Chronic Pain Is Not Just in the Tissues — It Is Written into the Brain: Ayurveda’s Forgotten Neuroplastic Wisdom
- Dr Rakesh VG
- Dec 17, 2025
- 4 min read
By Dr Rakesh Ayureshmi, Ayureshmi Ayurveda Wellness Centre, Kollam, Kerala, India
Why Does Pain Persist Even After Healing?
What if chronic pain is not a sign of damage, but a sign of memory? Modern neuroscience now confirms a truth Ayurveda hinted at thousands of years ago: pain can persist even when tissues have healed, because the nervous system itself has changed. Chronic pain affects over 20% of adults worldwide, draining productivity, joy, and dignity. Yet despite advanced imaging and pharmaceuticals, relief often remains elusive. Understanding chronic pain as a neuroplastic disorder may be the paradigm shift medicine urgently needs—and Ayurveda has been quietly teaching this for centuries.
Chronic Pain: When the Alarm System Forgets to Switch Off
Acute pain is protective. It warns, immobilizes, and heals. Chronic pain, however, behaves differently. Neuroscience describes it as maladaptive neuroplasticity—where repeated pain signals rewire the brain and spinal cord, amplifying sensitivity even in the absence of injury.
Functional MRI studies show that chronic pain alters regions involved in emotion, memory, and attention, such as the anterior cingulate cortex, insula, and prefrontal cortex. Pain becomes less about tissue and more about perception.
Ayurveda mirrors this insight through the concept of Vata prakopa affecting Manovaha srotas (mental channels) and Majja dhatu (nervous tissue). Pain (shoola) is not merely local—it becomes systemic and psychological when Vata loses rhythm and intelligence.
Metaphor:
Think of chronic pain like a smoke alarm that keeps ringing long after the fire is gone—because the wiring itself is faulty.
Neuroplasticity: The Brain That Learns Pain
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change structure and function based on experience. Chronic pain hijacks this adaptive mechanism.
A landmark study by Apkarian et al. (2004) demonstrated that chronic back pain reduces gray matter density in the prefrontal cortex—equivalent to accelerated brain aging. Pain literally reshapes the brain.
Ayurveda anticipated this through the doctrine of Samskara—impressions etched into consciousness through repetition. Recurrent pain strengthens its samskara, making the body “remember” pain even without stimulus.
Thus, chronic pain is not imaginary—it is learned. And what is learned can be unlearned.
Ayurveda’s Radical View: Pain as a Disorder of Intelligence (Prajna Aparadha)
Ayurveda does not treat pain as a mechanical failure but as a disruption of biological intelligence.
Charaka describes Prajna Aparadha—mistakes of intellect—as a root cause of chronic disease. Suppressing urges, ignoring pain signals, overusing injured parts, emotional repression, and fear-based living all dysregulate Vata and hardwire pain responses.
From this lens, chronic pain is not punishment—it is feedback.
Modern pain psychology echoes this. Fear-avoidance behavior, catastrophizing, and hypervigilance strongly predict pain chronicity—often more than structural damage.
Ayurveda’s solution is not suppression but re-education of the nervous system.
Marma Therapy: Rebooting the Neuro-Immune Interface
Marma points are not mystical dots—they are neurovascular, myofascial, and energetic junctions.
Stimulation of marma points has been shown to:
Modulate autonomic balance
Reduce central sensitization
Improve parasympathetic tone
Influence limbic (emotional) centers of the brain
From a neuroplastic perspective, marma therapy provides novel, non-threatening sensory input, which helps the brain update its pain map.
This aligns with Melzack’s Neuromatrix Theory, which proposes that pain emerges from a network integrating sensory, emotional, and cognitive inputs—not from tissue damage alone.
Ayurveda was addressing the neuromatrix long before the term existed.
Chiropractic & Movement: Teaching the Brain Safety Again
In chronic pain, the brain perceives movement as danger. This explains why scans often show minimal pathology despite severe pain.
Gentle chiropractic corrections, spinal mobilization, and mindful movement restore proprioceptive clarity—accurate information from joints and muscles to the brain.
Research shows spinal manipulation alters sensorimotor integration and cortical excitability, effectively “resetting” faulty pain circuits.
Ayurveda complements this with:
Abhyanga (oil massage) to ground Vata
Swedana to soften rigidity
Sukshma vyayama (subtle movements) to restore confidence in motion
The goal is not force—it is reassurance to the nervous system.
Herbs That Heal Memory, Not Just Inflammation
While modern analgesics blunt pain signals, many Ayurvedic herbs act at the level of neuroplasticity.
Ashwagandha: Reduces cortisol, improves hippocampal neurogenesis
Brahmi: Enhances synaptic plasticity and cognitive-emotional regulation
Guduchi: Modulates neuro-immune inflammation
These herbs do not silence pain—they recalibrate the system that produces it.
Conclusion: Healing Chronic Pain Is a Journey of Relearning
Chronic pain is not a life sentence. It is a conversation between the body, brain, and consciousness that has gone off track.
Ayurveda reminds us that pain is not the enemy—it is intelligence seeking attention. When approached as a neuroplastic disorder rather than a structural defect, healing becomes possible.
The future of pain medicine lies not in stronger drugs, but in wiser systems that teach the nervous system safety, rhythm, and trust again.
Question to reflect on:
If your pain had a message rather than a diagnosis, what might it be asking you to change?
Chronic pain is not just in your muscles or joints—it lives in the nervous system. Ayurveda understood neuroplastic pain thousands of years before modern neuroscience. What if healing pain is about retraining the brain, not fighting the body?
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