Pain: Is it all in your head?
Your body contains forty five miles of nerves. Nerves connect all body parts to the spinal cord so messages can be sent from your tissues to your brain for analysis. One hundred percent of the time pain is a construct of your brain.
There are two types of pain, acute and chronic. Acute pain is sudden and sharp. It lasts less than three months and indicates that there is tissue damage. Chronic pain, also known as persistent pain, is categorized as a pain lasting more than three months. Pain persists even when tissue damage is resolved and there is no longer danger. It is less about structural change and more about sensitivity of the nervous system.
Pain is like an alarm system. It is important to have that alarm ringing when there is an immediate danger that needs your attention, like a notification to get your foot off that nail you are stepping on. Chronic pain happens when that alarm system does not fully turn back off. The alarm system becomes more sensitive with time. If your alarm system first went off because you were stepping on a nail, in a chronic pain situation, that same alarm might go off when you step on a small pebble because it is now more sensitive. The alarm system may also wake up the neighbors. If your pain alarm started going off because you have low back pain, as chronic pain persists, the neighboring body parts, like the hips or knees, might start hurting too, even though there is no tissue damage there.
Essentially, pain is an output of the brain, not something that comes from the tissues of your body. Pain does not equal tissue damage. It is designed to protect you but sometimes that protective mode goes on for longer than is needed.
If you have been dealing with chronic low back pain or chronic neck pain, schedule a free discovery call with Balanced Physical Therapy. Let’s chat to see if we are a good fit to help you turn that alarm system off and get back to doing what you love!
If you are interested in learning more about how pain works, check out this interesting video from Lorimer Moseley, one of the world’s top pain experts.