06/16/2026
Phantom Pain and Neuroplasticity
Sometimes the pain is real… even when the danger is no longer there.
That’s one of the most fascinating and misunderstood aspects of phantom pain, chronic symptoms, and neuroplastic pain.
The body can learn pain, and the brain can learn threat. Over time, the nervous system can become stuck in protection mode long after the original injury, illness, or trigger has passed.
One of the books that explains this connection is The Way Out by Alan Gordon.
This concept was also explored in the groundbreaking “Boulder Back Pain Study” out of the University of Colorado Boulder, where researchers studied Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) for chronic back pain.
The study found that many participants experienced significant or even near-complete reduction in pain, along with measurable changes in pain-processing brain regions on fMRI imaging.
The research helped support the idea that, in some chronic conditions, the brain and nervous system can continue generating pain signals even after tissues have healed. Almost like a false alarm system stuck in the “on” position.
Healing is not “just in your head.”
The symptoms are real.
The pain is real.
But sometimes the nervous system has become conditioned to fear, danger, hypervigilance, and protection, and learning safety again becomes part of the healing process.
For many people with chronic illness, Lyme disease, MCAS, mold illness, chronic fatigue, or chronic pain, nervous system regulation can become just as important as physical treatment.
The goal is not ignoring symptoms.
The goal is helping the brain and body stop living in survival mode.
Sometimes healing begins when the body finally feels safe enough to let go. ✨
References:
· https://www.colorado.edu/today/2021/09/29/how-therapy-not-pills-can-nix-chronic-pain-and-change-brain?utm_source=chatgpt.com
· https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34586357/