Why Your Pain Hasn’t Resolved Yet

If You’ve Tried Everything for Your Pain and Nothing Has Helped, This Is Why

You have done everything that was asked of you. The stretching. The physiotherapy. The injections. The massage. The medications. The foam rollers. The breathing exercises. The supplements. The appointments. The referrals. The imaging. The wait lists. The second opinions. You have pushed through pain when you were told to be tough. You have rested when you were told to slow down. You have researched late into the night when no one else saw how afraid you were becoming. And still, despite all of your efforts, you are in pain.

Not because you failed. Not because your pain is “in your head.” Not because your body is weak. And certainly not because you didn’t try hard enough. Your pain has persisted because the explanation you were given for it was incomplete, regardless of what your imaging has shown. Whether your scans were totally normal, whether they revealed age-expected changes like disc bulges or degeneration, or whether you live with more significant structural issues, pain doesn’t always behave the way we were taught it should. And that is one of the biggest reasons people stay trapped in cycles of pain.

We are evolutionarily wired to believe that pain always equals injury or structural damage. It’s an understandable belief, especially when an MRI or X-ray picks up something that looks “abnormal.” Yet the majority of us, including 30 and 40 year-olds, have disc bulges, degeneration, arthritis, or narrowing on imaging, even when there is zero pain. These changes can be completely normal for age. Sometimes they contribute to pain, and more often they don’t. And when they don’t, the actual driver of the pain is coming from somewhere else entirely...the nervous system.

Pain Is Protective, Not Punishing

Pain is your nervous system’s alarm system. Its job is to keep you safe, and not only from physical threats. When the nervous system senses danger, physical or emotional, it turns up the alarm. Pain is that alarm.

If you’ve ever burned toast and set off the smoke alarm, you already understand chronic pain. In my home, even using the air fryer can sometimes set off the alarm. Not because there is a fire, but because the alarm is overly sensitive and reacts as though the kitchen is in crisis. Your nervous system can become just as reactive. It can send pain signals even when your body is safe, and not because something is wrong with you but because the system has become overprotective.

Your pain is real.
And real pain does not always mean the body is damaged.

Three Groups of Pain That All Matter

Across thousands of research studies and countless clients, chronic pain sufferers tend to fall into one of three groups:

1. People whose imaging shows “nothing wrong.”
Their bodies are structurally sound, but their nervous system is stuck in high-alert mode.

2. People with mild or age-expected findings.
These results are extremely common and often harmless. Yet the moment people read “bulge,” “degeneration,” or “arthritis,” the brain latches onto it as the cause, and the nervous system becomes even more protective.

3. People with significant structural issues.
Yes, meaningful structural changes can create real pain, but the severity and persistence of the pain often exceed what the structure alone explains. In these cases, both the body and the nervous system contribute to the experience.

No matter which group you fall into, one truth holds...the nervous system always influences pain and can amplify it or calm it.

Why Your Treatments Haven’t Worked (Yet)

Almost every pain treatment focuses on the body - the muscles, joints, fascia, and discs. And these approaches are helpful when the pain is purely structural. But when the nervous system is involved (which it is in the vast majority of chronic pain cases), body-based treatments alone simply cannot create lasting change.

Your treatments didn’t fail.
They were incomplete.

The real issue...the system sending the pain signals was never addressed.

A System Stuck in “Danger Mode”

If you’ve lived a life of pushing through and being “the strong one,” your nervous system has been in overdrive for a long time. It hasn’t had a safe place to exhale.

When the nervous system does not feel safe, it protects you the only way it knows how. It tightens. It restricts movement. It amplifies sensation. It heightens sensitivity. It can create pain to stop you from doing more than your system believes you can handle.

This is not your body betraying you.
This is your body trying to protect you.

Why the World of Healthcare Is Changing

Countries like Australia have already begun updating their national guidelines for chronic back pain. Before prescribing opioids, ordering imaging, sending patients to specialists, or recommending surgery (unless there is severe structural danger), patients must now first be offered evidence-based mind–body, nervous system–focused programs. Programs that retrain the brain, reduce sensitization, and address emotional load; because research shows that this is where the most lasting change occurs.

This shift isn’t theoretical. It’s global. And it’s happening because the science clearly indicates that pain changes through safety.

The Most Important Part: This Can Change

The same brain pathways that learned pain can unlearn pain. The same nervous system that became sensitized can recalibrate. The same body that has been bracing can learn how to feel safe again. This is not positive thinking. This is not ignoring your pain. This is not forcing yourself to “push through.” This is neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to change.

Your pain is not a life sentence. It is a pattern your nervous system has been repeating. And patterns can change. You Haven’t Failed. You’ve Been Surviving Without Support.

Your body has been trying to protect you. It hasn’t failed you. It has been adapting.

You are not broken.
You are not imagining this.
And you are not alone.

We’re Built To Heal.

Sometimes the nervous system just needs guidance back to safety.

The information shared here is for education and support only. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a substitute for care from a licensed health professional. If you have questions about your symptoms or health, please consult your physician.

INTERESTED IN NEXT STEPS?

1. The Pain Softening Pause™ A fast, powerful 10-minute nervous system reset that helps soften pain signals and create a moment of calm in your day.
→ Begin My Pain Pause

2. Book a Free Discovery Call
If you’d like support, clarity, or a calm conversation about your pain and your next steps, you’re welcome to book a free 30-minute Discovery Call.
→ Book My Discovery Call