Is My Pain Neuroplastic?

So you’re probably wondering, how do I know if my pain or symptoms are neuroplastic? Because physical pain and neuroplastic pain can feel very similar, it can be tricky to tell them apart.

However, there are some questions you can ask yourself to see if there is any evidence that it is neuroplastic. If you answer ‘yes’ to any of these, then this may be something to explore.

The following list is adapted from questions outlined in the book The Way Out.

Did your pain start with an injury but has had ample time to heal (4-6 months)?

Once an injury has healed, the chronic pain will exist in a different part of the brain that is heavily influenced by memory and emotion.

Did your pain start without an injury?

If pain just pops up seemingly at random in the body, that’s a sign that emotional signals are being turned into pain.

Did your symptoms come on during a time of stress?

E.g. divorce, having a baby, death of a loved one, moving, getting promoted, etc.

Have you tried physical treatments that only provided a little and/or temporary relief?

These might include: massage, acupuncture, chiropractic care, steroid injections, stretching, yoga, physiotherapy, dietary changes, creams and ointments, painkillers, anti-inflammatories, surgery, or any other procedures.

Are your symptoms inconsistent?

For example, you might go for a walk one day and feel lots of pain, and then the next day you go for another walk and you feel only a little pain. Or the pain might be intense in the morning but okay at night.

Do you have symptoms in multiple parts of the body?

This could point to your brain circuitry getting overwhelmed by fear and has started to send pain signals to random parts of the body, where there may or may not have been a previous injury.

Do your symptoms move around your body?

Will you, for example, have a headache that turns into jaw pain that turns into knee pain? This is a very common trait of neuroplastic pain.

Do your symptoms change during a time of stress? Or a time when you’re having fun?

You might have an important meeting at work that is stressing you out and your pain flaring up. Or you might go on vacation and notice that your pain diminishes. Or you go on vacation and your pain gets worse. Changes in your emotional state can change your symptoms in various ways, either positive or negative.

Are your symptoms triggered by outside factors?

These might include the weather, sounds, time of day, places, smells.

Did your symptoms emerge after you seemingly overcame another health issue (this would include pain in different parts of the body)?

This suggests that the underlying neuroplastic pain circuitry is still operating and is now creating pain in a different part of the body.

Did you experience any amount of childhood adversity?

This is an important time in our development, and it could include anything from major traumas like physical/verbal abuse to minor traumas like having parents that were passive aggressive about your grades never being good enough.

Would you describe yourself as having any of the following personality traits? Perfectionist, people pleaser, worrier, overthinker, sensitive, etc.

These are common traits that can lead to a lot of pent up emotional energy that can lead to symptoms occurring in the body.

Since I am not a physician, I cannot officially diagnose you with having neuroplastic pain. That’s why I always recommend people get appropriate testing done if there is reasonable concern that there is a serious underlying pathology and/or structural issue causing your symptoms. Neuroplastic pain healing is not a replacement for sophisticated medical treatments for issues like those.

But if you have answered ‘yes’ to a number of the questions above, have done the appropriate medical testing, and are open to the idea that your symptoms might be neuroplastic, then this is probably worth exploring in a safe, informed manner.

If you're still unsure, though, please feel free to reach out for a free discovery call. I'm happy to chat and explore if your symptoms might respond well to neuroplastic healing tools.

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