Retraining your Chronic Back and Nerve Pain Signals
Chronic Neck, Back, or Nerve Pain: How Acupuncture Can Help Retrain your Body & Nervous System
Chronic pain can feel like a never-ending loop. You may have received scans, tried medications and physio, yet the discomfort remains—or flares up with no clear reason. Pain in the neck, back, and nerves is especially persistent because these structures are key to posture, movement, and stress-holding patterns.
However, there is more going on beneath the surface. Chronic pain is not just a structural condition—it’s a nervous system condition. The way your brain and body process pain will alter over time. This is where acupuncture can step in, taking a wider lens and approaching your pain from multiple angles.
Why Does Chronic Pain Persist?
One major concept behind long-term pain is central sensitisation. This occurs when the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) becomes hyper-reactive and exaggerates mild signals from the body as pain. This overreaction can develop from an old injury, repetitive strain, poor posture, stress, or even after the original tissue damage has healed.
In this state, your body’s pain “volume” is turned up. A small trigger—like reaching for something, carrying a bag, or even lying in bed—can feel excessively painful. The nervous system has then started to amplify signals.
In addition, emotional stress, poor sleep, hormonal changes, and nutrient deficiencies can all further disrupt your body’s ability to regulate pain, contributing to a cycle that can feel difficult to escape from.
One physical result of chronic tension is when tight muscles start to compress or irritate nearby nerves. This can lead to symptoms like tingling, numbness, aching, or even weakness—especially in the neck, shoulders, arms, or lower back. It’s one of the ways that nervous system dysregulation shows up in real, physical ways in the body.
How Acupuncture Helps Regulate Pain and Calm the Nervous System
Acupuncture works on multiple levels to relieve chronic pain—not only by relieving tight muscles, but also by influencing the way your nervous system processes pain.
It stimulates local blood flow, supporting oxygen and nutrient delivery to tense, undernourished tissues
It regulates neurotransmitters like serotonin and norepinephrine, which are involved in mood and pain perception
It reduces inflammation and promotes the release of endorphins—your body’s natural painkillers
It helps retrain the brain and spinal cord, reducing the intensity, duration, and frequency of pain signals over time
Many patients find acupuncture deeply calming. This is because it engages the parasympathetic nervous system—your body’s “rest and digest” mode. In chronic pain, the nervous system can often reside in “fight or flight,” maintaining your body in high alert and prolonging healing. Acupuncture can help to shift this state.
Beyond Acupuncture
Everyone's experience of pain is different. That’s why your treatments are personalised and multi-layered.
1. Targeted Movement & Exercises
Specific exercises that focus on strengthening, release, stability, and posture help retrain the brain and restore vitalised movement. Over time, this reduces the brain's sensitivity to triggers.
2. Herbal Medicine
Chinese herbal formulas can support the underlying systems involved in your pain—lifting energy, improving circulation, reducing inflammation, and calming your nervous system.
3. Nutritional & Hormonal Support
Deficiencies in certain vitamins or imbalances in your hormonal cycle can all exacerbate musculoskeletal pain. For example, in winter (especially in Melbourne), I may recommend testing vitamin D levels and supplementing where needed.
4. Mindfulness & Nervous System Regulation
Regular mindfulness practices—even 5 minutes a day—can help regulate the emotional and physical facets of pain, reduce hyper-reactivity, and support healing. With early, good-quality sleep, you'll be providing your body with the tools to repair.
Your pain is real. Even if the scans are clear or the cause isn’t obvious. Chronic pain is complex. If you are navigating persistent neck, back, or nerve pain, we can explore why the pain is persisting and develop a personalised plan that helps retrain your body, settle your nervous system, and get you back to doing the things you love doing.
