The Brain–Pain Connection
- Sharon Cole
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
How Stress and the Nervous System Influence Chronic Pain
As we move through April — Stress Awareness Month — it's a powerful time to pause and reflect on how stress shows up in the body. Not just emotionally or mentally, but physically. And one of the most misunderstood ways it does this is through chronic pain.
I’ve been training a little harder than usual at the gym lately and, like many of us, I often find myself aching from head to toe. A good dose of DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) is normal after a solid workout — and nothing a nice massage and a hot bath can’t fix.
But what happens when the pain doesn’t go away?
For many people, pain becomes a long-term companion. It can affect every part of life — from mobility and mental health to sleep, work, relationships and even confidence. And it’s far more common than you might think.
A 2016 BMJ review estimated that 43% of the UK population lives with chronic pain, and musculoskeletal pain alone affects nearly 21 million people here.
💭 So what is chronic pain?
Chronic pain refers to any pain lasting longer than three months after the initial cause has healed. Unlike acute pain — which is short-lived and disappears once the body recovers — chronic pain continues, sometimes without any clear physical reason.
Examples include:
Back pain
Sciatica
Fibromyalgia
Migraine
Osteoarthritis
Autoimmune pain (like rheumatoid arthritis)
IBS
Post-surgical pain
🧠 The brain’s role in pain
Understanding the role of the brain is key when it comes to chronic pain.
For a long time, we were taught that pain equals danger — that it was a direct signal from the body that something is wrong. But advances in neuroscience have shown that the brain plays a much bigger role than we once thought.
Here’s how it works:
Signals from the body travel to the brain for processing
The brain assesses the situation and decides how much pain we feel
This response is influenced by past experiences, stress, emotions, context and beliefs
So pain is not just a physical event — it’s an experience shaped by the brain and nervous system.
Sometimes, even when the injury has healed, the brain stays stuck in a protective overdrive mode. It keeps sounding the alarm, long after the danger has passed. This kind of pain is known as nociplastic pain.
⚡️ The 3 types of pain (in simple terms):
Nociceptive pain Pain from tissue damage — injury, surgery, inflammation
Neuropathic pain Pain from nerve damage — as seen in shingles, sciatica, or diabetes
Nociplastic pain Pain from an overactive nervous system, often with no clear injury — e.g. fibromyalgia
🌿 Why this matters
Knowing that pain is influenced by the brain and nervous system doesn’t mean it’s “all in your head” — far from it.
It means that your pain is real, but that there may be more ways to support it than medication alone. It means there’s hope — and that you’re not being dismissed as a psychological case. Quite the opposite: your brain is doing its best to protect you… it just might need help to recalibrate.
🧘♀️ What helps?
Chronic pain is complex, but we do know that stress makes it worse.
So one of the most supportive things we can do is to help the nervous system feel safe again.
That means:
Good sleep
Gentle movement
Eating well and staying hydrated
Deep breathing
Soothing, hands-on therapies like massage and reflexology
🌸 A holistic approach
Alongside traditional treatments, many people find that complementary therapies can play a powerful role in calming chronic pain.
✨ Reflexology, for example, supports the body’s own healing responses. It helps relax the nervous system, balance energy, improve circulation and reduce stress hormones — all of which can affect pain levels.
Research and experience both show that reflexology can:
Lower stress
Soothe emotional tension
Promote deeper rest
Support the body’s return to balance
It doesn’t "cure" pain, but it does create the right conditions for the body to start healing and coping in new ways.
🤲 Hand Reflexology at Home
If you can’t get to a treatment room, don’t worry — you can still support your body at home.
I’ve created a series of hand reflexology videos over on YouTube to guide you through simple, effective routines for stress and pain relief. They’re easy to follow and designed to give you tools you can use anywhere, anytime.
Watch them here: YouTube Link
💊 Pill-Free Pain Relief: Simple Ideas to Try
Here are some gentle, accessible ways to support your body without medication:
✋ Self-massage or hand reflexology
🌬️ 4-7-8 breathing technique
🧘♀️ Gentle stretching or yoga
🛁 Warm Epsom salt bath
🌿 Essential oils (e.g. lavender, peppermint, frankincense)
📓 Journalling to shift focus from pain to progress
🔄 Alternating hot/cold compresses
🧠 Guided visualisation or meditation
💧 Stay hydrated + avoid inflammatory foods
"Pain is real. But so is hope. The body always remembers how to heal — it just needs the right conditions."
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Psst ... here are the ways you can work with me, in case you were wondering ... https://linktr.ee/waterlilytherapies
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