Why Fixing Your Chronic Pain Might Be Keeping You Stuck!

For over 10 years, I lived under the weight of chronic back pain. Diagnosed with degenerative disc disease, bulging discs, and scoliosis, I truly believed my spine was broken. Like many people with persistent pain, I thought my only way out was to fix what was “wrong” with my body.

I tried everything — medications, supplements, acupuncture, massage, chiropractic care, pain management clinics, even religiously attending weekly Pilates classes to “strengthen my core.” I thought if I could just get strong enough or find the right treatment, the pain would finally go. But it didn’t. In fact, it got worse.

Eventually, I became so afraid of movement that I stopped exercising completely. My world became smaller. I planned my life around my pain, stopped doing things I loved, and lost my sense of joy. If you’re reading this and it sounds familiar, I see you. I was you.

Lower back pain is incredibly common. In the UK alone, over 10 million people suffer from back pain every year. And yet, what many don’t realise is that up to 85% of all lower back pain is classified as “non-specific”, meaning there’s no clear structural cause. That means in the vast majority of cases, there is nothing seriously wrong with the spine itself — yet the pain is still very real.

What finally changed everything for me wasn’t a new stretch or treatment — it was discovering pain neuroscience and the concept of neuroplastic pain. I learned that pain is not a direct reflection of tissue damage. Instead, it’s generated by the brain based on a prediction of danger.

This is called predictive coding. Put simply, your brain receives signals from the body and then decides — based on memory, emotion, past experiences, and perceived threat — whether or not to create the experience of pain. It’s a protective mechanism, not a damage detector.

So in my case, my brain had been predicting pain for years, because it believed I was under constant threat — physically, emotionally, and psychologically. I was stuck in a loop of fear, avoidance, and hyper-vigilance.

Healing didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t happen from trying harder to fix my body. In fact, the more I focused on fixing, the more stuck I became. Instead, I had to shift my attention away from my pain and toward living again. I started to:

And guess what? The real healing began when I stopped trying to fix myself.

Now, I can do things I once feared — like a simple Pilates roll down — with ease and enjoyment. Do I have a six-pack? No. But I have freedom, fluidity, and joy in movement — and that’s worth more than any perfect core.

Ask yourself: what props are you still using to “manage” your pain? Heat packs? Ice? Gels? Special chairs? Cushions? Pick-up sticks? I know why you have them — I had them too. I carried them around like armour, believing they were protecting me. But in truth, they were reinforcing the belief that I was broken.

You’re not broken. You’re not fragile. You’re stuck in a loop that can be rewired.

The latest pain neuroscience supports this mind-body approach. Studies show that education about pain, fear reduction, movement reintroduction, and emotional processing are key in reducing or eliminating chronic pain. This is neuroplasticity in action — your brain can change, and so can your pain.

If you’re tired of trying to fix your pain and ready to understand it, I can help. As a chronic pain recovery coach who’s been through it first-hand, I now help others break free from the cycle of fear and reclaim their lives — not through meds, manipulation or surgery, but through education, empowerment, and brain-based healing.

You can feel better. You can move freely again. And it doesn’t have to take a decade like it did for me.