when your condition = “it’s nervous system” , that doesn’t mean “it’s not real”
Even when something shows up on a scan
I had bursitis in my shoulder. The scan clearly noted it and a torn labrum, treatments did nothing. Here’s what was actually going on.
A few years ago I had bursitis in my right shoulder.
I have the scan. I have the diagnosis. I have the imaging report. There was inflammation. There was a clear, identifiable, physically real thing happening in my body. Nobody could call it “all in my head.”
And yet -> I tried everything.
Cortisone injections. PT for months. Anti-inflammatories. Massage. Different mattresses. Different pillows. Different sleep positions. Stretches I did every morning. Strengthening protocols. Ice. Heat. Pulsing red light therapy because someone said it would help.
Nothing made it go away.
I would have weeks where it felt better, and then it would flare back up, usually right when I had a big work week, or a hard conversation coming up, or pushed myself in workouts, or something I was avoiding emotionally (but I didn’t realize it at the time)
I started to notice the pattern before I had words for it.
The shoulder pain wasn’t random. It wasn’t only about the bursitis.
TWO THINGS CAN BE TRUE AT ONCE
This is the part of nervous system work that almost nobody explains clearly, and I want to make sure it lands -> You can have a real diagnosis. You can have something show up on imaging. Your inflammation can be measurable AND your nervous system can still be a major driver of why the symptoms aren’t resolving.
These two things are not in opposition. They live together. The science calls this “central sensitization” -> when your nervous system has been on high alert for so long that it amplifies every signal coming from the body. Pain that should fade doesn’t. Inflammation that should resolve hangs around. Treatments that should work somehow don’t.
It’s not because your body is broken. It’s because your nervous system has learned to keep the volume turned all the way up.
WHO THIS APPLIES TO
I want to be really clear who this conversation is for. Because the chronic illness world has been doing a binary for too long -> “Either it’s a real medical condition, or it’s nervous system.”
That binary is wrong. Nervous system involvement applies to ->
→ The person whose tests came back normal but whose body is still hurting
→ The person who has a diagnosis (fibromyalgia, IBS, POTS, IC, endometriosis, autoimmune markers, chronic migraine, hypermobility) and has been doing all the “right” things and is STILL stuck
→ The person with imaging findings (herniated discs, bursitis, joint issues, structural stuff) whose pain has lasted way longer than the injury should
→ The person whose flare patterns clearly track to stress, big life events, the menstrual cycle, or hard emotional weeks
→ The person who has almost recovered with one approach but keeps falling back
If you’re in any of these camps, the nervous system layer is part of your picture. Not the whole picture necessarily. But part of it.
“BUT MY DOCTOR FOUND SOMETHING”
I hear this from clients all the time.
“Grace, I get what you’re saying about the nervous system, BUT my MRI shows X. So this doesn’t apply to me, right?”
Wrong. It still applies. Modern pain science research keeps showing that the presence of a structural finding doesn’t predict pain or recovery the way we used to think it did.
→ The Boulder Back Pain study showed that people with chronic back pain — many with imaging findings — recovered when they did nervous system work, even when their imaging didn’t change.
→ Studies on shoulder pain show that the same imaging findings (rotator cuff tears, bursitis, labral tears) appear in people with NO pain just as often as people in agony.
→ Research on neuroplastic pain shows that even confirmed inflammation responds to nervous system regulation, often more than to anti-inflammatory treatment alone.
Translation: Just because something shows up on a scan, doesn’t mean that thing is the only reason you’re hurting. And it definitely doesn’t mean you can’t recover.
WHAT FINALLY HELPED MY SHOULDER
It wasn’t another protocol. It was understanding the pattern.
I started tracking when the pain flared. Surprise -> it flared during high-pressure weeks. It flared right before I’d say yes to something I should’ve said no to. It flared when I was holding back something I needed to say out loud. Honestly though, it was on fire most of the time... truly almost 24/7
When I stopped trying to fix the shoulder and started addressing what my nervous system was holding, the pain started to shift. Slowly. Not dramatically. But undeniably.
That’s when I knew this work wasn’t about whether you have a diagnosis or not. It’s about what your body is telling you, and learning how to actually hear it.
THIS IS WHAT I’M TEACHING in my FREE masterclass
The free masterclass on Friday May 15th at 1pm ET is for both camps ->
→ The people without a diagnosis who’ve been gaslit
→ The people WITH a diagnosis whose treatments aren’t working
Inside, I’ll walk you through:
→ The specific patterns that show up when symptoms are nervous system driven (whether you have findings or not)
→ Why standard treatments and standard nervous system tools sometimes don’t move the needle
→ What’s actually happening underneath the symptoms
→ A clear next step, not another protocol to add to the pile
Free. Live. Replay if you can’t make it.
If you’ve been told nothing is wrong, this is for you.
If you’ve been given a label and a management plan that isn’t working, this is also for you.
What’s your version of the bursitis story? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.
Keep healing with grace 🤍