Persistent Pain – Why Your Brain Won’t Switch Off the Alarm
- Brainz Magazine
- Aug 18
- 8 min read
Written by Sharon Clare, Clinical Hypnotherapist
Sharon Clare is an accredited Solution-Focused Clinical Hypnotherapist. She is the founder of Sharon Clare Hypnotherapy, which helps professional women overcome stress, burnout, and sleep struggles using neuroscience-backed approaches to rewire how they think, feel, and respond to life. She also specialises in easing fears of surgery.
Discover how hypnotherapy helps manage persistent pain by calming your nervous system, retraining your brain, and restoring your life. By addressing the root cause of pain and using neuroscience-backed techniques, hypnotherapy offers a holistic approach to healing and lasting relief.
When pain steals your sleep, mood, focus, and joy
…and no one can tell you why, this might help you make sense of it.
You’ve had the scans. You’ve seen the specialists.
And yet the pain remains despite normal scans, stronger painkillers, physiotherapy, or being told to “manage it.”
It’s easy to start doubting yourself, even wondering if you’re imagining it. But you’re not. Persistent pain is real, and it’s often caused by changes in how your brain and nervous system process pain, not by visible damage.
This in-depth article will help you understand why chronic pain persists, how it can be turned down, and why hypnotherapy is becoming a trusted tool in managing persistent pain.
What is persistent pain? – Understanding chronic vs acute
Acute pain acts like a warning system – fast, sharp, and usually short-lived. Persistent (chronic) pain, however, is less about damage and more about ongoing protection.
Even when the original injury has healed, the nervous system can stay sensitised. The brain continues producing pain signals, keeping the “alarm” switched on long after the threat has passed. By medical definition, pain lasting longer than three months is considered chronic. And unlike the sharp, pinpointed feeling of acute pain, persistent pain often feels dull, poorly localised, spread out, or even accompanied by sensations like heaviness, numbness, or tingling. This can make it even more frustrating, it’s harder to describe, harder to track, and harder to explain to others.
For many people, the experience of persistent pain is not just about intensity, but the way it drags on, shapes daily life, and affects both body and mind.
How common is persistent pain? Key UK statistics
Persistent pain is far more common than many people realise. In the UK, it’s estimated that between one-third and one-half of the UK population, just under 28 million adults, live with some form of chronic pain.
This makes it one of the leading reasons people visit their GP, with pain accounting for up to 50% of all consultations in primary care.
Related: Chronic Pain Statistics In 2024
Why do scans often fail to explain persistent pain?
And yet, despite how widespread it is, many people still struggle to get a clear explanation or effective support.
They’re told there’s no obvious cause, that nothing looks wrong on the scans, or that it might be wear and tear or just something they must live with.
This can leave people stuck in a kind of medical limbo, feeling dismissed, disbelieved, or doubting their own experience.
But here’s the missing piece: pain doesn’t always mean harm.
Our healthcare systems are designed primarily to find and fix physical damage. Scans and tests look for fractures, inflammation, or structural issues, which require immediate attention. This works well for acute pain, where injury and danger are clear and visible.
But when pain continues without visible damage, the system often runs out of answers. The scans are normal, but the pain is very real.
Understanding this gap between what medicine looks for and what pain truly is is an important step toward better support and long-term relief.
How the brain creates and controls pain: The role of the pain gate and fight-flight response
Pain signals aren’t sent directly from your body to your brain, they pass through a “gate” in the spinal cord, which acts like a bouncer at a club. Sometimes it lets signals through freely, making pain feel stronger; other times it holds some back, reducing discomfort.
The nervous system is closely tied to your fight-flight-freeze response. When the brain senses threat, physical or emotional, it triggers increased heart rate, muscle tension, and heightened alertness. Pain is part of this protective response, ensuring you don’t ignore injury.
Stress, fear, and focus can swing the bouncer wide open, amplifying pain. Calmness, reassurance, and distraction help close the gate, easing the sensation. This gatekeeper explains why pain feels different from one moment to the next or from person to person, even with the same injury.
When persistent pain begins: Injury, surgery, or illness
Persistent pain often starts with an injury, surgery, or illness. Initially, pain acts like a smoke alarm—alerting you to danger and encouraging rest.
But sometimes, even after healing, the alarm keeps ringing. The nervous system, having learned to protect that area, stays on high alert. The bouncer continues letting pain signals through long after the danger has passed.
Why some people develop persistent pain (and others don’t)
Two people can have the same injury, surgery, or illness, yet only one develops ongoing pain. It’s not about “toughness”, it’s about the sensitivity of the nervous system.
Factors that make the bouncer more likely to keep the gate open include:
Genetics: Some nervous systems are naturally more reactive.
Past injuries or pain episodes: Previous experiences “teach” the nervous system to expect pain.
Stress and trauma: Life stressors keep the alarm on high alert.
Poor sleep quality makes the nervous system more sensitive.
Lifestyle and environment: Low activity, inflammation, or even feeling unsafe in your surroundings can keep the alarm switched on.
The result? A protective system that’s gone a little too far, keeping you stuck in pain, not because something is wrong, but because your brain is trying, in its own way, to keep you safe.
Related: Are You Scared to Have Surgery?
How your brain learns to expect pain: Neuroplasticity
Every time you experience pain, your brain takes notice. Neuroplasticity allows the brain to adapt and rewire itself based on experience.
Like a walking path becoming a busy motorway, pain pathways grow stronger with repeated activation. Over time:
Pain pathways strengthen your brain, making it efficient at sending pain signals.
Pain is expected even without injury.
Pain is no longer just a symptom of a problem; it has become the problem itself.
The result: the volume stays turned up, and fear or negative expectations (the nocebo effect) can make it worse.
Central sensitisation: How persistent pain spreads in the brain and nervous system
Pain isn’t confined to a single “pain centre” in your brain. Over time, it can spread its influence, activating and reshaping networks involved in far more than just sensation. Areas responsible for emotion, movement, attention, and even decision-making can all become drawn into the process. This is why persistent pain can feel as though it’s running the show—affecting your mood, your focus, and your daily choices.
It’s not “just in your head” in the dismissive sense people sometimes mean. It’s in your nervous system—in the way your brain and spinal cord are now processing information—changing how your body and mind experience the world, moment by moment.
Central sensitisation occurs when the nervous system becomes more sensitive than necessary. Even minor triggers can amplify pain signals. This is closely linked to the overactive fight–flight–freeze response we discussed earlier. Neuroplasticity reinforces these pathways, keeping pain persistent and automatic.
Related: Your Brain Perceives Pain
Common types of persistent pain
Persistent pain can affect many areas and take various forms:
Chronic back or neck pain
Osteoarthritis
Fibromyalgia
Migraines
Pain following surgery or injury
While causes vary, these conditions often share the same nervous system mechanisms: heightened sensitivity, an overactive pain gate, and a fight-flight-freeze system stuck in alert mode.
How chronic pain affects sleep, mood, memory, and energy
Persistent pain disrupts deep and REM sleep. Without good-quality sleep, you become more sensitive to pain, more emotionally reactive, and less able to cope with stress. It’s like starting each day with your stress bucket already half full.
It affects memory, focus, and energy.
Fatigue and loss of pleasure can lead to isolation and frustration, making it feel as though pain is running your life.
Closing the pain gate: How you can rewire your brain and take back control
The good news: the same mechanisms that amplify pain can also calm it.
By helping the nervous system feel safe, the alarm system can switch off. The pain gate can be gently turned down with relaxation, mindfulness, or hypnotherapy. Neuroplasticity allows your brain to form new, healthier pathways, giving it fresh options for interpreting sensations and regulating pain.
Positive thinking and reframing expectations reinforce this process. While there’s no instant fix, evidence-based approaches can help reduce pain, improve mood, and reclaim your life.
Hypnotherapy in chronic pain clinics: An essential part of multidisciplinary care
Building on these neuroscience principles, clinical hypnotherapy works directly with the nervous system to retrain pain responses and restore balance. In many modern chronic pain clinics, it is considered a core element of treatment rather than an alternative “extra.”
Hypnotherapy:
Shifts the body from danger mode to calm, reducing the brain’s overactive pain signalling.
Harnesses neuroplasticity to create new, healthier neural pathways that dampen pain and improve emotional resilience.
Integrates seamlessly with other multidisciplinary approaches in pain clinics—such as physiotherapy, massage, craniosacral therapy, mindfulness, and nutritional support—to provide whole-person care.
Equips patients with self-hypnosis skills to manage flare-ups, lower stress, and regain a sense of control.
Research supports its effectiveness. For example, a study of over 7,000 children with chronic abdominal pain found hypnotherapy to be 68% more effective than no treatment, outperforming both dietary and pharmacological interventions. Similar results have been seen in adults with a wide range of chronic pain conditions, from fibromyalgia to neuropathic pain.
Clearing common myths about hypnotherapy for pain relief
Myth 1: Hypnotherapy is mind control
Reality: You remain fully in control; hypnotherapy guides a natural, focused state your brain already enters daily.
Myth 2: Hypnosis denies pain
Reality: It doesn’t ignore pain, it changes how your brain processes it, reducing amplification.
Myth 3: Hypnotherapy is just positive thinking
Reality: It works beneath conscious thought, helping the brain reframe pain signals and build resilient neural pathways.
Myth 4: Hypnotherapy only relaxes you
Reality: Relaxation is just the beginning. It also alters pain processing, improves movement, confidence, and daily functioning.
In short, Hypnotherapy isn’t a quick fix or a magic trick. It’s a neuroscience-informed way of retraining your nervous system, turning down the brain’s “pain alarm,” and helping you regain the space in your life that chronic pain may have taken over.
Why professional support matters: When and why to seek help
It’s common to feel frustrated after reading countless self-help books or articles, trying different techniques, and still feeling stuck in persistent pain. That’s because chronic pain isn’t just a physical sensation, it’s a complex interplay between your brain, nervous system, emotions, and past experiences. Changing this deeply ingrained cycle often requires more than willpower or information alone.
Professional support, whether clinical hypnotherapy or multidisciplinary pain clinics, offers expert guidance, tailored strategies, and a safe space to help your nervous system reset. Seeking help is a proactive, brave step, not a sign of weakness.
Reclaiming your life from persistent pain
Persistent pain can be turned down, and you can reclaim the space it has taken. You don’t need all the answers, just a starting point. Clinical hypnotherapy provides a supportive, neuroscience-informed way to calm the nervous system, retrain the brain, and take the first step toward a life less dominated by pain.
Get in touch today and take the first step toward turning the volume down on pain and turning the volume up on life.
Read more from Sharon Clare
Sharon Clare, Clinical Hypnotherapist
Sharon Clare is an accredited Solution-Focused Clinical Hypnotherapist specialising in mindfulness and stress management. She combines her expertise with decades of leadership experience in the NHS and not-for-profit sector to support her professional clients. Leading a social care organisation through COVID was an immense responsibility that deepened her understanding of stress and resilience, She also has a passion for helping people overcome fears around surgery and medical procedures. She volunteers at her local cancer care centre. When she's not helping others, Sharon can be found sea swimming year-round on the beautiful Northern Irish coast - a ritual that continues to keep stress at bay. Her mission: Helping Women Thrive.
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