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What is the Autonomic Nervous System and what does it have to do with pain?

The Autonomic Nervous system is everything that happens automatically in the body such as heart rate and breathing rate.  It can become dysregulated in people with chronic pain.  This is called central sensitisation where the nervous system is on high alert which can lead to chronic pain.  Having an understanding of this can help us learn how to regulate it and thus overcome pain.

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Simply put, the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is responsible for everything that happens automatically in the body such as heart pumping, breathing muscles, peristalsis in the gut, immune system, hormone secretion and much more.  It forms part of your peripheral nervous system.  It is split into two parts called the sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic is sometimes referred to as the “fight, flight, freeze mode” and the parasympathetic is known as the “rest, digest and heal mode”.

When someone is suffering with chronic pain their nervous system may be dys-regulated.  We have to remember that pain is a defensive mechanism designed to protect our bodies. Our physiology hasn’t changed much throughout evolution and is still designed to respond to predators (stress factors) using fight, flight or freeze.  Whilst we no longer have predators to escape from we still have stress factors in the form of finance, emails, relationships, health worries, family responsibilities etc.  Our response to these stress factors are the same as they used to be, such as increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, pupils dilate for improved vision, and hormones released to increase available glucose for muscles.  It’s all designed to get our bodies physiologically prepared for action and be hyper vigilant.  Whilst short bursts of stress can be beneficial and some people thrive on this, we are not designed for chronic stress where we may be in this state for long periods of time.  This leads to the sympathetic nervous system being in overdrive and the parasympathetic nervous system not getting a look in.  Given that the parasympathetic is responsible for rest, digestion and healing you can see how this dysregulated nervous system can lead to gut issues, fertility issues, lack of healing, immunity deficiency, and pain.  With a dominating sympathetic nervous system we become highly alert and sensitive to all stimuli and can overreact, which can lead to chronic pain.  Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain condition where the patient experiences unexplained pain and fatigue throughout the body.  It is thought that this is caused by central sensitisation of the nervous system.

According to John E Sarno our subconscious can repress unwanted emotions causing the ANS to constrict blood vessels in an area of the body such as lower back, neck, shoulders.  This forces the muscles to work anaerobically (without oxygen), thus causing a bi-product called lactic acid which causes pain in the muscles.  He believes that having an awareness of this and the subconscious emotion can lead to chronic pain recovery.  

So how can we calm the nervous system down and switch on the “rest, digest, healing mode”?  One of the therapies we offer is Craniosacral Therapy which is especially good at calming the nervous system.  It stimulates the vagus nerve which is the main nerve for the parasympathetic nervous system.  Vagus comes from a Greek word meaning to wonder, as it innervates many organs in the body.  

There are also ways you can stimulate the vagus nerve yourself and therefore activate the parasympathetic nervous system.  These include mindfulness, breathing techniques, gratitude journaling,and being outside in nature.  We teach some of these on the BEAT pain program. 

Book a free BEAT pain consultation