Persistent pain
There are moments when pain stops being something occasional and becomes part of everyday life. And over time, it is not only the body that hurts: worry, constant monitoring and the “what if...?” also begin to appear.
Little by little, life starts to become smaller.
When pain does not quite go away
It does not always mean there is active damage in the body.
Sometimes the system that protects us, the nervous system, has become more sensitive and keeps sending alert signals even when the tissues are safe.
What you feel is real. But what generates it is not always a problem in the body.
The problem is not only the pain
Over time, many people end up in an exhausting pattern:
- being very focused on the body
- trying to understand every sensation
- avoiding things out of fear of making it worse
- constantly looking for a way to solve it
All of this makes sense. It is the system trying to help. But often, without meaning to, it keeps the alert system running.
Another approach
The work is not only about reducing pain. It is about understanding what is happening and, above all, changing your relationship with what you feel.
This includes:
- no longer living every sensation as a problem to solve
- reducing fear and the need for control
- doing things again even when the body does not feel perfect
- recovering trust in your own body
Recovering space
It is not only about pain going down. It is about life having space again.
So you can do, decide and move with more freedom, even when some days are better and others are harder.
I am Carolina Palau Oltra, a psychologist in Barcelona. I work with people living with persistent pain from a warm, structured perspective based on what we now know about how the nervous system works.
If this topic resonates with you, this may be a good place to start.