How and why would our brains kick out a pain signal if there’s no actual physical cause?

It’s the job of our nervous system to protect us and our nervous system sometimes continues to try and protect us long after the threat has passed. When this happens, we can re-set our nervous system through a combination of soothing and neural pathway re-wiring techniques.

Does this program recommend a specific diet or weight loss as a treatment approach?

No. We do not give advice on nutrition other than to recommend that you make sure your body is getting enough calories and nutrients to sustain itself. Restrictive diets keep you body in fight/flight mode which is counterproductive to the work we do. We believe in a health at every size approach.

How do I know if my pain is purely physical or neuroplastic?

The short answer is that, unless you have an acute injury, a fracture or break, or something like a tumor pressing up against your spine, your pain is likely coming from your brain and not your body. Ways to check this out: is your pain so severe that when you even just imagine bending over, typing at the keyboard, eating certain foods, (insert your trigger here), you experience pain? That’s a clear sign that the pain signal is coming from your brain and therefore needs to be treated in your brain. The PPDA has a great 30 question check list to help you determine whether or not you would benefit from a mind/body approach: https://ppdassociation.org/symptoms

Are you saying that the pain is all in my head?

Not exactly. At least not in the way you might think. Pain, whether emotional or physical, registers in the same part of the brain. As a result, your brain sometimes sends out a physical pain signal to an emotional response. In essence, your brain made a mistake. Your brain can also get stuck in a loop of sending out pain signals beyond the time it actually took for your injury to heal. When this happens, you can teach your brain that you are now safe and no longer need the danger signal of pain. Fear is also a huge driver of pain. It’s hard not to feel afraid when you are in a prolonged state of pain but unfortunately, remaining in fear perpetuates the pain. As a result, it’s essential to teach your brain and nervous system not to feel afraid of the pain.

Why hasn’t my doctor told me about these techniques?

Unfortunately the medical community largely has not caught up to neuroscience yet. We expect and believe that what we are teaching now will be common in 5-10 years but we just aren’t there quite yet.