An Emerging Revolution in the Treatment of Chronic Pain

Clipping Chains Podcast

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic pain—pain lasting at or beyond three months—affected over 20% of U.S. adults, or 51.6 million people, in 2021. Symptoms were severe enough to substantially restrict daily activity for 6.9% of Americans that same year. And with chronic pain comes soaring medical costs, pharmaceutical over-reliance, and addiction.

Mounting multidisciplinary research suggests that most chronic pain is not of structural origin. In other words, most chronic pain can not be directly attributed to injury or physical abnormality. Neuroplastic pain results from the brain misinterpreting signals from the body as if they were dangerous. We habituate to pain, creating behaviors that either avoid pain or alleviate symptoms.

Encouragingly, those undergoing a psychological treatment known as Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) are showing vast improvements in pain management without pharmaceutical or other medical interventions. One major study found that two-thirds of chronic back pain patients were pain-free or nearly pain-free after four weeks of PRT interventions. In addition, patients showed visible changes in the prefrontal brain regions associated with pain after therapy. While psychological treatments are effective in managing chronic pain, this does not imply that the pain is imaginary.

My guest today, Miriam Gauci Bongiovanni, suffered needlessly until she discovered the concept of neuroplastic pain. Today, now pain-free, she works from her home in Malta as a Certified MindBody Practitioner and Trauma-Informed Coach. But beyond her skills as a wonderful teacher and educator on chronic pain, I found her story of embracing a nontraditional career fascinating. Today we dive in on everything from how our personalities and fears inform our pain cycles to living a good life.

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Show Notes and Links at Clippingchains.com

Topics Discussed with Miriam Gauci Bongiovanni

• Miriam’s history with debilitating pain and the methods she used to cure it
• What is neuroplastic pain?
• Cycles of worry that feed neuroplastic pain: How fear contributes to body tension and muscle spasms
• Why neuroplastic pain often develops from real injuries
• Why emotional experiences are creating real physical changes in the body
• The role of personality on neuroplastic pain and who is most likely to suffer
• Conditioning and pain triggers
• Key indicators of neuroplastic pain
• How neuroplastic pain can imprint on structural pain
• The nocebo effect, expectations of pain
• Why continuing to see practitioners (PT, etc) can contribute to neuroplastic pain
• Why exercises aimed at injury prevention may not be useful
• Somatic tracking and learning to explore painful sensations
• The importance of play on pain mitigation
• Miriam’s personality and personal journey. How frustration at work resulted in pain
• The importance of accountability and individual agency in pain management
• The danger of hiding our stress
• Living a nontraditional life and career: challenges and rewards
• So much more!