Neuroplastic pain is real physical pain that is not caused by ongoing injury, structural damage, or disease affecting the body’s tissues or organs. Instead, it results from physical changes in the brain’s nerve pathways and the way the nervous system processes and responds to signals.

Because the brain produces all pain sensations, neuroplastic pain can feel identical to pain caused by injury or illness. The pain can be intense and may persist for months, years, or even decades, often without clear findings on medical tests or without improving as expected with conventional treatments.

Research in neuroscience has shown that these learned pain pathways can change (a process known as neuroplasticity). With the right approaches—including pain neuroscience education, nervous system regulation, and a deeper understanding of past and present life challenges that may contribute to underlying stress, often outside of conscious awareness—many people are able to significantly reduce or even eliminate their pain.

In Mindbody Medicine, chronic pain refers to pain that persists or recurs over time and continues beyond the body’s normal tissue healing period (typically around three months).¹ It may be constant, or it may come and go.

This differs from how the word chronic is sometimes defined in conventional (biomedical) medicine, where it often refers to pain lasting more than 3 or 6 months, or meeting specific diagnostic criteria. For example, the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3) defines chronic migraine as 15 or more headache days per month for at least three months, with at least 8 of those days having migraine features.

¹Krafts, 2010; Gonzalez et al., 2016.

While we cannot offer medical assessments, it’s important to know that many findings seen on spine MRIs are very common and increase with age.

Changes such as disc bulges or herniations, disc degeneration (often called degenerative disc disease), spinal stenosis, Modic changes, and annular tears are frequently found on imaging—even in people who have no back pain.

Research suggests that structural findings alone do not always explain pain, and that the brain and nervous system also play an important role in how pain is generated and experienced. This may help explain why an estimated 20–40% of patients continue to experience significant pain after spinal surgery, a condition known in medicine as failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS).

¹ Brinjikji et al., American Journal of Neuroradiology, 2015.
² Thomson S., British Journal of Pain, 2013.

Even though it’s estimated that around 40% of patients seen by their primary care physician have neuroplastic symptoms¹, this approach remains relatively unknown to many medical providers.

This field is still emerging and rapidly evolving. While physicians are dedicated to helping their patients and genuinely care about their well-being, many have had limited exposure to the latest neuroscience and growing body of research in this area.

Advances in our understanding of neuroplasticity and the brain’s role in chronic symptoms have accelerated in recent years, and it can take time for new approaches to become widely integrated into medical training and everyday practice.

¹Source: Haller et al., Deutsches Ärzteblatt (2015)

While the full agenda is still being finalized, during the Summit you will discover:

• what neuroplastic pain is and how it can develop
• a simple overview of how the brain and nervous system influence pain 
• how the nervous system can become stuck in stress-response states and how this affects the body and health
• the powerful connection between the mind, brain, and body
• practical tools and techniques you can begin exploring right away
• experiential sessions where you can try some of these approaches yourself
• inspiring stories from people who have reduced or resolved their pain using this approach
• guidance on possible next steps based on where you are in your journey, your interests, and your unique needs 

The Summit is designed to introduce these ideas in a clear and supportive way—no prior knowledge required.

Please register for the event to be updated as the agenda and speakers are finalized.

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