Chronic pain is one of the most complex phenomena I encounter in practice. For a long time, it was thought that a nerve injury was a local affair — a nerve damaged in one place, pain felt in that region. A recent study challenges this view: a nerve lesion may trigger immune changes throughout the entire body, far beyond the injury site.
And what makes this discovery even more remarkable? These responses differ significantly depending on whether the person is biologically male or female.
What the Researchers Found
Scientists studied what happens throughout the body following a nerve injury. They found that:
- In males, the injury triggered a strong inflammatory response across the entire body
- In females, that visible inflammatory response was absent — yet pain-transmitting signals still circulated through the blood
- In both cases, previously unknown pathways appeared to sustain pain long after the original injury had healed
In other words, the immune system is not just a passive bystander to pain: it is an active participant, with mechanisms that differ depending on the individual's biological profile.
Why This Matters for Chronic Pain Patients
Many patients arrive at my practice saying: "My injury healed a long time ago, but I'm still in pain." This study provides a biological explanation for that experience.
Chronic pain is not imaginary. Nor is it a sign of psychological weakness. It reflects complex mechanisms involving:
- The peripheral and central nervous system
- The immune system as a whole
- Biological differences between individuals, notably related to sex
This also highlights why a one-size-fits-all approach to chronic pain simply doesn't work. What relieves one person may do nothing for another — and understanding these differences is a key therapeutic insight.
The Connection to Osteopathy
Osteopathy has always viewed the body as a whole. When I treat pain, I don't just focus on the painful area: I assess overall posture, fascial tension, spinal mobility, and the autonomic nervous system.
This study reinforces that vision. A nerve injury — even an old one — can leave traces in the immune system, sustain low-grade inflammation, and keep pain circuits active. Osteopathic techniques, by restoring tissue mobility and acting on the autonomic nervous system, can help interrupt these loops.
The techniques I use in sessions — mobilisations, fascial work, craniosacral osteopathy — aim to:
- Reduce nervous system tension and encourage a rest state (parasympathetic activation)
- Improve circulation and support the local immune response
- Release tissues that compress or irritate nerve structures
Men and Women: Different Pain Experiences
One of the most important contributions of this research is confirming what many clinicians observe in practice: women and men do not experience pain in the same way.
Women make up the majority of patients suffering from chronic pain conditions (fibromyalgia, chronic migraines, pelvic pain). This study suggests their biological mechanisms for sustaining pain are different — no less real, but different in nature.
In my consultations, I take this context into account. The history of the injury, hormonal profile, and lived pain experience all guide my approach to get as close as possible to what each patient is actually experiencing.
What You Can Do If You Have Persistent Pain
If you are experiencing pain that persists well after an injury has healed, here are some concrete steps:
- Seek help early: the longer pain persists, the more nerve and immune circuits reinforce themselves
- Keep moving: movement remains one of the best regulators of the nervous system
- Share your full history: an old nerve injury may still be playing a role today
- Consider a holistic approach: chronic pain often requires a multimodal perspective — osteopathy, medicine, physical activity
If you are in Tel Aviv and would like to discuss persistent pain, I invite you to book a consultation. Together, we can assess your full clinical picture and build an approach tailored to your situation.
