Chronic Pain Is Protection, Until It’s Not
If you’ve been treating chronic pain like a physical problem but nothing's working, it might be time to look deeper, into the patterns your brain has learned to protect you.
What Is Chronic Pain?
Most of us are taught that pain means something is physically wrong. You pull a muscle, you feel it. You break a bone, you know it.
But what happens when pain sticks around long after the injury heals? or worse, when there’s no clear injury at all?
Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts longer than three months. It can start after an injury, during high stress, or sometimes, seemingly out of nowhere.
And here’s what most people don’t realise:
Chronic pain isn’t always a sign of physical damage or disease. It’s often a sign that your brain and nervous system are stuck in protection mode.
In fact, no matter what causes pain, injury, illness, autoimmune disease, or stress, all pain is generated by the brain. That’s how we experience pain. And all pain is real.
Two Types of Chronic Pain
Not all chronic pain is the same.
If you’ve been treating your pain like a physical injury but nothing’s helped, you might be working with the wrong kind of pain. Let’s break it down:
Secondary Pain
This is what most people expect pain to be. It starts with a clear cause, an injury, surgery, or illness, and usually improves as the body heals.
But sometimes, even after the physical issue is resolved, the pain doesn’t go away. That’s because the brain can get stuck in a protective loop, continuing to send pain signals through the nervous system, even after the body has healed.
Primary Pain
This is pain that isn’t caused by ongoing tissue damage.
It’s caused by a misfiring alarm system in the brain.
The brain has become so sensitised by stress, fear, or past experiences that it sends out pain signals even when there’s no real danger.
Research shows that this kind of pain is linked to conditions such as:
- Migraines and tension headaches
- TMJ or jaw pain
- Neck and back pain without injury
- Fibromyalgia
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Pelvic pain
- Vertigo and dizziness
- Repetitive strain injury (RSI)
- Tinnitus
- Fatigue syndromes
- Anxiety
This kind of pain is real, but it’s learned.
And just like the brain can learn pain, it can also learn to feel safe again.
When Pain Starts Biologically, But Becomes Neuroplastic
Even in autoimmune and inflammatory conditions like fibromyalgia, research shows that nervous system dysregulation often plays a role. Stress, trauma, fear, and burnout can contribute to that dysregulation, shaping immune responses and inflammation.
When pain persists, the brain’s alarm system can stay switched on through neuroplastic pathways, keeping the pain going, even after the original biological triggers have settled.
How to Tell the Difference
If your pain:
- Moves around your body
- Gets worse with stress or emotion
- Doesn’t respond to medication or treatments
- Fluctuates without explanation
- Wasn’t clearly linked to a serious injury
- Started during a time of burnout, trauma, or high pressure
…it may be neuroplastic. And that’s good news, because these pathways can change. Your brain can relearn safety.
The Truth About Chronic Pain
One of the most misunderstood forms of chronic pain is something called neuroplastic pain, also known as primary pain or centralised pain. Here’s how it works:
Your brain is your body’s alarm system. When it senses danger, it sends pain signals to protect you.
But just like a car alarm that goes off when there’s no threat, your brain can become overly sensitive, sending pain signals too often, or for the wrong reasons.
This kind of pain is real. It’s not made up, and it’s absolutely not your fault.
It’s your brain doing what it’s designed to do: keeping you safe.
For high acheivers, this often happens because the brain is constantly exposed to:
- High stress
- Unprocessed emotion
- Persistent muscle tension
- Suppressed signals to rest
Over time, your nervous system becomes hypervigilant.
It starts misreading normal sensations, like movement, touch, or even emotion, as danger.
The result?
Very real pain with no ongoing injury or disease.
All pain the brain generates is felt physically. It can be excruciating and overwhelming, even when there’s no structural damage. The pain is always real.
Just like the brain can learn to drive a car or speak a new language, it can also learn to produce pain.
And the best part? What your brain learned, through neural pathways that were built to protect you, it can also relearn. Those pathways can change.
Why High ACHIEVERS Are More at Risk
You’re focused. Driven. Reliable. The one who always shows up.
But that same capacity, the one that helped you succeed, is also the reason your nervous system never gets a break.
And that’s why achieving professionals are more likely to develop chronic pain and burnout.
Your Brain Doesn’t Only React to Physical Danger
Your brain is built to protect you. But it doesn’t know the difference between real danger and constant pressure.
If your daily life looks like this:
- Pushing through fatigue
- Holding it all together
- Suppressing how you feel
- Constant performance demands
…your brain may be interpreting that pressure as a threat. And over time, that becomes its default setting.
Pain becomes the alarm it keeps sounding, even when nothing is physically wrong.
The Very Traits That Drive You... Can Also Trap You
Let’s name what no one tells you:
- Your resilience can become rigidity
- Your high standards can feed hypervigilance
- Your drive can override your body’s signals
- These traits aren’t flaws. They’re adaptations.
But when your nervous system stays on high alert long enough, pain becomes its way of saying: “Slow down. Something’s not safe.”
This doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means your brain is doing exactly what it was designed to do, it’s just following an outdated map of protection.
Personality Traits That Make You More Vulnerable
Chronic pain doesn’t just show up out of nowhere.
It’s often the result of long-term patterns your brain and body have adapted to in order to keep you functioning.
Some traits don’t cause pain directly, but they put your nervous system under constant pressure. And over time, that pressure adds up.
If any of these feel familiar, you’re not alone, and you’re not broken.
These traits aren’t flaws. They’re adaptations.
But now, your brain might be stuck in protection mode long after the danger has passed.
Those with Past Trauma or Emotional Neglect
If you were raised to push through, numb out, or never be “too much,” your nervous system likely learned to stay on high alert. This early survival wiring often becomes the foundation for chronic pain later in life.
People-Pleasers & Over-Functioners
You take responsibility for everything and everyone. You avoid conflict. You rarely ask for help.
The cost? Your body holds the tension of unspoken emotion. Suppressed stress doesn’t disappear, it shows up physically.
Overworkers & Burned-Out Professionals
You push through everything: deadlines, fatigue, emotions. But your nervous system wasn’t built for nonstop output. Chronic stress wires the brain to expect threat, even in safe situations, making pain more likely and more intense.
High Achievers & Perfectionists
You’ve set high standards for yourself and met them. But your nervous system doesn’t get to rest. Even when you’re “off,” you’re thinking, planning, fixing. That internal pressure builds tension and your brain learns to stay on alert.
You’ve Done What It Takes to Survive
Now It’s Time to Heal.
Your pain is not your fault. And it doesn’t have to be your future.
Whether you’ve been in pain for months or years, your brain and body can learn to feel safe again. It starts with one step.