Feel Better Asheville

People often come into my massage studio telling me how much pain they're in and how much stress they're under, noting that stress is “probably” making it worse.

And they’re right. And the pain is still very real. 

One of the most interesting shifts happening in pain science right now is the understanding that pain is not simply a direct measurement of injury or muscle tension. Pain is more like the brain’s danger alarm. Its job is to protect us.

Sometimes that alarm is accurate and helpful — like when you sprain an ankle or touch a hot stove. But sometimes the nervous system can become overprotective. The alarm stays turned up long after the initial injury, stressor, or overload has passed.

That doesn’t mean the pain is fake. It means the nervous system has learned to stay on high alert.

Modern pain research uses something called the biopsychosocial model, which looks at pain through three overlapping lenses:

• Biological (injury, inflammation, tension, nervous system sensitization)
• Psychological (stress, anxiety, fear, overwhelm, trauma)
• Social/environmental (relationships, work stress, burnout, support systems)

In other words: our bodies don’t exist separately from our lives.

As a massage therapist, I’ve seen this play out for years. Someone comes in with chronic neck tension, headaches, jaw pain, low back pain, digestive stress, or full-body tightness — and often their nervous system feels just as exhausted as their muscles do.

Sometimes people assume massage only works because we’re “breaking up knots.” But I think there’s more happening than that.

One theory is that massage gives the nervous system new data.

The brain is constantly gathering information and asking:

“Am I safe right now?”

And the data we give the brain that helps us feel safe may lower the danger alarm.

Things like:

• slow, intentional touch,
• steady breathing,
• feeling listened to,
• warmth,
• gentle movement,
• human connection,
• calming environments,
• and supportive therapeutic contact

can all communicate safety to the nervous system.

When the body starts to feel safer, muscles often stop bracing as hard. Breathing deepens. Guarding decreases. Sometimes pain levels change too.

Research around chronic pain and something called central sensitization suggests that the nervous system can become increasingly reactive over time. Stress, poor sleep, anxiety, hypervigilance, burnout, trauma, repetitive strain, and prolonged pain can all contribute to the body staying stuck in a protective loop.

Massage may help interrupt that loop by:

• calming the stress response,
• activating pressure receptors tied to relaxation,
• improving circulation and movement,
• increasing body awareness,
• helping muscles let go of chronic holding patterns,
• and creating conditions where the nervous system no longer feels under constant threat.

This is also why I don’t believe massage is just physical work. The relationship matters. The pacing matters. Feeling emotionally safe matters. Presence matters.

Sometimes the body doesn’t need to be forced into change. Sometimes it needs enough safety to stop defending itself so intensely.

That doesn’t mean every condition is stress-related or that medical care isn’t important. Structural injuries and illness absolutely exist and deserve proper treatment. But pain science continues to show us that pain intensity doesn’t always perfectly match tissue damage.

Pain is more complex than we once thought.

And honestly, I think that’s hopeful.

Because if the nervous system can learn pain pathways, it may also be able to learn safety pathways.

For some people, massage becomes part of that process:

• reconnecting with their body,
• calming chronic stress patterns,
• reducing overwhelm,
• and helping their nervous system shift out of survival mode for a little while.

Not because massage magically fixes everything.

But because the body and nervous system are always listening.

And sometimes feeling safe is part of what healing feels like.

If you’d like to learn more about these ideas in a really accessible way, I highly recommend listening to this episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard featuring pain psychologist Rachel Zoffness: Listen on Spotify.

---

References

Gatchel, R. J., Peng, Y. B., Peters, M. L., Fuchs, P. N., & Turk, D. C. (2007). The biopsychosocial approach to chronic pain: Scientific advances and future directions. Psychological Bulletin, 133(4), 581–624.

Lepri, B., Romani, D., Storari, L., & Barbari, V. (2023). Effectiveness of pain neuroscience education in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain and central sensitization: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), 4098.

Zale, E. L., Lange, K. L., Fields, S. A., & Ditre, J. W. (2015). Pain-related fear, disability, and the fear-avoidance model of chronic pain. Current Opinion in Psychology, 5, 24–30.