The Chronic Pain Experience Podcast

About The Chronic Pain Experience Podcast

Conversations about chronic pain management, the chronic pain experience and interviews with experts to inspire, motivate and change your relationship to pain.

Publisher

Deana Tsiapalis

Category

education · health & fitness · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

18 Dec 2020

Latest episode

22 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

49 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Oct 2026

   From Chronic Pain Recovery Coach To Patient

2. 

   14 Aug 2026

   Beyond Medication: Exploring Evidence-Based Alternatives for Chronic Pain

   Scroll down to the bottom of the page to listen to the audio If you have lived with persistent pain for months or years, you may know this cycle far too well: a diagnosis, a prescription, perhaps a specialist referral, and then back into daily life still hurting and still wondering whether this is really all there is. It is not all there is. That does not mean conventional medicine has no place in pain care. It absolutely does. But far too many people are never told about the wider landscape of treatments that may help them. The goal is not to reject medicine. It is to expand the conversation so you can make informed decisions about your own healing. Why Many Doctors Do Not Discuss Alternative Pain Treatments One of the most common beliefs in chronic pain is this: If an alternative therapy really worked, my doctor would have mentioned it. Unfortunately, that assumption does not hold up well. Many doctors receive remarkably little education about pain during medical school. Their continuing education may be shaped by pharmaceutical-funded journals, conferences, and representatives. Meanwhile, the major medical publications often give limited attention to integrative and alternative pain therapies. That does not make doctors uncaring. Most are busy, overwhelmed, and doing their best within a system that has not equipped them to address chronic pain comprehensively. In one survey of primary care physicians at academic medical centers, a majority reported that they did not feel competent treating pain. So when a doctor does not mention acupuncture, biofeedback, mindbody approaches, chiropractic care, movement therapy, energy psychology, or other options, it may simply mean they do not know enough about them. It does not mean those approaches have no value. Alternative Therapies Are Not Just Placebos There is a deeply ingrained belief that natural or integrative therapies are somehow less legitimate because they do not work like a drug. But chronic pain is not just a chemical problem. It is a complex experience involving the brain, nervous system, immune system, muscles, tissues, memories, stress levels, movement patterns, and more. Research support for pain treatments can be surprising. When comparing broad categories of chronic pain treatment, mindbody therapies have substantial research support. In one review of peer-reviewed research using an AI research tool, 73% of studies found mindbody therapies effective for chronic pain, while the remainder found they were possibly effective. None concluded they were ineffective. Opioids, by comparison, had much more mixed findings. That does not mean opioids never have a role. It means they are not the simple, evidence-backed answer many people were led to believe they were. Mindbody approaches do not mean pain is imaginary or “all in your head.” Pain is real. But your nervous system is always part of the pain experience. When the body is stuck in fear, stress, vigilance, and overwhelm, pain can intensify. Learning to calm that system can make a meaningful difference. Stress Changes the Body This is not blame. It is physiology. Stress and fear can create muscle tension, reduce circulation, interfere with digestion, disrupt sleep, and make healing more difficult. Relaxation and nervous system regulation can help reverse some of those patterns. That is why tools such as biofeedback, guided relaxation, trauma-informed therapy, and gentle mindbody practices can be so valuable. For some people, simply realizing they have some influence over their pain experience is a turning point. Feeling completely helpless can make pain even more frightening. Regaining even a small sense of control can begin to change the whole picture. Pain Can Be Structural, Nervous System Driven, or Both It is important not to swing too far in the other direction. Not every pain problem is caused by stress, trauma, or nervous system sensitization alone. Sometimes pain has a structural component that needs to be identified and addressed. Sometimes tissues are injured, shortened, overloaded, inflamed, or functioning poorly after surgery or an accident. Sometimes a treatment aimed only at nervous system regulation will not resolve the underlying physical issue. But even when pain is structural, the nervous system still matters. Long-lasting pain often brings fear, avoidance, deconditioning, frustration, grief, and hypervigilance. Those reactions are understandable, and they can compound suffering. The most helpful question is not, “Is my pain physical or psychological?” The better question is: What pieces are contributing to my pain, and which ones can I address now? For many people, the answer involves more than one piece: Medical evaluation for injuries, disease, and structural concerns Gentle movement to rebuild strength and confidence Nervous system regulation and stress reduction Support for trauma, anxiety, sleep problems, or depression Hands-on therapies, devices, or other symptom-relief tools A knowledgeable guide who can help sort through the options Why Chronic Pain Care Can Feel So Overwhelming People living with pain are often told to keep searching, but then they are handed an internet full of conflicting information. That can be exhausting. There are new technologies, ancient healing traditions, physical therapies, psychological approaches, medical interventions, devices, and products. How is anyone supposed to know where to begin? This is why a pain navigator or informed practitioner can be so helpful. Rather than offering a one-size-fits-all solution, a good guide looks at the full context: What conditions do you have? When and how did your symptoms begin? What treatments have you tried? What helped, what did not, and what made things worse? How is pain affecting sleep, work, movement, relationships, and hope? What financial and practical limits need to be considered? Chronic pain treatment should be individualized. What works beautifully for one person may do little for another. The point is not to chase every possible therapy. It is to identify the options most likely to fit your circumstances and try them thoughtfully. Starting Without Spending a Fortune Cost is real. Many integrative services are not covered by insurance, and chronic pain can already create financial strain. But not every helpful step requires a major investment. Start with the basics that support the nervous system and body as a whole. Use Free Mindbody Resources There are free relaxation exercises, breathing practices, guided meditations, and introductory tools available online. Some pain-focused apps also offer free trials or limited access. These are not magic fixes, but they can be a practical starting point for lowering stress and building skills. Simple energy psychology techniques, including forms of tapping or holding acupressure points while focusing on stress, pain, or distressing memories, may also help some people settle their nervous system. Move in the Smallest Possible Way Movement matters, even when pain makes movement intimidating. This does not mean pushing through severe symptoms, running a marathon, or pretending fear does not exist. It means starting somewhere safe and realistic. For one person, that may mean walking to the mailbox. For another, it may mean a few minutes of gentle mobility work. Water exercise can be especially helpful for back and joint pain because a pool supports some of the body’s weight. Community pools, YMCAs, and certain Medicare Advantage plans may offer lower-cost access. Long periods of complete inactivity can lead to weakness and deconditioning, which may make pain and function worse over time. Tiny, consistent steps count. Support Your Body With Everyday Choices Eating more real food and fewer heavily processed foods, improving sleep where possible, and finding manageable ways to move are foundational. These basics do not solve every pain condition, but they create a better environment for recovery. There Is Always More to Learn About Your Options The human body is not simply a collection of chemicals and cells. It is also electrical, neurological, mechanical, emotional, and conscious. The brain, heart, and nerves all involve electrical activity. The body responds to light, touch, movement, magnetic fields, safety, and connection. That broader understanding opens the door to approaches that conventional pain care may overlook. Some people benefit from physical therapy, chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage, neurofeedback, light therapy, microcurrent therapy, pulsed electromagnetic field devices, neuromuscular stimulation, or other tools. Some of these options can be used at home after a one-time purchase. Others may be covered partially by insurance. An electric massager, for example, can be an inexpensive, practical tool for recurring muscle pain. The right choice depends on the person, the condition, and the circumstances. There is no single treatment that works for everyone. But there are far more possibilities than many people have been led to believe. Hope Is Not Wishful Thinking There are people who have lived with pain for decades and eventually found an answer. There are people who have recovered from severe fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome, disabling back pain, and profound mobility limitations. Their paths were not always quick, simple, or inexpensive. But recovery became possible when they found the missing pieces. If you have been told, “There is nothing more we can do,” please do not assume that means there is nothing more available. It may only mean that the person you asked did not know the full range of options. You deserve care that sees the whole of you. You deserve information that helps you make decisions. You deserve providers who listen, take your pain seriously, and understand that healing can require more than a prescription. Do not lose hope. Keep looking, get informed, and seek out the right support. There is more out there. Resources in this episode: Calming Video from Cindy’s Website: https://www.paintreatmentdirectory.com/articles-videos/do-this-to-quickly-reduce-stress-and-pain-naturally (https://www.paintreatmentdirectory.com/articles-videos/do-this-to-quickly-reduce-stress-and-pain-naturally) ‘The best and worst chronic pain treatments ranked by evidence’ article: https://www.paintreatmentdirectory.com/posts/the-best-and-worst-chronic-pain-treatments-ranked-by-evidence (https://www.paintreatmentdirectory.com/posts/the-best-and-worst-chronic-pain-treatments-ranked-by-evidence).

3. 

   21 Jul 2026

   Why Chronic Pain Persists & How To Retrain The Brain For Relief

   Scroll to the bottom to listen to the audio version. If you’ve been living with chronic pain, you’ve probably asked yourself this question more than once. “Why am I still hurting?” Maybe you’ve tried physiotherapy, massage, medications, injections, chiropractic care, surgery, or countless exercise programs. Perhaps some helped for a while. Maybe others didn’t help at all. Eventually, many people begin to wonder if this is simply the way life is going to be. If that sounds familiar, I want you to know two things. First, your pain is real. Second, there may be a piece of the puzzle that no one has ever explained to you. We’ve Been Focusing on the Branches Instead of the Roots Imagine standing in front of a large tree. One branch represents your back pain. Another represents migraines. Another is poor sleep. Another is fatigue. Another is digestive issues. Another is anxiety. Another is brain fog. Another is pain that seems to move from one area of your body to another. Another is sensitivity to touch, sound, temperature or pressure. Most of us spend years trying to care for the branches. We search for treatments for each individual symptom, hoping that if we can solve one problem at a time, we’ll finally feel better. Sometimes those treatments are incredibly important and helpful. But what if all of those branches were connected to the same root system? What if there was one underlying process quietly influencing many of the symptoms you’ve been trying so hard to manage? Rather than treating each branch as a separate problem, we begin asking a different question: What is happening at the roots? For many people living with stubborn persistent pain, that root is nervous system sensitization and it’s impact is felt throughout all our systems. Why? Because the nervous system is constantly communicating with them. What Is Nervous System Sensitization? Your nervous system was designed to protect you. When you sprain your ankle, cut your finger, or touch a hot stove, pain encourages you to slow down, pay attention, and protect the injured area while it heals. That’s exactly what we want. But sometimes this remarkable protection system becomes too good at its job. After months or years of pain, injury, illness, surgery, chronic stress, trauma, or repeated flare-ups, the nervous system can remain on high alert—even when the original injury has healed or no longer explains the amount of pain you’re experiencing. Think of it like the volume knob on your pain system has been turned up. The pain is still very real. The difference is that your nervous system has become more sensitive to danger and less efficient at recognizing safety. This process is known in the scientific literature as central sensitization. I often use the term nervous system sensitization because it better describes what’s happening and is easier to understand. It’s About More Than Pain One of the biggest misconceptions about chronic pain is that it only affects pain. Your nervous system helps regulate nearly every system in your body. It influences your movement, sleep, digestion, immune system, energy levels, attention, emotions, and your body’s protective responses. When the nervous system becomes overprotective, it isn’t unusual to experience: – Pain that spreads beyond the original injury – Pain that lingers longer than expected – Sensitivity to touch, movement, temperature, sound, or light – Frequent flare-ups – Fatigue – Brain fog – Sleep difficulties – Digestive issues – Reproductive issues – Fear of pain with movement Let’s take a closer look at one of the symptoms – digestion. The gut and brain are constantly communicating through the gut-brain axis. Many people with persistent pain also experience digestive symptoms, and conditions such as IBS frequently coexist with nociplastic pain. Researchers believe altered nervous system processing is one of several contributors. Let’s look at another – Sleep. Persistent pain and sleep have a bidirectional relationship. Poor sleep increases pain sensitivity and persistent pain disrupts sleep. Nociplastic pain commonly includes altered sleep. And finally, movement. Persistent pain is associated with changes in our brain’s body maps (bodily representation), motor planning, movement confidence and protective movement behaviours like bracing and avoidance. At first glance, these can look like unrelated problems. But they may all be connected by the same underlying process. Why Haven’t More People Heard About This? Pain science has changed dramatically over the past few decades. For many years, persistent pain was viewed primarily through the lens of damaged tissues. If your shoulder hurt, we looked at the shoulder. If your back hurt, we looked at the spine. Those things still matter. But today we understand that pain is much more complex. Your brain and nervous system are constantly evaluating information from your body, your environment, your memories, your stress levels, your emotions, and your previous experiences before deciding how much protection you need. Pain is one of those protective outputs. That’s why two people can have the same MRI but very different pain experiences. It’s also why many people continue to hurt long after tissues have healed. Understanding the nervous system doesn’t replace traditional medical care. It simply adds another important piece to the puzzle. Here’s the Good News The nervous system is constantly changing. This remarkable ability is called neuroplasticity. If the nervous system can learn to become more protective… it can also learn to become less protective. This is one of the most hopeful discoveries in modern pain science. How Do We Teach the Nervous System Something New? Knowing why you hurt is incredibly important. But understanding alone doesn’t change the nervous system. The next question becomes: How do we help the nervous system become less protective? One of the most effective ways is through repeated experiences that gently teach the brain and nervous system that movement and everyday activities are safe again. Imagine walking through a forest with tall grass. As you walk forward, you look back to see the small indents you’ve created in the grass. It can feel like a lot of work on the first pass through the brush, clearing a path as you go. Walk that same trail every day and something begins to happen. The trail becomes easier to follow. The path widens and becomes more discernible. Eventually, it becomes a clear path and a preferred route. Your nervous system works in much the same way. Over months or years, repeated pain experiences can create well-travelled protective pathways. The exciting part is that those aren’t the only pathways your brain can build. Every time you have a safe movement experience, calm your nervous system, challenge an old belief about pain, or practice a new skill, you’re helping create a new trail. One that says: “This is safe.” That’s neuroplasticity. Not changing overnight. Not through willpower. But through hundreds of small experiences that gradually reshape the way the nervous system responds. One Powerful Tool: Graded Motor Imagery One of the approaches I frequently use is called Graded Motor Imagery (GMI). Although the name sounds technical, the idea is surprisingly simple. Instead of asking a sensitive nervous system to jump straight into painful movement, we gradually activate the brain’s movement networks in ways that feel safe. Think of it as teaching the brain before asking the body to do more. Graded Motor Imagery includes three stages. Step One: Left and Right Descrimination The first stage involves looking at pictures of body parts and deciding whether you’re seeing the left or the right side. It sounds simple, but it tells us something fascinating about how the brain works. Research has shown that people living with persistent pain are often slower and less accurate at recognizing the painful body part. This isn’t because they’ve forgotten their left from their right. It’s because the brain’s internal map of that body part has become less precise. Practicing left and right recognition helps sharpen those maps without provoking pain. Step Two: Motor Imagery The second stage involves imagining movement without actually moving. For example, you might imagine reaching into a cupboard, climbing stairs, or turning your head. Although your body stays still, many of the same brain regions involved in actual movement become active. This gives the brain an opportunity to rehearse safe movement before asking the body to perform it. Step Three: Mirror Therapy The final stage uses a mirror to create the visual illusion that the painful limb is moving comfortably and easily. The brain receives visual information suggesting that movement is safe, helping challenge its expectation that movement always equals danger. For many people, this becomes another opportunity to build confidence and reduce protection. Why Does This Work? Pain doesn’t simply happen after movement. Your brain begins preparing for movement before your muscles ever contract. It predicts. It plans. It asks, “Is this safe?” If years of pain have taught your brain that movement is dangerous, it may begin producing protection before movement even begins. Graded Motor Imagery gently changes those predictions. Instead of overwhelming the nervous system, it provides repeated evidence that movement can be safe. This is neuroplasticity in action. What Does the Research Tell Us? Over the past two decades, Graded Motor Imagery has become one of the most studied neuroplastic approaches for persistent pain. Research has shown it can: Reduce pain intensity Improve movement and daily function Improve body awareness Reduce fear of movement Improve confidence during activity Help normalize the brain’s representation of the painful body part The strongest evidence exists for conditions such as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and phantom limb pain, where changes in the brain’s body maps are well documented. Research is also encouraging for people living with persistent musculoskeletal pain, Fibromyalgia, migraines, (and more) when Graded Motor Imagery is combined with pain education, movement, and other nervous system retraining strategies. Like any treatment, it isn’t a magic solution or the right fit for everyone. But it represents something incredibly hopeful. The brain can change. My Approach People often ask me what I actually do. I like to think of it in three simple steps. Understand First, we make sense of your pain. When you understand why you hurt, fear begins to settle, and your nervous system starts receiving a very different message. Retrain Next, we gently retrain the nervous system using evidence-based approaches such as pain education, Graded Motor Imagery, pain reprocessing, movement, gradual exposure, pacing, and other neuroplastic strategies. Every small success becomes another piece of evidence that says: “You’re safe.” Return to Living Finally, we bridge the gap between knowing and doing. This is where the power of coaching comes into play. Together, we build confidence, navigate setbacks, tweak your daily practice to suit your needs, and help you reconnect with the activities that matter most. Because recovery isn’t simply about reducing pain. It’s about getting your life back. A Different Way of Looking at Chronic Pain If you’ve been searching for answers and still don’t understand why you’re hurting, I hope this article has given you a different way of looking at your pain. Perhaps the missing piece isn’t another treatment aimed at another branch. Perhaps it’s understanding the roots. When we begin calming an overprotective nervous system, we’re not simply chasing symptoms. We’re addressing one of the underlying processes that can influence how pain is experienced. My goal isn’t simply to help you manage pain. It’s to help you understand it, retrain your nervous system, and return to a life that’s bigger than your pain. Because when your nervous system learns that you’re safe, everything begins to change. Before we wrap up, I want to leave you with this: If your nervous system has learned to become more protective, it can also learn something new. That does not mean your pain is imagined, and it does not mean change happens overnight. It means there may be more possibilities available to you than you have been led to believe. Understanding sensitization is an important first step, but understanding alone is rarely enough. Real change comes from taking what you have learned and putting it into practice—slowly, consistently, and in a way that feels manageable for you. Here’s what I’d like you to do. Take a moment to think about what stood out most for you in today’s episode. Was it the idea of an overprotective nervous system? The hiking trail analogy? Or the possibility that movement can begin to feel safer again? Then, ask yourself: What might be possible if I had a clear plan and the right support to put this into practice? That is exactly why I created the 16-Week Change Pain Academy. Inside the Academy, I guide you step by step through understanding pain, retraining an overprotective nervous system, building confidence in movement, managing pain flares, improving sleep, and gradually returning to more of the life you want to live. This is not about pushing through pain or trying to fix one body part. It is about working with the whole person and helping you turn knowledge into practical, meaningful change. To learn more about the 16-Week Change Pain Academy, head to pain2possibilities.com. You will also find podcast episodes, articles, videos, and free resources to help you continue learning. Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope this episode has helped you better understand why pain can persist and, more importantly, why your story may not be finished yet.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 38 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

46

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

75

Contact The Chronic Pain Experience Podcast

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.