intention is to send messages of safety to your nervous system—to constantly signal, “I’m okay, I’m safe,” just as you would adjust the sails to catch the wind in the right way. You don’t resist the sensations or fight against them, but instead, guide your body and mind back to a place of calm.

And then there’s the Attention you bring to the journey. Sailing isn’t just about getting to the destination; it’s also about enjoying the ride. You notice the beauty of the open sea, the feeling of the wind on your face, the rhythm of the waves. In managing chronic pain, this is the same light-hearted, relaxed attitude you want to bring to your practice. You’re not obsessing over each moment of discomfort; instead, you bring a sense of curiosity and ease to the process, focusing on the small joys along the way, like moments when the pain eases or the peace that comes from relaxation techniques. In other words, you learn to enjoy the ride.

In both sailing and in your journey with chronic pain, the key is in adjusting your approach—not trying to force things to happen but working with the natural flow of your body and environment. You can’t control every gust of wind or every wave that rises, but you can adjust your sails to make the journey smoother. Over time, your nervous system will begin to recalibrate, responding more to your messages of safety and less to the false alarms of pain. The seas may still get choppy from time to time, but with these three skills—Direction, Intention, and Attention—you’ll be well on your way to reaching your destination: a life free from chronic pain.

Take the First Step Toward Freedom

If these words resonate with you, take heart—this is your moment to begin your journey. You are not defined by your pain, and it doesn’t have to be your future. Chronic pain is not a life sentence; it’s simply a chapter in your story that you have the power to rewrite.

Imagine a life where pain no longer dictates your every move, where you wake up not with dread but with excitement for what the day holds. With the right approach, this is possible. You can heal, and you can rediscover the joy, the freedom, and the peace that pain has taken from you.

Healing is not about battling or conquering your pain. It’s about transforming your relationship with it, learning to navigate the waves with skill and grace. It’s about sending your body the message that you are safe, that you are in control, and that you can trust your own resilience.

You are not powerless. The capacity to live pain-free is within you, waiting to be unlocked. There is hope and your journey toward a life filled with light and freedom can start today.

Books to explore:

• The Way Out: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach to Healing Chronic Painby Alan Gordon

• Healing Back Pain by Dr John Sarno

If you’d like support on your journey, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out, and we can have a friendly chat to see if my personalised approach is the right fit for you.