Why Does My Pain Linger? Understanding Central Sensitization
If you've been dealing with pain that doesn't seem to go away - even after injuries have healed or tests show nothing wrong - you might be experiencing something called central sensitization. This condition means your nervous system has become more sensitive, causing you to feel pain more intensely or in response to things that shouldn't hurt.
What Is Central Sensitization?
Central sensitization occurs when the brain and spinal cord amplify pain signals, making you more sensitive to pain stimuli. This heightened sensitivity can persist even after the original injury has healed. It's a well-recognized phenomenon in chronic pain conditions.
"Central sensitization occurs when the nervous system remains in a state of hyperactivity, resulting in increased neuronal excitability and enhanced synaptic transmission.Despite limited input from the peripheral nervous system (PNS), the central nervous system (CNS) persistently amplifies pain signals."
Why Does This Happen?
Pain is influenced by a combination of biological, psychological, and social factors - a concept known as the biopsychosocial model. This means that your emotions, stress levels, and environment can all impact how you experience pain.
How Can I Manage Central Sensitization?
Understanding that your pain is real and has a biological basis is the first step.
Here are some strategies that may help get you started:
1. Education
Learning about how pain works can reduce fear and anxiety, which in turn can lessen the intensity of pain. Knowledge empowers you to take control of your chronic pain management.
2. Mind–Body Techniques
Practices like guided visualizations can help calm your nervous system. At Limitless Guided Visualizations, we offer:
- Mindset Microdoses: Metacognitive guided visualizations - sessions designed for daily practice to gently retrain your nervous system and your metacognition regarding chronic pain.
- Journey Macrodoses: Longer sessions for deeper relaxation and nervous system regulation. These 90+ minute audio sessions integrate several highly regarded techniques for balancing the nervous system.
3. Cognitive Harm Reduction
It's important to understand that your pain is not "all in your head." Acknowledging the real, physical changes in your nervous system can reduce feelings of frustration and helplessness. We discuss the importance of our beliefs and thoughts and our approach in our article Cognitive Harm Reduction 101.
Next Steps
If you're living with ongoing pain that doesn’t seem to match your scans or diagnosis, you're not alone. Work with your medical provider for guidance on your specific health needs to come up with an action plan.
Remember, you're not alone in this journey, and there are strategies and resources available to help you find relief.
How to Start Calming Your Nervous System - These simple strategies can help you begin to understand and retrain your nervous system.
1. Understand Why Pain Can Last After Healing
You may have been injured at some point - an accident, surgery, or a strain that made sense at the time. But if the pain has stuck around long after the body has healed, something else may be going on.
Chronic pain often continues not because something is still injured, but because the nervous system has become more sensitive over time. This is called central sensitization - when the brain and spinal cord stay in “high alert” mode, even when there’s no longer a physical threat.
Learning about how pain works in the nervous system is a powerful first step. It can help shift fear into understanding - and open up new paths for healing that go beyond pills or procedures.
2. Move in Ways That Rebuild Trust
When pain persists, movement can feel scary. But gentle, gradual movement helps teach the nervous system that the body is safe again.
There’s no need to push through pain. Instead, try short walks, easy stretching, or slow transitions. The key is consistency - not intensity. Even 3–5 minutes of movement each day can help. Then, over time, slowly build your strenght and resilience.
3. Use Breathing to Soothe the System
Your breath is one of the fastest ways to calm an overactive nervous system. When pain spikes or anxiety rises, slow belly breathing can help reset your internal alarm.
Try this simple pattern: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 2, exhale for 6.
Repeat for 2–3 minutes in a quiet place.
This tells your body, “I’m safe now.”
4. Explore Journey Macrodoses for Deep Nervous System Reset Support
When your nervous system remains in a heightened state of alertness, brief interventions can be complemented with longer sessions. Limitless' Journey Macrodoses are immersive, 90+ minute guided visualizations designed to facilitate profound emotional and mental exploration. These sessions were designed to aid in resetting autonomic stress responses, guiding listeners from states of fight-or-flight to rest-and-repair.
These sessions are particularly beneficial when:
- Preparing for or during medical treatments like ketamine therapy, IV therapy, acupuncture, and other medical procedures
- Undergoing oncology treatments or other intensive medical procedures where the body may need support in deep relaxation
- Seeking a deep emotional reset before sleep or during periods of heightened stress
Each Journey Macrodose is rooted in the Metacognitive Healing Methodology™, blending sound, guided imagery, mindfulness, and pacing to guide you from reactive states into a space of calm awareness.
Recommended sessions to begin with:
- I Am Safe: Cultivate a deep sense of safety, helping you transition out of fear-based patterns and restore peace in both your nervous system and thoughts.
- I Am Well: Reconnect with your natural state of wellness through grounding, breathwork, and intentional awareness.
- I Am Resilient: Strengthen your ability to bounce back and gently transition out of trauma reflexes.
These sessions can be used during treatments to support emotional safety, presence, and integration. They are designed to help you step out of mental loops, regulate the nervous system, and reconnect with clarity and self-trust.
You don't need to engage with them daily - use them when you feel ready for deeper support, often several times a week. Many patients find them especially helpful during recovery, integration, or treatment cycles.
Frequently Asked Questions About Chronic Pain and Central Sensitization
A hypersensitive nervous system can keep pain active, even after an injury heals. Central sensitization is a process where your brain and spinal cord become more reactive to signals. It means the nervous system is interpreting normal sensations as painful. Even if the original injury is gone, the system stays in “protection mode,” which can cause ongoing discomfort.
Yes - chronic pain has been shown to improve with the right nervous system support. Chronic pain is real, even if scans or tests don’t show damage. When pain is being amplified by the nervous system, it can still improve with education, movement, breathwork, and calming practices like guided visualizations.
Small daily practices can help reset your pain response over time. You can begin by learning about pain science, moving gently, breathing mindfully, and exploring tools like Microdose or Journey Macrodose visualizations. These tools help signal safety to your body and reduce overreactive pain pathways.
Yes - it’s common, and it doesn’t mean you’re imagining it. Pain that continues after healing is often caused by changes in how the nervous system processes information. This is common in conditions like fibromyalgia, post-surgical pain, Lyme, Dysautonomia, POTS and long COVID. The key is understanding that your pain is real - and that your system can change.
You have options - visualizations, breathwork, and gentle movement are all helpful. Start with simple techniques like slow breathing, daily stretching, or Mindset Microdoses - guided visualizations.
