Spotlight on How Chronic Pain is Treatable without Medication - Dr Chatterjee

I am so pleased to see that the BBC released a program, "Live Well with The Drug Free Doctor" by Dr Rangan Chatterjee. This program shared a story of three people, one of whom managed to overcome chronic pain using the approach that I have been trained in, Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT).

What is PRT?

Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) is a scientific treatment for chronic pain. SIRPA’s model for treating chronic pain incorporates PRT as well as other complementary components which together address the full range of biological, psychological, emotional and behavioural factors that influence symptom persistence and recovery.

Georgie Oldfield and Iralee Andrzejowska from SIRPA, explained that 90% of chronic pain is neuroplastic and it is in fact a protective mechanism. During the programme, you can watch one chronic pain sufferer experience his first PRT session and notice a reduction in his pain symptoms whilst mindfully noticing his internal sensations through a lense of safety. This is one of the many tools that SIRPA practitioners use to help people overcome chronic pain.

Dr Chatterjee also interviewed Dr Schubiner, a pioneer in chronic pain science; who explained that most chronic pain is actually neuroplastic pain and not caused by structural damage in the body. He mentioned the most impressive study was the Boulder Back Pain study. This study proved that a 4-week psychological intervention called Pain Reprocessing Therapy led to about three quarters of participants became pain-free or nearly pain-free from chronic back pain, even though many had suffered for many years. These benefits were maintained for at least one year after treatment. This was a clinical trial and the other two groups made little to no progress.

In simple terms, PRT works by:

• Reframing pain as safe: PRT teaches patients that their pain is often caused by an overprotective nervous system, not ongoing physical damage. When the brain stops perceiving danger, pain can decrease.

• Reducing fear and threat responses: Fear, hypervigilance, and catastrophic thinking amplify pain. PRT directly targets these reactions.

• Retraining neural pathways: Through guided exercises, patients learn to respond to pain sensations with calmness and curiosity, which helps quiet pain-related brain circuits.

• Breaking the pain–stress cycle: By addressing emotional and psychological contributors (like stress or unresolved emotions), PRT reduces triggers that keep pain active.

If you suffer from chronic pain, please know that all pain is real. However, chronic pain is treatable with the right approach. PRT teaches us that pain is an alarm response created by the brain due to a sensitised nervous system, i.e., the brain perceiving danger. PRT aims to turn off chronic pain at its source—the brain—by convincing the nervous system that the body is safe again, allowing pain to fade or disappear.

Why not take a look at the programme on BBC i Player- https://drchatterjee.com/live-well/

Learn more about chronic pain here - https://breakfreeofpain.com/chronic-pain, https://breakfreeofpain.com/pain-science,

Have chronic pain? Learn about working with me here - https://breakfreeofpain.com/work-with-me