Do you wake up every day with the same feeling of dread?
Your back is hurting again.
You barely slept for the fourth night on the bounce.
Is this ever going to change?!
You have trawled the internet for hours and spoken to endless specialists.
Doctors tell you that your condition is for life and it has to be “managed”.
I know what it is like to stumble around in the darkness of feeling like you will be pain forever.
Let me help you turn on the light.
Your pain IS NOT IN YOUR HEAD
Have you ever been looked at by a medical professional like you’re crazy and asked “Are you sure you are feeling that?”
**trigger shame, embarrassment, anger, and despair**
An experience like this leaves you far less likely to seek the support that you need for your condition.
However, anyone who judges your pain as “in your head” acts judgmentally, dismissively, and ignorantly of chronic pain science.
All pain is real.
Your brain processes all pain.
You can’t imagine it.
You can’t make it up.
How do we know that?
Brain scans show that imagining pain doesn’t activate the same areas of the brain as physical or hypnotically-induced pain, meaning that it is impossible to imagine your pain.
So, next time someone is rude and implies your pain is “made up”, you now have the evidence that your pain is real which you can (and should) show them!
Neuroimages of different brain areas with different types of induced pain
Being in chronic pain is NOT YOUR FAULT
Do you have any of these thoughts?
“Urgh, I’ve overdone it again!”
“I shouldn’t have eaten that.”
“There must be something wrong with me.”
“I haven’t been following the exercise plan well enough!”
These are common and understandable responses to unrelenting pain.
However, I’d give you my life savings if you choose to be in chronic pain.
Let’s be real—most people in chronic pain spend loads of money and try every conceivable treatment to get better.
**my stomach clenches as I remember how many £s I spent trying to feel better…**
These are the factors that lead to chronic pain:
- Stress: Our body responds to pressure which includes physical, emotional, and environmental discomfort.
- Injuries: Any event that damages tissue in our body (we all will get an injury or two in our lives!)
- Sensitization: Any event in childhood that makes us feel unsafe.
We don’t choose our stress, whether we get injured, and how we are treated as a child.
We don’t choose to be in chronic pain.
Your chronic pain can GET BETTER
Really?!
Even after years of suffering with pain?!
Even after trying every treatment under the sun?!
YES! Your pain can get better.
Let’s see how that is possible.
Chronic pain has two causes:
- Inflammatory pain that ongoing physical injury, tumours, fracture, or nerve damage creates
- Brain-induced pain (neural pathways)
Contrary to popular opinion, 80-95% of people with chronic pain don’t have a structural problem causing their pain.
And, almost every adult that has an MRI will have some sign of degradation in their spine – without being in pain!
*Chronic pain is real no matter the cause*
This is why conventional treatments that focus on the body frequently don’t provide long-term relief (e.g. surgery, physiotherapy, massage, pain medication) – they don’t treat the root cause!
Do you want to hear the good news?
You can reverse brain-induced pain using simple and safe techniques that anyone can learn.
Let’s dive into the science to back these claims up!
The Science (in bite-sized chunks)
1. The Reason for Pain
Take yourself back to being a child and touching a pan heating up on the stove.
You feel curious as you reach out but as soon as you touch it you experience an uncomfortable burning sensation.
You pull your hand away as quick as you can.
Now you are crying for your mum who rushes up and gets your hand under cold water.
Why did you cry?
As you touched the hot pan, your body sent a signal to your brain which created pain saying, “You are in danger—move your hand!”
In fact, pain has evolved to keep us safe.
What happens if we can’t experience pain?
We tend to have more injuries from accidents, higher rates of infections, and have overall lower life spans compared to people who can experience pain.
So pain is an effective way to protect us.
2. Our Brains Danger/Alarm Mechanism
Have you ever been in a building when the fire alarm goes off?
Impossible to ignore isn’t it.
Which is a good darn thing as getting away from fire is a matter of life or death!
The same goes for pain— it’s a message that we can’t ignore.
Pain is the response of our brain’s danger/alarm system when it has assessed that a situation is dangerous. Interestingly, this system can be activated by either a physical injury or an emotional threat.
And if the system activates… blam! You experience pain or fatigue or another symptom that is telling you: “You are not safe!”
But what does this have to do with chronic pain?
3. The Link with Chronic Pain
Some of us grew up in unsafe environments. These can involve amongst others experiences:
- Not being allowed to be angry, sad, or express ‘negative’ emotions
- Having unpredictable caregivers
- Living in a household filled with conflict
These experiences sensitize the danger/alarm system which creates pain to protect us from stressful life events without any damage to the body.
Over time, we build up and constantly activate the neural pathways that fire “PAIN!” as we feel unsafe everywhere.
Fear creates pain.
Pain creates fear.
And we get caught in the middle of a vicious self-reinforcing loop.
This is how brain-induced chronic pain develops.
We can break this cycle by utilising our brains neuroplasticity – it’s lifelong ability to learn and change.
We can learn to feel safe.
And as we do…
Our brains stop creating persistent pain.
We become free.
4. Real People, Real Chronic Pain, and Real Effects
Sounds good in theory right… but does retraining the brain actually work for real people in real pain?
Researchers call the method of retraining the brain Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and a recent study looked at it’s effectiveness.
The Study Details:
- 150 people with an average of 10 years of back pain
- Three treatment groups: Usual Treatment, Placebo Injection, PRT
- A clinical physician assessed 95% of the PRT group to have no structural cause for their pain
- The PRT group received 8 counselling sessions *just 8 hours of therapy!*
And most importantly… *drum roll please*
THE RESULTS:
- 2/3 of the PRT treatment group became pain-free after their sessions
- The PRT group experienced a significant decrease in pain in comparison with the other treatments
- These outcomes remained 6 months post-treatment.
These results fill me with hope.
Chronic conditions don’t have to be a life sentence.
Recovery is possible.
The Power of Understanding
The start of any journey requires gaining knowledge that you need to take the first step forward.
Use these three messages to guide your first step forward.
Let them seep into your heart and mind until they are second nature.
You have begun the process of retraining your danger/alarm system and reducing your symptoms.
Do you want to know if you are a fit for neuroplastic chronic pain treatment? This free guide outlines the 10 common signs that your chronic symptoms are neuroplastic and will help you take the first step towards the recovery you deserve.
You have my warmest of wishes until next time,
Ed