The Nervous System and Chronic Pain: Why the Body Can Stay in Protection
Sometimes the body keeps protecting us long after the danger has passed.
This can be difficult to understand when you're living with chronic pain.
You may have healed from an injury. The inflammation may have settled. The tissues may no longer be damaged in the way they were initially.
And yet the pain remains.
You may find yourself wondering:
Why does my body still hurt when nothing seems to be wrong?
The answer isn't always simple. Chronic pain is complex, and pain is always real. But one piece of the puzzle that deserves attention is the nervous system.
Pain Is More Than a Signal From an Injured Body Part
We often think of pain as a straightforward message:
Something hurts → something is damaged → fix the damaged area.
Sometimes that is exactly what is happening.
But pain is not simply a measurement of tissue damage.
Pain is also influenced by the nervous system, our previous experiences, stress, sleep, emotions, movement, and our sense of safety.
The nervous system is constantly taking in information and deciding:
Is this safe? Is this a threat? Do I need to protect this body?
When the system has experienced injury, prolonged stress, illness, or repeated pain, it can become more protective.
And sometimes, that protection can continue even when the original threat has changed.
The Body Can Learn Protection
Think about touching a hot stove.
You don't need to consciously think about what to do. Your body reacts before you have time to analyze the situation.
Protection is built into us.
We pull away.
We brace.
We tighten.
We change how we move.
These responses are incredibly useful when there is an immediate threat.
But what happens when the nervous system continues to interpret ordinary movement, pressure, or sensation as something that needs protecting?
The body may remain guarded.
Muscles may stay tense.
Breathing may become shallow.
Movement may become restricted.
You may begin to avoid certain movements because you have learned to associate them with pain.
Over time, the body can become very good at protecting you.
Sometimes, too good.
Chronic Pain Can Change How We Experience the Body
Living with pain for months or years can change your relationship with your body.
You may become hyper-aware of every sensation.
A small ache can feel threatening.
You may constantly scan your body:
Is it getting worse?
Why does my back feel like that?
Is my hip going to hurt today?
What did I do to cause this?
This doesn't mean the pain is imagined.
It means the nervous system has become very attentive to the possibility of threat.
And when a body has been hurting for a long time, that vigilance can become part of the pattern.
This Is Why I Don't Think We Should Fight the Body
This is also one of the reasons I don't approach chronic pain by simply trying to force the body into a different position.
More pressure isn't necessarily better.
More stretching isn't necessarily better.
And more effort isn't always the answer.
Sometimes the body needs something different.
It needs an opportunity to experience movement, sensation, and touch without having to defend itself.
This is where my approach to Bowen Therapy comes in.
Bowen Therapy and the Nervous System
Bowen Therapy uses gentle, precise movements through the soft tissue.
The work isn't about forcing the body into a correction.
I don't try to overpower tension.
I don't chase the painful area simply because that's where the pain is.
Instead, I work with the body as a whole and pay attention to how it responds.
There are pauses between movements.
Those pauses matter.
They give the body time to process what it has received rather than being continually stimulated.
For someone living with chronic pain, this can create a very different experience from treatments that are focused on doing more, pushing harder, or correcting something as quickly as possible.
The Goal Isn't to Convince Your Body That Nothing Is Wrong
I think this distinction is important.
When someone has chronic pain, telling them “There's nothing wrong with you” isn't helpful.
Their pain is real.
Their experience is real.
Instead, I want to understand what the body may be communicating.
What has it been protecting?
Where has it been holding?
What happens when we stop trying to force change and give the nervous system a little more room to respond?
Sometimes the body doesn't need to be told to relax.
It needs enough safety to discover that it can.
When the Body Doesn't Have to Stay on Guard
The nervous system is adaptable.
That means the patterns we've developed aren't necessarily permanent.
This doesn't mean chronic pain can always be resolved by calming the nervous system. Chronic pain is complex, and there can be many contributing factors.
But understanding the nervous system can change the way we approach pain.
Instead of asking only:
“How do I get rid of this pain?”
we can begin asking:
“What is my body trying to protect me from?”
That is a very different question.
And sometimes, a different question opens the door to a different response.
A Different Way of Working With Chronic Pain
This is the philosophy behind the way I work with Bowen Therapy for chronic pain.
I don't believe the body needs to be bullied into changing.
I believe it needs to be listened to.
Sometimes that means working directly with an area that hurts.
Sometimes it means working somewhere completely different.
And sometimes the most important thing we can do is slow down enough to notice what the body is already telling us.
If you're living with chronic pain and feel as though you've been chasing the pain from one place to another, you may benefit from a different approach.
I explore this idea more deeply in my article [Bowen Therapy for Chronic Pain: Why I Don't Chase the Pain].
I offer Bowen Therapy from my private studio in Mississauga, Ontario, where each session is adapted to the person in front of me.
The body is not the enemy.
It has been trying to protect you.
Sometimes, it simply needs to learn that it doesn't have to stay on guard forever.