Pain that continues long after an injury has healed, or occurs without a clear structural cause, is not imagined or exaggerated. In some cases, the nervous system becomes the main source of ongoing pain signals, not because of ongoing damage, but because it has learned to generate pain in response to normal inputs. This is known as neuroplastic pain: it is neurologically real, physiologically produced, and maintained by learned patterns in the nervous system rather than active tissue injury. Recognizing this distinction does not diminish the reality of the pain; it clarifies its cause.

 

I use Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) when assessment suggests this mechanism. Not all chronic pain fits this model, so we first review pain history, medical findings, and symptom patterns before deciding if PRT is appropriate.