hey hey Reader,
I'm on my way to the other side of the Greater Toronto Area for a week to go through my level two Fascial Stretch Therapy, and I'm so excited to learn some new techniques to help people feel their best.
Honestly, I'm such a nerd when it comes to studying how the body moves. For my birthday, my parents got me a Kobo, and I haven't put many books on it because I keep finding research articles and studies to add and read instead.
One of my students and I were talking about books, and she jokingly said, "non-fiction is just studying", but really? For me, it is, and I love it. I love studying, and apparently, more than just reading a good fiction (not saying I don't read fiction, though, because I do.. it's just a rare occurrence, it seems).
Now... I'm putting up this poll knowing the obvious answer, but throw me a bone, will ya?
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A couple studies I've been reading up on are super duper interesting, Reader. And of course, I wanted to shrink all of it down into some bite-sized knowledge for you, which is why today we're talking about neuroplastic pain.
Your chronic low back pain might not be a back problem
When you have tried everything and the pain is still there
When I first developed chronic back pain, the ER doctor shrugged, said "congratulations, you have back pain," handed me some strong Tylenol and sent me on my way. Yeah, thanks, doc.
Maybe you had a similar experience. Maybe you were told "nothing is wrong." You're not alone. 84% of the world's population will experience back pain in their lifetime, and 23% will become chronic. Non-specific low back pain is non-radiating, with no signs of a serious underlying condition, and it is the most common and most misunderstood kind.
"Non-specific" is the term practitioners use when imaging and testing find no clear structural cause. And here's the thing: low back pain isn't a diagnosis, it's a symptom. Without clear pathology to treat, there's limited rationale for a specific intervention, which is a big reason chronic rates stay so high.
I got X-rays and an MRI showing arthritis, disc degeneration, and a bulged disc. So that was it, right? Wrong. Disc degeneration is a completely normal part of aging, and more than half of people who show degenerative changes on imaging report zero pain. The correlation between what shows up on a scan and what you actually feel is surprisingly weak.
The pain is 100% real. The source is just more complex than a single anatomical problem. Over time, chronic pain changes the nervous system at both a structural and functional level, altering how pain signals are sent and perceived. A 2013 study found that people whose back pain persisted showed increasing activity in emotion-related brain circuits, while those who recovered saw those same regions quiet down. Negative emotions amplify pain perception, chronic pain perpetuates emotional suffering, which amplifies pain further. This is called neuroplastic pain, and it is how the nervous system learns pain. Not a character flaw. Not exaggerated. A measurable neurological process.
A newer approach called Pain Reprocessing Therapy is showing genuinely exciting results. A randomized controlled trial found roughly 67% of participants were pain-free or nearly pain-free after treatment. A five-year follow-up in 2026 found more than half still remained that way. The mechanism is helping people reframe pain as a signal from a sensitized nervous system, not evidence of ongoing damage. The brain can unlearn pain.
When it comes to what actually helps, guidelines point to movement and self-management over bed rest or chasing imaging results. Aerobic exercise, water-based movement, Pilates, tai chi, stretching, manual therapy, and soft tissue work are all recommended with a gentle and gradual approach. Moving with curiosity instead of fear is part of breaking the cycle.
This isn't about fixing your body. It's about learning to listen to it differently. And you don't have to do that alone. The Garden is built for real bodies, at a real pace, with on-demand videos and Pathways designed to bring gentle daily movement back into your life without pressure or shame.
