Short excerpt from a YouTube video by Jeff Langmaid explaining central sensitization: persistent pain causes neuronal changes (calcium influx) that "train" pain pathways to fire more readily, effectively turning up pain sensitivity. The segment links these mechanisms to common chronic-pain phenomena — light touch becoming painful (allodynia), movement- and stress-related worsening, spread of pain, and disproportionate pain responses.
So what is central sensitization, really? Well, central sensitization starts as a normal protective process, but when the pain sticks around too long, AKA chronic receptors can get activated, Calcium can flood into the neuron, and pain pathways can become trained, and that's the key word here, they become trained to fire faster and stronger. So it's like the volume knob on. Pain gets turned up, but then it gets stuck there. And that's why light pressure hurts, movement hurts, stress worsens the the symptoms, pain spreads. And this explains why chronic pain can often seem really disproportionate.
