The old-fashioned theory views pain as a direct result of tissue damage or injury. It assumes a linear relationship between the severity of the injury and the intensity of pain.
Modern pain science says that pain functions as an [over] protective warning system, and signals from damaged tissues are only one factor of many the brain uses to create the experience of pain.
One of the world’s leading authorities on the neuroscience of pain, Dr. Lorimer Moseley, puts it like this: “Pain is always, 100% of the time – no exceptions – created by your brain.”
“Pain scientists are starting to think differently about pain and its causes. And we’re making exciting discoveries… Like how the way you think about your pain can change the way it feels,” says Moseley.
The challenge is to convince our brains that there’s no need for alarm. Through techniques like graded exposure to movement, cognitive behavioural therapy
(CBT) and pain education, we can reshape how the brain processes pain.
Understanding that pain is affected by thoughts, feelings, moods and beliefs; knowing that pain can be turned up by anything that triggers a protection response and turned down by anything that makes our system feel safe, can make a significant difference to the way we experience pain.
Does this mean that we can think pain away? Probably not, because conscious minds are not the boss of busy brains. However, we do have some neurological leverage in that we can influence pain indirectly if we understand it.
Apropos of which, you may find these short videos interesting: