Dr. Noah Volz
Chronic Pain Treatment in Ashland, Oregon

Chronic pain care built around retraining the nervous system

Chronic Pain Treatment in Ashland, Oregon

Chronic pain is a story your nervous system keeps telling. The good news: what the nervous system learns, it can unlearn. This page is your complete resource for understanding and managing chronic pain.

What You’re Actually Dealing With

The numbers: Chronic pain affects approximately 50 million Americans—more than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. It’s defined as pain persisting beyond 3-6 months, often continuing after tissues have healed. For many, it becomes a defining feature of daily life.

Acute vs. chronic pain: Acute pain is protective—it warns you of injury and resolves as tissues heal. Chronic pain persists beyond normal healing time, often without ongoing tissue damage. The pain system itself becomes sensitized, meaning normal signals get amplified and the brain interprets them as threatening. Chronic pain is less about what’s wrong in the body and more about how the nervous system is processing information.

The neuroplasticity revolution: Groundbreaking 2025 research from the NIH shows that pain reprocessing therapy (PRT)—which teaches the brain to reinterpret pain signals as less threatening—led to 66% of patients with chronic back pain becoming mostly or completely pain-free after just 4 weeks. Brain scans confirmed reduced activity in pain-processing regions. The brain can unlearn pain.

My Neuro-First Approach to Chronic Pain

A neuro-first approach recognizes that pain is an output of the brain, not just an input from tissues. It asks: why is the nervous system still protecting this area? Treatment addresses nervous system sensitivity, movement patterns, posture, breathing, and the factors that keep the alarm system activated.

I use gentle adjustments to restore mobility, the Neubie device to identify and retrain guarding patterns, and progressive exercise to rebuild confidence and capacity. This doesn’t mean the pain is “in your head”—it means the solution requires looking beyond the painful spot.

Video resource: Neuroplasticity could be the cause of—and solution to—chronic pain — CBS News report on pain reprocessing therapy and the latest research.

Neuro-first approach to chronic pain

DIY Strategies That Actually Work

1. Pain Neuroscience Education (Start Here)

Understanding how pain works is itself a treatment. Research shows that simply learning about neuroplastic pain reduces pain levels. Key concepts:

  • Pain is not a reliable indicator of tissue damage
  • Your brain generates pain as a protective response, not just a measurement of injury
  • The nervous system can become sensitized, amplifying normal signals
  • What the brain learns, it can unlearn

Video resource: How Neuroplasticity Can Help You Escape Chronic Pain — Pain scientist explains the 4 evidence-based steps to retrain your brain.

2. Somatic Tracking (Pain Reprocessing)

This technique teaches your brain to reinterpret sensations as safe rather than threatening:

  • Find a comfortable position and close your eyes
  • Scan your body and locate the sensation of pain
  • Instead of resisting it, get curious—describe it: Is it sharp? Dull? Tight? Heavy?
  • Remind yourself: “This sensation is uncomfortable, but I’m safe”
  • Observe without judgment for 5-10 minutes
  • Notice if the sensation shifts, moves, or changes intensity

Video resource: 30-Min Pain Reprocessing Therapy // Rewire Your Brain & Relieve Chronic Pain — Guided session for daily use.

3. The 30-Day Brain Retraining Program

A structured daily approach combining three types of practices:

  • Safety Signal Practices (10-15 min): Breathwork, present moment sensing, somatic movements, visualization
  • Brain Retraining (10-20 min): Embodiment practices that cultivate safety with sensations
  • Emotion & Nervous System Practices (15-30 min): Processing difficult emotions and reducing dysregulation

Video resource: Try this Free 30-Day Program for Chronic Pain and Illness — Complete program overview with daily practice links.

4. Graded Exposure & Movement

Fear of movement (kinesiophobia) often perpetuates chronic pain. Graded exposure retrains the brain:

  • Choose a movement your brain has learned to fear (bending, reaching, walking)
  • Start with a version that causes only mild discomfort
  • Perform the movement slowly while telling yourself “This is safe, I’m not being harmed”
  • Practice for 30 seconds to 1 minute, 1-2 times daily
  • Gradually increase range and intensity as your brain learns safety

5. Calm Your Nervous System (Vagal Tone)

Chronic pain is associated with a sensitized nervous system. Practices that activate the parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) response:

  • Diaphragmatic breathing: Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4, exhale for 6. Repeat for 2-3 minutes, twice daily.
  • Humming or singing: Vibrations stimulate the vagus nerve
  • Cold exposure: Brief cold showers or face immersion activates the dive reflex
  • Social connection: Safe social engagement calms the nervous system
Chronic pain management exercises

What the Research Says (2024-2025)

Pain Reprocessing Therapy breakthrough: A landmark NIH-funded study published in 2025 found that after just 4 weeks of PRT, 66% of people with chronic back pain reported being mostly or completely pain-free, compared to only 20% receiving placebo and 10% receiving usual care. Brain scans showed substantial reductions in pain-processing activity. Results were maintained at one year.

Education alone reduces pain: Multiple studies show that pain neuroscience education—simply understanding how pain works—can reduce pain levels and improve function. When patients understand that pain is a protective output of the brain rather than a direct measure of tissue damage, their relationship with pain changes.

Brain retraining timeline: Research on neuroplasticity-based interventions shows meaningful change typically occurs after 8-12 weeks of consistent practice. Mindfulness-based stress reduction programs demonstrate significant lasting improvements in pain, mood, and quality of life after just 8 weeks.

Central sensitization is common: Studies show that 70% of chronic pain patients exhibit central sensitization—the nervous system becomes hypersensitive to stimuli. This validates the neuro-first approach: the problem isn’t just in the tissues, it’s in the processing.

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When to Seek Professional Help

While self-management helps, chronic pain requires professional guidance:

Seek immediate care if:

  • You experience sudden, severe pain with no clear cause
  • You have new weakness, numbness, or loss of bowel/bladder control
  • You have signs of infection (fever, redness, warmth) along with pain
  • You have a history of cancer and develop new pain

Schedule an evaluation if:

  • Pain persists beyond 3 months despite self-care
  • Pain significantly interferes with work, sleep, or daily activities
  • You’re relying on pain medications daily
  • You’ve tried multiple treatments without lasting relief
  • You’re interested in exploring the neuroplastic approach to chronic pain

My Approach: The Neuro-First Difference

Chronic pain requires a different approach than acute pain. In my practice, I don’t just treat the painful area—I assess your entire nervous system, movement patterns, beliefs about pain, and the factors that keep your alarm system activated.

Using the Neubie device, I can identify exactly where your nervous system is guarding and retrain those patterns. Combined with gentle adjustments to restore mobility, pain neuroscience education to change your relationship with pain, and progressive exercise to rebuild confidence, we address chronic pain at its source—the sensitized nervous system.

My goal isn’t just pain relief—it’s helping you understand your pain, reduce fear of movement, and give you the tools to maintain progress. Chronic pain is a journey, but with the right approach, the brain can unlearn it.