Neuroplastic pain is a false alarm
Neuroplastic pain is a symptom of Mind Body Syndrome, which is a stress illness.
There is nothing physically wrong with the body. It is caused by repressed emotional pain we have not dealt with.
These repressed emotions are in our subconscious minds. We are unaware of them.
Our subconscious brain alerts the conscious minds that it is in emotional pain.
Our conscious mind misinterprets this as dangerous and gets us to take notice by giving us something we won't ignore - pain in our body!
Neuroplastic pain is caused by learned neural pathways in the brain that are not due to ongoing structural damage or disease in the body.
The brain misinterprets safe signals from the body, as if they are dangerous, and as a result produces neuroplastic pain or other medical unexplained symptoms.
Neuroplastic pain is fuelled by fear which in turn amplifies the pain, this causes the pain to continue well beyond normal healing time.
Long after an actual injury has healed, fear can trigger the learned neural networks associated with the past injury and generate neuroplastic pain.
The majority of chronic pain is neuroplastic pain, which is a maladaptive learned phenomenon - it is an unhelpful habit of the brain, which can be unlearned.
Neuroplastic pain has also been referred to as Neural Pathway Pain and Mindbody pain
Neuroplastic pain is a problem because it can ruin every aspect of your daily life and start to affect how you think feel act an interact with family, friends, and others.
There are four main ways that neuroplastic pain can begin to develop:
An actual structural injury that has since healed
A perceived injury or belief that something is structurally wrong with the body
Any adverse, stressful, or traumatic experience from childhood onwards
Insidious onset
An actual structural injury that has since healed
Neuroplastic pain can begin with a structural injury. The majority of physical injuries heal within a few weeks to a few months.
General healing times are as follows:
Skin healing 2 - 4 weeks
Muscle healing 1-6 weeks
Bone healing 4 - 8 weeks
Tendon healing 8 - 10 weeks
Ligament healing 12 - 16 weeks
Spinal discs - 80% heal in 6 months
After an injury has healed the brain still maintains the neural pathways associated with pain. The fear factor fuels the pain to be amplified and maintained post normal healing time.
A perceived injury or belief that something is structurally wrong with the body
The fear factor fuels the pain to be created, amplified, and maintained
The primary fear that people with chronic pain is that something must be structurally wrong with their body that is causing their pain or symptoms to occur
Any adverse, stressful, or traumatic experience from childhood onwards
Any situation that can activate the danger circuits in our brain, which has the ability to create and maintain pain and other Psychophysiologic Disorder (PPD) symptoms.
Insidious onset
No definitive acute injury or perceived injury
No obvious adverse, stressful, or traumatic experience from childhood onwards
People with insidious neuroplastic pain commonly have the personality traits prone to self-criticism, worrying, and placing a lot of pressure on themselves
They are conscientious, people pleasing, perfectionists, prone to anxiousness, with brains on high alert, that feel emotionally in danger
When the brain feels emotionally in danger, it can trigger and maintain physical pain
Before a diagnosis of neuroplastic pain is made, you must have undergone appropriate medical testing by a medically qualified doctor to rule out any organic cause of their symptoms (such as cancer, inflammatory conditions, and fractures).
Types of neuroplastic pain
Back pain
Pelvic pain
Vulvodynia
Chronic abdominal pain
Interstitial cystitis (Irritable bladder syndrome / overactive bladder)
Neck pain
Whiplash
Knee pain
Patellofemoral syndrome
Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome
Chronic tendonitis (in any joint)
Piriformis syndrome
Repetitive strain injury
Foot pain syndromes
Myofascial pain syndrome
Amplified Musculoskeletal Pain Syndrome (AMPS)
Fibromyalgia
Migraines and Tension headaches
Trigeminal Neuralgia
Complex regional pain syndrome (Reflex sympathetic dystrophy)
Osteoarthritis (does not include rheumatoid conditions)
Other symptoms or conditions that can be neuroplastic include:
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) / myalgic encephalitis (ME)
Irritable bowel syndrome
Paraesthesias (numbness, tingling, burning)
Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
Dizziness
Persistent genital arousal disorders (PGAD)
Chronic cough
Spastic dysphonia
Chronic hives
Hypersensitivity syndromes (to touch, sound, smells, foods, medications)
Chronic Insomnia
Inappropriate sinus tachycardia
Gastritis
Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)
Before a diagnosis of neuroplastic pain is made, you must have undergone appropriate medical testing by a medically qualified doctor to rule out any organic cause of your symptoms (such as cancer, inflammatory conditions, and fractures).
Medically unexplained symptoms are common, accounting for up to 45% of all GP appointments and almost 50% of all new visits to hospital clinics in the UK.
The annual cost to the UK economy is over £14 billion.
Over 43% of the UK population now suffers from some form of chronic pain, most of which has no clear medical cause.
Hundreds of thousands more suffer from other unexplained symptoms such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, or digestive issues.
Modern medicine tends to focus on treating individual symptoms of chronic conditions rather than looking at the overall picture.
There is a lack of a holistic mind body approach.
Collectively these are known as Psychophysiologic Disorders (PPD) and the symptoms include chronic pain, medically unexplained symptoms, chronic functional syndromes, and somatisation disorders.
PPD is any illness caused by past or present psychosocial stress in the absence of injury or organ disease.
Different names: same problem
PPD has had many names and descriptions over the years including:
Central Sensitization
Mind Body Syndrome(MBS)
Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS)
Neural Pain Pathway Disorder
Before a diagnosis of PPD is made, the patient must have undergone appropriate medical testing by a medically qualified doctor to rule out any organic cause of their symptoms (such as cancer, inflammatory conditions, and fractures).
PPD symptoms are thought to be caused by learned neural pathways as an adaption to previous stressors, traumas, and repressed emotions. The process of PPD is likely to have begun as a protective mechanism to help the individual navigate through life by keeping these stressors out of conscious awareness.
Over time, the symptoms become problematic and disruptive. Pain and other symptoms are as real and debilitating as any organic injury or illness.
Chronic pain is any pain that has lasted a long time - pain that might or might not be associated with any injury, tissue damage or disease, or that may persist long after tissues heal, or any underlying disease is treated (usually 3 - 6 months).
In chronic pain, changes occur in the way in which your nervous system interprets pain and other normal input or information. This is because your nervous system is not hard wired but capable of constant change.
This capacity to constantly change is known as neuroplasticity and sometimes these changes mean that your pain can become chronic and persistent, due not only to the neuroplasticity of your nervous system but other systems, including your immune and endocrine systems.
These neuroplastic changes in your nervous system cause and contribute to your chronic pain.
Any acute pain is not suitable for our program.
Acute pain is generally accepted as pain that lasts for up to a period of three months, after you sustain an injury, sprain, or fracture to:
Soft tissue
Muscle
Bone
Tendon
Ligament
Pain during this period is usually as a result of the injury, inflammation, and the healing process.
Acute and chronic pain from infections (including COVID -19), cancer and rheumatoid conditions are not suitable for our program.
Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of illness, some people experience post-COVID conditions.
These post-COVID conditions may also be known as long COVID, long-haul COVID, post-acute COVID-19.
Until more is known about any of these conditions, they are not suitable for our program.
You must consult your General Practitioner or Medical Specialist for a diagnostic assessment and treatment of any organic condition.
You must consult your General Practitioner or Psychiatrist for a diagnostic assessment and treatment of any Mental Health Condition.
Sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between structural pain and neuroplastic pain.
Neuroplastic clues :
- Symptoms are not related to any identifiable confirmed organ disease or structural damage (organic cause) and as such fall into the category of medically unexplained symptoms and/or the treatments you've been offered have only provided partial and temporary relief
- Despite experiencing different persistent and troublesome symptoms and consulting with multiple healthcare professionals, you haven't yet received a clear diagnosis
- You have been told you have multiple food allergies or sensitivities , but the treatment offered has either not worked or worsened your symptoms
- You have been told your symptoms may be stress related or all in your head.
Symptoms that:
- Persist long after an injury has healed (usually 6 - 12 weeks, but up to 6 months for spinal discs)
- Are in a distribution pattern that is symmetrical
- Occur on one whole side of the body or occur on half of the face, head, or torso
- Spread over time to different areas of the body
- Radiate to the opposite side of the body or down a whole leg or arm
- That occur in many different body parts (multiple symptoms) and have different quality (e.g., headache and bloating)
- That have the quality of tingling, electric shock, burning, numbness, heat or cold
Symptoms that are inconsistent and:
- Shift or migrate from one location in the body to another
- Are more or less intense depending on the time of day, or occur upon awakening or while asleep (variable intensity)
- Occur after, but not during, activity or exercise
- Occur when one thinks about them
- Occur when stress is increased
- Are minimal or non-existent when engaged in joyful or distracting activities
- Are minimal or non-existent after some kind of therapy, such as massage, chiropractic, reiki, acupuncture etc (placebo response)
Symptoms that are triggered:
- By things that are not related to the actual symptom, such as foods, smells, sounds, light, computer screens, menstrual periods, changes in the weather
- By the anticipation of stress or actual stress
- By simply imagining engaging in the pain triggering activity, such as bending over, turning the neck, sitting, or standing
- By light touch or innocuous stimuli, such as the wind or cold
You may have certain Neuroplastic personality characteristics
You may have a history of chronic stress, depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
You may have a history of Adverse Childhood Experiences or childhood adversity.
Continuous or long-term stress can lead to health problems and make many physical conditions worse.
In some people, stress alone can cause physical symptoms including neuroplastic pain.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to learn from and adapt to different experiences.
It is a dynamic process of physiological (and physical) changes in our brains, that occurs as the result of our interactions with our environment.
A reorganisation of brain connections in response to our changing needs.
Our brains form new connections and pathways and rewire new circuits by reorganizing connections via structural remodelling—via so-called wiring and rewiring.
Neuroplasticity is essential for normal brain development; it helps create functional brain circuits and is the basis of learning.
This is why acquiring a new skill, such as speaking a language or playing a musical instrument, is much easier in childhood than in adulthood.
Young brains are much better at learning and adaptation.
The fundamental principles underpinning positive neuroplasticity include:
Focused attention
Consistent and repeated engagement
Determination
Hard work
Motivation and
Maintaining overall brain health
These are the neuroplastic on switches
Disengaged, inattentive, distracted, lazy brains mean your neuroplastic switches are off.
The use it or lose it principle.
Neuroplasticity is an activity-driven process.
The more something is practiced, the more neutral pathways are changed and strengthened.
The key is progressive brain plasticity-based learning and consistent internal mental rehearsal.
Every thought, feeling or action we engage intriggers thousand of neurones that join together to form neural networks.
The more we engage in a particular thought, feeling or action, the more we strenghten asssosciated neural networks, the quicker signals can be processed, until eventually signals can be instantaneously processed.
Patterns of behaviour that are repeated become automatic, whereas patterns of behaviour that are interrupted dissipate.
This promotes learning-driven neuroplastic change - you brain remembers your best efforts, makes small changes, incremental adjustments and repetition of this process facilitates progressive improvement.
Neuroplastic pain is when the brain misinterprets safe signals from the body as if they are dangerous, and as a result produces pain via learned neural pathways.
This is an example of negative neuroplasticity.
Our program teaches your brain how to rewire positive neutral pathways to address this problem.
Mind Body Syndrome (MBS) is a stress illness
It is imperative that all possible causes of stress are identified, although many of these will be buried in the subconscious and will need to be accessed.
Continuous or long-term stress can lead to health problems and make many physical conditions worse. In some people, stress alone can cause physical symptoms that can be as severe as those caused by any other form of illness or injury.
Symptoms are not related to any confirmed organ disease or structural damage and as such fall into the category of medically unexplained symptoms.
As such MBS is a Functional Disorder (i.e. no identifiable organic cause).
Clues to a Functional Disorder include:
Symptoms that:
Begin without a physical precipitation
Persist after an injury has healed
Are in a distribution pattern that is symmetrical
Occur on one whole side of the body or occur on half of the face, head, or torso
Spread over time to different areas of the body
Radiate to the opposite side of the body or down a whole leg or arm
That occur in many different body parts
That have the quality of tingling, electric, burning, numb, hot, or cold
Symptoms that are inconsistent and:
Shift from one location in the body to another
Are more or less intense depending on the time of day, or occur upon awakening or while asleep
Occur after, but not during, activity or exercise
Occur when one thinks about them
Occur when stress is increased
Are minimal or non-existent when engaged in joyful or distracting activities
Are minimal or non-existent after some kind of therapy, such as massage, chiropractic, reiki, acupuncture, an herbal, or vitamin supplement
Symptoms that are triggered:
By things that are not related to the actual symptom, such as foods, smells, sounds, light, computer screens, menses, changes in the weather
By the anticipation of stress, such as prior to school, work, a doctor's visit, a medical test, a visit to a relative, or a social gathering; or during those activities
By simply imagining engaging in the triggering activity, such as bending over, turning the neck, sitting, or standing
By light touch or innocuous stimuli, such as the wind or cold
Any of the following can occur alone or in combination and be recurring - all without an identified organic cause:
Heartburn, acid reflux
Abdominal pains
Irritable bowel syndrome
Tension headaches
Migraine headaches
Unexplained rashes
Fibromyalgia
Back, neck and/or shoulder pain
Repetitive stress injury
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD)
Temporomandibular joint syndrome(TMJ)
Chronic tendonitis
Facial pain
Numbness, tingling sensations
Fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome
Palpitations
Chest pain
Hyperventilation
Interstitial cystitis/spastic bladder (irritable bladder syndrome)
Pelvic pain
Muscle tenderness
Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)
Tinnitus
Dizziness
It is imperative that all possible causes of stress are identified, although many of these will be buried in the subconscious and will need to be accessed.
By finding connections between life stresses, core issues, and the onset of MBS symptoms, one can then identify the circumstances, thoughts, feelings or emotions and reactions to these.
This will help one understand the consequential negative results of this process.
Because we now know that the brain has the capacity and capability to change its neutral networks through neuroplasticity, all of the above can be addressed.
Whilst we cannot change what has happened to us in the past, we can change how we think and feel and react to these events and control our past, present, and even our future through a dedicated neuroplastic programmed approach.
The Pain Recovery Program is over 12 weeks via Zoom
Yes, we have clients all over the world.
All sessions are conducted in our virtual office via Zoom, so you are in the safety and comfort of your own home. With the knowledge that your confidentiality is at all times respected and protected.