Chronic pain: Why it’s not "all in your head", but involves your brain

Pain as a sensation is natural and something we’ve all experienced. Whether it's a stubbed toe, a sore back, a fall, recovering from an injury or operation as examples, we all know how it feels.

The time pain takes to subside varies; however, some pain can last a long time even when tissues have or appear to have healed. Often that can be when an individual enters the much-misunderstood world of chronic pain. As physiotherapists, we want to help you understand this sensation better, and where appropriate to seek help in alleviating the position.

Looking at the topic further, there are some important points to consider about how your brain and body work together when it comes to pain.

Chronic pain is usually defined as any pain that lasts longer than three months, and as you might anticipate, longer than the typical healing time for most injuries. It can be constant or come and go and can occur in most areas, even if there is not an obvious injury.

A key point though is that chronic pain doesn’t always mean that tissue damage is still happening. Many will know that pain is a protective mechanism created by the brain and not just a signal from your body. With chronic pain, the brain becomes extra sensitive, almost like an alarm system. This is called central sensitisation, and it’s a real, physiological change in how the nervous system works.

Sometimes the brain and the messaging can go into overdrive, almost making a client feel that they are imagining the pain. This is not the case, and the pain is very real. What we do know is that pain is often complex and can be influenced by many individual issues such as:

• Previous injuries

• Stress and anxiety

• Sleep quality & diet

• Beliefs and fears about movement

• Lack of movement or overprotection

How can physiotherapy help?

As you might anticipate, help is at hand through physiotherapy care.

In most cases, the nervous system can re-learn, and this is referred to as neuroplasticity, a very exciting topic area of modern physiotherapy practice. Research shows that when people learn how pain works, their symptoms often improve, even before starting exercise.

Contact us

If you would like to know more about physiotherapy care, or some of the topics touched on above, then please do get in contact with Life Made Simple Physiotherapy. However your need for physiotherapy or acupuncture within physiotherapy arises, we look forward to helping you with your needs, tailored to your personal circumstances.

Our services are detailed on our website here: https://www.lifemadesimple.co.uk/our-services , and please feel free to call us on 07309 272 555 or email Physio@Lifemadesimple.co.uk.

Life Made Simple - expert physiotherapy in Guildford and Surrey.