One of the most frustrating parts of chronic back pain is what doctors sometimes don’t find.

The scan looks normal.

The tissue has healed.

The inflammation is gone.

And yet… the pain stays.

According to researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine, this isn’t a mystery—it’s a neurological pattern called central sensitization. And it means the nervous system itself has become hypersensitive.

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“Many people suffer chronic pain in the absence of any past injury or evidence of illness.”

— Johns Hopkins Medicine

When the Nervous System Won’t Let Go

Johns Hopkins explains that in some people, the nervous system becomes overprotective over time. The pain that once served a purpose now becomes a habit loop.

“The nerves that signal pain become hypersensitive, and changes occur in the receptors, neurotransmitters, and pathways that make up the central nervous system.”

This leads to:

• Pain that lasts long after healing
• Pain that spreads or worsens over time
• Pain triggered by non-painful activities like sitting, bending, or even thinking about movement

The pain is not psychological. It’s not imagined. It’s a real, physical state of neural overload.

From Protection to Prison

Pain is designed to protect us.

But when that protective system becomes overactive, it starts to fire at the wrong times. Like a smoke alarm going off when there’s no fire.

This is why many people with chronic back pain feel worse after stress, not movement.

It’s why the pain flares before a family visit, a major deadline, or a hard conversation—even when the body is doing nothing new.

And it’s why traditional physical treatments often fail to help.

Because the issue is no longer structural.

It’s neurological.

When Surgery Makes Things Worse

Johns Hopkins also offers a warning about over-medicalizing back pain:

“Surgery can correct structural abnormalities contributing to back pain, but it does not guarantee pain relief—and may even worsen the pain.”

Instead, they recommend conservative, nervous system–calming strategies:

• Education
• Meditation
• Movement
• Mind-body integration
• Cognitive-based approaches

What The Makepeace Method Adds

The nervous system can be retrained, but it doesn’t happen through willpower, posture correction, or 27-step stretching routines.

It starts with understanding the real purpose of the pain.

At Makepeace, we help you explore what your brain may be trying to protect you from—and how to gently signal to your system that it’s safe to let go.

This isn’t ignoring the pain.

It’s listening to it—and answering back.

_Sources:

_{https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/chronic-pain}

_{https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/chronic-pain/fibromyalgia-in-children}

_{https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/back-pain/7-ways-to-treat-chronic-back-pain-without-surgery}