The question I get asked most often is: “What is it that’s causing the pain?”
Whatever seems to be “going wrong” in the body is often related to the nervous system being out of balance. When the nervous system becomes unbalanced, communication and feedback between the body and the brain begin to break down. And just like in any relationship, healthy communication is essential for the relationship to function well.
In past articles, I’ve talked about how symptoms are signals the body sends to the brain to get its attention. Very often, these symptoms are actually a good thing. Although they can be uncomfortable, they alert the brain that something is happening that needs attention.
Think of a carbon monoxide detector in your home. It senses when there’s too much carbon monoxide in the air and then lets out a loud, disturbing alarm to alert you to the presence of a potentially deadly gas. The alarm itself is unpleasant—but it’s also incredibly valuable. The body works in a similar way when it sends signals to the brain.
Unfortunately, in our society many of us have learned to ignore symptoms, suppress them, or try to make them disappear as quickly as possible. Often we seek professional help specifically to eliminate the symptom. Symptoms are frequently viewed as inconvenient disruptions to daily life.
Much of our healthcare system is designed to provide relief from symptoms. And in certain situations, there is nothing wrong with that. Sometimes reducing symptoms—such as pain—is necessary to get a good night’s sleep or to allow the body to rest and recover.
However, when symptoms become chronic, it often means the nervous system has become stuck and the body can no longer adapt effectively. This is where many approaches in healthcare fall short. Chronic problems are often treated as though they were acute problems.
But chronic conditions require a more comprehensive and foundational approach—one that addresses the patterns and habits that led to the symptom in the first place.
The Limits of Acute Solutions
Consider someone whose diet is consistently poor. They may eat too much sugar, lack balanced protein and fibre, and have irregular eating habits. Over time, these patterns can contribute to issues such as metabolic syndrome or a weakened immune system.
The only way to truly change that trajectory is to address the underlying habits. Exercising more alone won’t fix the problem. Taking a pill won’t solve it either. In other words:
You can’t acute your way out of a chronic problem.
Another common example is the caregiver—someone who constantly puts others first. Their energy is devoted to helping everyone around them, leaving very little for themselves. Over time their personal bandwidth shrinks until they reach burnout.
It’s like slowly sinking in a leaky boat. If they don’t address the underlying issue—strengthening their own capacity and energy—it won’t matter what other strategies they try. They will continue fighting a losing battle.
Looking for the One Cause
So when someone asks, “What is causing the pain?”, they are often searching for a simple answer to a complex problem.
They hope there is one specific thing that needs fixing. Perhaps an inflamed disc. Pressure on a nerve. A muscle spasm. A bone that is “out of place” or fixated.
In reality, it’s often a combination of several of these factors. But before any of those issues develop, something else usually happens first:
The nervous system becomes imbalanced.
Beyond that, chronic symptoms often persist because the body has lost some of its capacity to correct and regulate itself. Restoring that ability requires looking at what is happening not only physically, but also emotionally and mentally.
The Body’s Built-In Ability to Heal
When the nervous system is balanced, communication between the brain and body improves. This allows the body to rebalance, adapt, and heal itself. In fact, this process happens continuously. When we exercise, we create microscopic tears in muscle fibres. The immune system responds by cleaning up damaged tissue and rebuilding it stronger than before.
We are also constantly breathing in microorganisms. When the nervous system is functioning well, the immune system is continually scanning for these organisms and removing them. The body is designed for ongoing repair and adaptation.
Getting the Self-Repair System Back Online
This doesn’t mean that the specific tissue causing pain doesn’t matter. But what often matters even more is restoring the body’s ability to repair itself. For that to happen, the nervous system needs to return to a more balanced state. NeuroSpinal Optimization works with the nervous system to help it find greater balance over time. By supporting this balance, it helps optimize communication between the brain and body, allowing the body’s natural self-healing mechanisms to function more effectively. Your capacity to correct, regulate and thrive grows.