Pain = Cause + Amplifiers.

Chronic pain isn’t imaginary; it’s amplified. Here’s how I think about it:

Pain = Cause + Amplifiers.

• Cause = body parts or nerves

• Amplifiers = stress, illness, depression, poor sleep, metabolic dysfunction, etc

Causes are the underlying issues: a dodgy joint, a damaged nerve, a shoulder that’s been through too much.

Amplifiers are what crank up the volume. They don’t create the pain, but they make it louder.

Think of it like a stereo. If the song is your cause, amplifiers are the volume dial. Stress, anxiety, or being unwell can all turn that dial up to 10. Remove the amplifiers, and the music is still there; but it’s more manageable, even silent.

Why does this matter? Because if you only treat the cause, you might miss what’s turning the volume up. And if you only treat the amplifiers, you might miss a simple solution for the cause. Real care means identifying both.

This is how I explain it to patients:

• Sometimes the best strategy is turning down amplifiers first.

• Other times, we need to fix the cause head-on.

• Most often, it’s a mix of both.

That balance is where hope lives. You don’t have to solve everything at once. Step by step, dial by dial, we can help the patient take back control.

-Dan