Pain Relief Colorado Springs: What Causes Chronic Pain—And How to Get Relief
If you’ve been living with chronic pain, chances are you’ve spent hours searching for answers. Maybe you’ve bounced between doctors, specialists, scans, and treatments, only to be told your pain doesn't have a clear cause—or worse, that it's "all in your head." That experience can be invalidating, frustrating, and exhausting. But there is another way to understand chronic pain. One that doesn’t dismiss your experience, but instead helps you work with it.
The truth is: Not all pain is caused by physical injury or damage. And even more importantly, all pain is processed in the brain. That means that pain isn't just a signal from your body; it's also shaped by your emotions, thoughts, and nervous system.
What Is Neuroplastic Pain?
Neuroplastic pain is pain that results from the brain continuing to misfire pain signals, even when there is no ongoing injury or tissue damage. It happens when the brain has learned to associate certain movements, sensations, or even emotions with danger, so it creates pain to try to protect you.
This doesn’t mean the pain isn’t real. It’s very real. It just means the source of the pain is different from what many of us have been taught to expect.
Neuroplastic pain is often the result of:
Past injuries that have fully healed
Long-term stress or trauma
Fear and anxiety around certain symptoms
A nervous system stuck in fight-or-flight mode
The brain learns patterns. And when it learns that certain experiences are dangerous, it can overprotect you by sounding the pain alarm, even when there’s no real threat. This is especially common in people with a history of trauma or chronic stress.
All Pain Is Processed in the Brain
This might be surprising to hear, but even physical pain (like a broken bone) is created in the brain. Your body sends signals about injury or inflammation, but it’s your brain that decides how much pain to generate. That decision is influenced by context, emotions, past experiences, and perceived danger.
That’s why two people with the same injury can experience very different levels of pain. And it’s why pain can linger long after the body has physically healed.
If the brain can turn pain up, it can also learn to turn it down. That’s the promise of neuroplasticity: the ability for the brain to change, adapt, and rewire itself. And it’s at the core of what makes recovery possible.
The Pain-Fear Cycle: How Fear Makes Pain Worse
One of the most powerful drivers of chronic pain is fear. This is called the pain-fear cycle, and it can keep pain going long after the original cause has resolved.
Here’s how it works:
You experience pain.
Your brain interprets that pain as a sign of danger.
You feel fear, anxiety, or panic in response to the pain.
That activates your fight-or-flight response.
Your body tenses up to prepare to fight or run.
That tension and stress creates more pain.
More pain reinforces the idea that something is wrong.
Fear increases.
And the cycle repeats.
This cycle doesn’t just happen psychologically—it happens physiologically, in your nervous system. When you’re in fight-or-flight, your body is flooded with stress hormones, your muscles tighten, your breathing becomes shallow, and your pain threshold lowers. Over time, this can make you more sensitive to pain and more fearful of movement, activity, or even emotions.
Living in this state long-term keeps your nervous system on high alert, always scanning for threats, always ready to brace. That ongoing tension reinforces the pain, and the brain continues to send pain signals as a protective mechanism.
Why Reducing Fear Is the Key to Relief
The good news is that if fear and nervous system dysregulation are contributing to pain, then working with those systems can help reduce pain. The goal isn’t to ignore the pain or pretend it’s not there. It’s to teach your brain and body that the pain, while uncomfortable, is not dangerous.
When your brain no longer sees pain as a threat, it can stop producing it as a warning signal.
How I Help Clients Reduce Chronic Pain
As a somatic therapist trained in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and other body-focused approaches, I specialize in helping clients heal chronic pain by working with the nervous system.
Here’s how we do that together:
1. Somatic Tracking to Reduce Fear
Somatic tracking is a core part of Pain Reprocessing Therapy. It involves gently bringing awareness to the pain in a curious, non-judgmental way. Instead of bracing or panicking, we practice observing the sensations with calm attention. This retrains the brain to interpret those signals as safe, not dangerous.
Through somatic tracking, you learn to:
Notice your pain without spiraling into fear
Tune in to moments when the pain decreases (which reinforces the brain’s belief that pain is changeable)
Build a sense of trust in your body again
It might sound simple, but this approach is backed by neuroscience. People who engage in somatic tracking can significantly reduce or even eliminate chronic pain over time.
2. Nervous System Regulation Through Somatic Therapy
Your nervous system needs to feel safe in order to heal. In somatic therapy, we work directly with the body to:
Settle out of fight-or-flight
Reconnect with sensations of safety
Release chronic tension and holding patterns
This might involve gentle movements (called motor plans), grounding exercises like orienting, breathwork, and other body-based practices that help you shift from a state of survival into a state of regulation. When your nervous system is regulated, your brain can stop interpreting everything as a threat—including your pain.
We also work on building internal resources so that you feel more resilient, more confident in your body, and more able to handle discomfort without spiraling.
3. Immersive Sessions for Faster Healing
If you’re dealing with chronic pain, you’ve likely experienced how easy it is to fall into the fear-pain cycle. And sometimes, the structure of traditional therapy can unintentionally make that worse. When you only have 50 minutes, and you’re watching the clock, it’s hard to drop into your body and truly feel safe. That ticking clock can activate anxiety, tension, and fear—exactly the states that reinforce pain.
That’s why I offer immersive therapy sessions for people living with chronic pain. Immersives are extended sessions that give your nervous system the space and time it needs to settle. Without the pressure of rushing, you can fully engage in nervous system regulation, somatic tracking, and deep reprocessing work. You get to stay in that safe, supported state long enough for your brain and body to start integrating new patterns.
In an immersive, we can:
Break longstanding pain-fear cycles
Practice somatic tracking in real-time, without rushing
Reset your nervous system with extended regulation and grounding work
Create a solid, individualized plan that supports your healing and prepares you for potential relapses long after the session ends
Immersives are ideal for people who:
Feel anxious in short sessions or notice that therapy ends just as things start to open up
Are highly sensitive and need more time to feel safe and grounded
Want to make meaningful progress quickly, without getting re-triggered by time pressure
Are caught in the fear-pain cycle and need a reset to shift out of it
If your nervous system is overwhelmed, dysregulated, or stuck in pain patterns, immersive sessions may be the space your body needs to start healing more effectively and more deeply.
Feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to start
Stuck in patterns of avoidance or fear
Ready to create a shift but need more support to get there
What About Pain Relapses?
Here’s the truth: pain recovery is not always linear. Relapses happen. But they don’t mean you’ve failed or that you’re broken. They’re simply a sign that your nervous system is under stress and needs extra support.
In our work together, we plan for this. We talk about how to respond to flare-ups without falling back into the pain-fear cycle. We build out a plan to help you stay grounded and engaged in life, even when the pain is louder than usual.
The key is to not respond to the pain with fear and avoidance. Instead, we practice:
Staying calm and curious
Using somatic tracking to observe the pain without judgment
Returning to grounding practices that support regulation
Remembering that your brain is capable of change, even in moments of flare-up
At its worst, using any and all helpful avoidance activities that help distract from the pain or give you any amount of relief, like hot pads, ice, etc
Over time, this builds a sense of trust. You learn that pain isn’t something to fear, but something you can meet with compassion, understanding, and skill.
You Don’t Have to Live in Fear
Chronic pain can take over your life, but it doesn’t have to. Understanding how the pain-fear cycle works, and learning how to shift your nervous system out of survival mode, can change everything.
Relief is possible. Not through forcing or fixing, but through gently retraining your brain and body to feel safe again.
If you’re ready to explore a different way of healing, I’m here to support you.
Pain Management Colorado Springs: In Colorado? Work With Me
Looking for pain relief in Colorado Springs? I’m Martha Carter, a licensed somatic therapist offering virtual services throughout Colorado. I help people find lasting relief from chronic pain by working with the nervous system, not against it. Using body-focused approaches like Pain Reprocessing Therapy and somatic tracking, I support clients in:
Understanding the root of their pain
Reducing fear and tension
Regulating their nervous system
Reclaiming their lives from pain
Whether your pain is rooted in trauma, stress, or unknown causes, I’ll meet you with compassion, science-backed tools, and a deep respect for your body’s wisdom.
If you’re tired of chasing treatments that don’t work and you're ready to try something different, let’s talk. And if you're ready for deep transformation, ask me about immersive sessions for chronic pain. They might be the very thing that shifts your healing journey forward.
About the Author
Martha Carter is a licensed therapist providing virtual services in Colorado. She is trauma-informed and trained in somatic, neurobiology-based modalities to help people with all types of trauma, chronic pain, and eating disorders heal from the inside out.
(Colorado residents only)
