Neuroplasticity: How rewiring the brain can help manage chronic pain

Chronic pain, otherwise known as persistent pain, is defined as “pain that lasts for more than 3 months or longer than expected”.

Often, there is no clear injury or illness that leads to pain, such as in Fibromyalgia. In this article, we discuss the role Neuroplasticity plays in chronic pain and how we can use it to our advantage.

What does the brain have to do with pain?

The brain is in a constant state of change. At every moment, there are changes happening to the brain depending on how it is being stimulated.

All pain is created in the brain and is a brain response - like blushing or crying, it is a bodily reaction to stimuli. Pain itself functions as a sort of “danger signal”, which is generated by our brains to identify an issue that could worsen with continued use.

Chronic pain, however, tricks our brain and nervous system over time, by producing pain messages in a misguided effort to protect you from “danger”, even when the “danger” is no longer present.

What is Neuroplasticity and how can it change things?

Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to change its neural connections and modify behaviours in response to new experiences, sensory stimulation, development, damage, or dysfunction.

Without neuroplasticity, we wouldn’t be able to do many of the things that make us human, like learning things, developing skills, and creating memories.

While there are theories that the brain’s ability to “rewire” is directly linked to chronic pain, neuroplasticity provides an alternative adaptability for reshaping the pain experience. This reshaping occurs in response to repetitive thinking and behaving that decrease stress and remove focus from what is hurting. The more we repeat and utilise this new skill or activity, the stronger this neural connection becomes in our brain, essentially forming a “good” habit to replace the “bad” one.

You can learn more here:
 

Pain-forming behaviours

There are some behaviours that can contribute to the cycle of chronic pain.  Breaking the cycle of these behaviours can play a significant part in retraining your brain to overcome symptoms.

• Hyperfocusing on potential threats - Being on high alert constantly can prompt you to start thinking about pain in regard to every action you make throughout your day and seek potential ‘threats’. This causes more harm than good as you are sending feedback to your brain that there is danger when there is none - making you more sensitive to stimuli by creating unnecessary pain responses.

• Avoidance due to fear - Being fearful of causing yourself pain can put you on a vicious cycle. It can stop you from participating in things that you think will worsen it, such as exercise. Unfortunately, this can actually make your pain worse by causing you to stress more and put you at higher risk of injury due to weakened muscles.

• Catastrophic Pain - Having other compounding factors in your life that you feel you have no control over such as bad work situations or relationships, the stress of parenting and/or a badly working car (to name a few), can accentuate your pain.  

What are some brain-rewiring techniques you can try?

There are a variety of pain management techniques you can use to help reprogram the way your nervous system responds to the danger signals causing chronic pain and how your brain interprets it.

• Try something new - Immerse yourself in a new hobby that interests you to ‘re-wire’ non-painful neural connections
• Give a mind-body approach a go - Meditation, mindfulness, yoga, tai chi can reduce your stress and increase emotional control
• Try Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) - Changes negative thoughts and behaviour patterns which may be perpetuating the chronic pain cycle
• Get therapeutic massages done - They release mood stabiliser hormones like serotonin and dopamine, that produce feelings of wellbeing, relaxation and calmness
• Work it out with some physical activity - Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologists can help you to exercise in a sensible and ‘paced’ way to help reduce pain hypersensitivity and teach the brain that these movements don’t need to cause pain
• Educate yourself about your pain - Learning more ways to manage the pain response and reduce the focus on pain can help you to replace negative feelings of fear and uncertainty with positive reassurance and empowerment.

Chronic pain is a complex issue that requires a multifaceted approach to overcome. Understanding the role of neuroplasticity in chronic pain can provide you with new strategies for pain management. By breaking the cycle of pain-forming behaviors, trying new techniques such as mind-body approaches, cognitive behavioral therapy, therapeutic massages, physical activity, and educating yourself about pain, you can rewire your brains to reduce pain hypersensitivity and decrease the focus on pain. With dedication and persistence, these techniques can help to empower individuals with chronic pain and improve quality of life.

Sources -

Reversing maladaptive plasticity in chronic pain
https://psychology.org.au/inpsych/2016/august/day

Chronic pain is surprisingly treatable — when patients focus on the brain
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/10/15/chronic-pain-brain-plasticity/

Neuroplasticity
https://painhealth.csse.uwa.edu.au/pain-module/neuroplasticity/

What is neuroplasticity? The power to change your mind
https://www.betterup.com/blog/what-is-neuroplasticity