Part 2: Your Brain’s #1 Job – Keeping You Safe

Here’s a mind-blowing truth I’ve learned from experts like Lorimer Moseley, a pain science Rockstar: 100% of all pain is produced by your brain. Yes, all of it. That ache in your lower back? It’s not just your muscles or joints talking—it’s your brain projecting a sensation there, like a filmmaker screening a movie onto your body. And the brain’s top priority isn’t comfort or happiness—it’s keeping you safe. This all happens behind the scenes, in your subconscious, without you ever needing to sign off on it.

Imagine you tweak your back lifting something heavy. Your brain gets the memo, “Danger! Protect the back!” It’s a brilliant system when the threat is real—helping to minimise damage. But here’s where it gets tricky: the brain doesn’t always get the “all clear” signal right. It’s constantly scrutinising the situation, weighing inputs like past injuries, stress, or even how tired you are. Sometimes, it overestimates the danger and keeps sounding the alarm long after the tissues have healed (i.e. the protection strategy outlives it's use-by date). As Moseley explains in Explain Pain, pain isn’t a perfect reflection of tissue damage—it’s a protective output based on what your brain thinks is going on.

For chronic somatic low back pain, this overprotection can become a subconscious habit. Your brain might decide that moving your spine is risky, even if it’s structurally sound. So, it rolls out a strategy: stiffen things up. It recruits big, global muscles—like your back extensors or hip flexors—to “splint” the area, locking it down to avoid trouble. It’s like putting your back in a cast made of tension. Over time, this can change how you move entirely. Sound familiar? In Part 3, we’ll unpack how these protective habits reshape your everyday life—and what we can do about it.

This is APA Sports Physiotherapist, Darren Glendenning, signing off for now!

You can book an appointment with Darren or Newcastle Knights Physiotherapists Katie or Hayd'n at www.upnadamptphysio.com

Bookings also available on our website for:

• Dietitian - weight-loss or to optimise your training nutrition / fueling

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• Remedial Massage - to relieve accumulative muscle tightness from chronic pain or from training that could lead to injury.