Where Pain Lives

Back pain that persists after the initial injury has healed originates in the central nervous system and is a “neurobiological learning disorder.”

Spinal imaging results have little correlation with a patient’s experience of pain. Two people might obtain similar imaging results but feel different levels of pain. Chronic back pain is like a “neurobiological learning disorder” that resides mostly in the central nervous system, not in the back itself. When a pain response to an injury lingers long past the point of usefulness, doctors often suggest that patients be cautious about using their backs. But sufferers might develop “fear-avoidant behavior” that weakens back muscles...