Ibbi Lidstone
Mindbody Practitioner
Life Coach
Pain and other symptoms do not always mean that the body is damaged or diseased. Research has shown that persistent (chronic) symptoms can be generated by neural pathways in the brain and nervous system.
These are known as neuroplastic symptoms.
Understanding neuroplastic pain and illness
"Recovery -
not merely coping -
is possible."
Could your symptoms be neuroplastic?
Your symptoms may be neuroplastic if they follow a pattern:
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They have continued beyond the expected healing time.
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They change, move, disappear and return.
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Your tests or scans are normal, or don’t explain the severity of your symptoms.
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They flare with stress or strong emotion.
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Particular situations, people or activities trigger them.
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Treatments aimed at the body have brought little or no lasting relief.
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You experience several persistent symptoms that seem unrelated.
2 in 5 people
Have unexplained pain or symptoms that are not improving as their doctor expects
2026 ATNS national survey
All pain is produced by the brain, but the reason it produces that pain can be different.
Structural pain is generated in response to injury or disease in the body. A broken bone or kidney stone, for example, creates signals that alert the brain to physical damage and the need for protection.
Neuroplastic pain is different. It is generated when the brain has learnt to interpret certain sensations, movements, situations or experiences as dangerous, even when there is no ongoing tissue damage. The brain continues to produce pain as an alarm signal because it believes the body needs protecting.
The pain is entirely real and can be every bit as severe as pain caused by physical injury.
Phantom limb pain is one of the clearest demonstrations of this. A person can experience
intense pain in a limb that is no longer there. There is no longer any tissue to injure, yet the
pain is unmistakable because the brain is producing it.
The same protective mechanism can generate many other physical symptoms,
including fatigue, digestive problems, dizziness, migraines, nausea and brain fog.
Structural and Neuroplastic pain
Why the brain generates symptoms
The brain and nervous system are constantly assessing whether we are safe. This alarm system developed to protect us from physical threats, but it also responds to stress, strong emotions, trauma and difficult life experiences.
We can see this mechanism operating in everyday life. A stressful day may cause a headache, while speaking in front of a crowd can create nausea, sweating, a racing heart or a “knot” in the stomach. There is no physical injury, but the bodily sensations are very real.
When stress or emotional strain continues for a long time, the nervous system can learn to remain on alert. Certain situations, sensations, emotions, movements or activities may then become associated with danger. Eventually, the response can become automatic and symptoms may continue long after an injury has healed or the original source of stress has passed.
Sometimes the pressures affecting the nervous system are obvious. At other times, they may come from experiences we have adapted to, minimised or never connected with our physical health. The brain can continue responding according to what it learnt from earlier experiences, even when those protective responses are no longer needed.
This is not a weakness or character flaw. It is the brain trying to protect us, but getting the danger message wrong.
Common Neuroplastic Symptoms
Back, Neck or Sciatic Pain
Muscle, Limb or Joint Pain
Fatigue
MCAS
Headaches or Migraines
Dizziness
Pelvic, Bladder or Genital Pain
Digestive or Bowel problems (incl IBS)
Visual or Nerve symptoms
Insomnia
M.E. / CFS
Tinnitus
Interstitial Cyctitis
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
Long COVID
Chronic Lyme Disease
Plantar Fasciitis
Adrenal Fatigue
Many more symptoms exist
What the brain learns, it can unlearn
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and create new neural pathways. Just as the brain can learn a symptom response through repetition, it can also learn that the body is safe and that the alarm is no longer necessary.
Recovery involves changing the messages the brain and nervous system are receiving. As you begin to understand that neuroplastic sensations are not signs of damage, you can learn to respond to them with less fear and urgency. Nervous system regulation, emotional awareness and a deeper understanding of the stresses and life experiences that may be keeping the alarm active all help to create a growing sense of safety.
With repeated evidence that there is no danger, the brain can update its prediction, quieten the alarm and stop generating the symptom. The pathways that once produced pain or illness can weaken as new pathways are created and reinforced.
This is why neuroplastic recovery therapies focus on treating the source of the symptoms rather than simply managing them.
Because these neural pathways are learnt and changeable, symptoms can reduce and resolve.
Recovery—not merely coping—is possible.