The Science Behind Pain

Let’s start with this truth: pain is 100% real, but it’s also 100% produced by your brain.

That doesn’t mean you’re imagining it — it means your brain and nervous system are in charge of deciding when to hit the “pain” button. Your body sends lots of information up to your brain, but your brain decides how to interpret it.

Think of pain as your body’s “protective alarm system.” And sometimes, that alarm gets a little too good at its job.

Your Brain: The Overprotective Bodyguard

Your brain’s main job is to keep you safe, but it's not always accurate. If it even suspects danger, it sounds the pain alarm.

For example:

• You stub your toe and your brain sets off fireworks.

• Months after an ankle sprain, it still hurts, but the tissues are healed.

  
  

That’s your nervous system being overly cautious. According to Dr. Lorimer Moseley, one of the leading researchers in pain neuroscience, chronic pain happens when the brain’s “danger alarm” becomes hypersensitive, sending pain signals even when there’s no tissue damage (Moseley & Butler, 2017).

In short: your brain means well, but it’s sometimes a little dramatic.

Pain ≠ Damage

This one surprises people all the time. Pain does not always equal injury.

Studies have shown that people can have major structural “abnormalities” — like herniated discs or torn rotator cuffs with zero pain. (Brinjikji et al., AJNR, 2015) Meanwhile, a paper cut hurts like your finger may fall off, even though it’s barely a blip on the medical radar.

Pain is influenced by a mix of things:

• Physical input: signals from the tissues and nerves

• Emotional state: stress, anxiety, fear

• Previous pain experiences: never been injured compared to several injuries

• Thoughts and beliefs: “This pain means I’m broken” vs. “This is my body protecting me”

All of those factors change how loud the brain turns up the pain volume.

Neuroplasticity: The Brain’s Secret Superpower

Here’s the good news — your brain can retrain itself.

Thanks to neuroplasticity (the brain’s ability to reorganize and form new connections), your nervous system can learn new, healthier patterns. Just like you can learn a new language, your brain can learn new “pain rules.”

In physical therapy, we use movement, education, and gradual exposure to help rewire those pathways. It’s kind of like teaching your smoke alarm not to go off every time you make toast. Pain neuroscience education combined with movement retraining has been shown to reduce pain and fear while improving function (Louw et al., Physiotherapy Theory and Practice, 2016).

How to Calm the Overprotective Alarm System

You can’t “turn off” pain with one magic stretch, but you can teach your brain to chill out.

Start small:

• Move safely and regularly.

• Learn about your pain.

• Breathe, sleep, and give your system time to reset.

  
  

Consistency builds confidence — and confidence rewires the brain.

The Big Takeaway

Pain is your brain’s protective mechanism, not a direct measure of damage. Understanding how it works gives you power to move, recover, and live with less fear!