Central Sensitization: A Hidden Driver of Chronic Pain

What Is Central Sensitization?

Central Sensitization is a condition where the nervous system becomes stuck in a heightened state of reactivity. The brain and spinal cord—the central nervous system—amplify pain signals, creating persistent, widespread pain even in the absence of ongoing injury. Everyday sensations like touch, sound, or gentle movement can feel overwhelming. This is not “in your head”—it is a very real neuro-immune phenomenon, and it underpins many hard-to-treat conditions including:

• Fibromyalgia

• Chronic fatigue syndrome

• Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)

• PTSD-related physical symptoms

• Migraine

• Chronic pelvic, jaw, neck, or back pain

What Causes Central Sensitization?

Central Sensitization develops when the nervous system loses its ability to regulate pain and sensory input. This can be triggered or worsened by:

1. Trauma and Injury

Injuries—especially head trauma, whiplash, or spinal injuries—can activate inflammation in the nervous system and irritate key structures like the thalamus (your sensory relay center) and spinal cord. This leads to increased pain sensitivity and altered processing.

2. Surgeries and Medical Procedures

Any surgery—particularly those involving the spine, abdomen, or reproductive organs—can trigger long-term changes in how the nervous system interprets signals. Scar tissue, nerve irritation, or inflammation can lead to persistent pain well beyond the surgical recovery window.

3. Medications and Withdrawals

• Opiates, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants can desensitize or dysregulate the brain’s pain and stress circuits.

• Withdrawal from these drugs—especially after long-term use—can unmask or worsen central sensitization symptoms, leaving individuals hypersensitive and overwhelmed.

4. Emotional Stress and PTSD

Long-term stress, trauma, or abuse activates the limbic system, leading to a hypervigilant state. Over time, the brain’s threat detection system becomes stuck in “danger mode,” worsening pain, anxiety, and fatigue.

5. Vagus Nerve Suppression

The vagus nerve plays a vital role in calming the nervous system, regulating digestion, controlling inflammation, and facilitating rest and healing. When the vagus is suppressed (due to trauma, infection, surgery, or chronic stress), inflammation increases, neurotransmitters become dysregulated, and central sensitization worsens.

6. Menopause

I believe that Menopause can be a powerful trigger for central sensitization, especially in women with a history of trauma, stress, or chronic health issues. As estrogen and progesterone decline—often unpredictably—protective anti-inflammatory effects are lost, making the nervous system more vulnerable to overactivation. Sleep disturbances, mood swings, and fatigue are common, but for some, menopause also brings sudden-onset chronic pain, increased sensitivity to touch or sound, digestive issues, brain fog, and emotional reactivity. These symptoms may be misattributed to “just hormones,” when in fact they reflect a nervous system stuck in a persistent state of threat response.

Hormonal changes also disrupt neurotransmitters like serotonin and GABA, weaken vagal tone, and impair gut function—key systems involved in calming pain and stress signals. Without these stabilizing influences, the thalamus (which filters sensory input) and limbic system (which processes emotion) become overactive, creating a feedback loop of inflammation, anxiety, and pain. For many women, this means that menopause doesn’t just mark the end of a reproductive phase—it can also be the moment when the body reveals the long-hidden effects of stress, trauma, or unresolved inflammation through the lens of central sensitization.

What Does Central Sensitization Feel Like?

You Might Be Dealing with Central Sensitization If You Have:

• Pain that seems excessive for the issue

• Pain that spreads over time, unrelated to injury

• Pain that persists for months or years, despite treatment

• Hypersensitivity to sounds, smells, light, or touch

• Fatigue that sleep doesn’t fix

• Brain fog or difficulty concentrating

• Anxiety, depression, or emotional reactivity that is intense

• IBS or unpredictable gut reactions

• Sleep that feels broken, even after 8+ hours

• “Flare-ups” after stress, certain foods, infections, or exertion

Central sensitization often mimics multiple conditions—but the common thread is a nervous system that’s overactive, inflamed, and unable to shut off.

Mainstream Treatments: Where They Help—and Fall Short

1. Medications

• Antidepressants (e.g., amitriptyline, duloxetine)

• Anticonvulsants (e.g., pregabalin, gabapentin)

• Benzodiazepines: Sometimes used for sleep, muscle tension, or anxiety—but risk dependence.

• Ketamine: In severe or resistant cases, IV ketamine can briefly reset pain pathways via NMDA receptor blocking.

Limitations: These are symptomatic treatments. They rarely correct the root cause and often come with side effects or the risk of worsening the problem when stopped abruptly. Drugs should always been screened for side effects and never used lightly.

2. Therapies

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and trauma-informed approaches help reframe perception of pain.

• Mindfulness, graded movement, and gentle exercise support nervous system recovery.

• Somatic and vagus-activating techniques are becoming more mainstream.

Limitation: Progress is often slow, and relief may be partial without addressing the neuroinflammatory core.

FSM: The Inside Path to Calm the Sensitized Nervous System

Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM) is a groundbreaking therapy that uses gentle, low-level electrical currents—measured in millionths of an amp—to deliver targeted frequencies to specific tissues and conditions.

How FSM Helps with Central Sensitization:

1. Reduces Neuroinflammation

FSM at 40 Hz (reduce inflammation) paired with 10 Hz (spinal cord) has been shown to:

• Lower IL-1, IL-6, TNF-alpha, and substance P—inflammatory chemicals linked to central pain(5) Cytokine paper

• Increase beta-endorphins and cortisol (without activating stress), helping reduce pain and calm the CNS

2. Resets the Thalamus and Brain Circuits

FSM frequencies for the thalamus, midbrain, amygdala, and sensory motor cortex directly calm overactive pathways and improve sensory filtering—crucial for those overwhelmed by sound, light, or touch.

3. Restores Vagal Function

Protocols to increase vagal secretions and tone can reengage the parasympathetic nervous system, enhancing rest, repair, digestion, and mood balance.

4. Supports Withdrawal and Recovery

FSM can be used to reduce symptoms of withdrawal, soothe the nervous system, and reverse sensitization caused by past medications, trauma, or stress.

5. Treats Gut Inflammation and Neurotransmitter Deficits

FSM improves intestinal barrier function, reduces histamine overload, and helps with absorption of nutrients needed to make serotonin, dopamine, and GABA.

What to Expect from FSM in the treatment of

Central Sensitization

Feature	What You Can Expect
Session Experience	Gentle currents applied via wet towels or adhesive pads—relaxing and painless
First Treatment	Many experience a rapid drop in pain (up to 80–90%) in the first 60–90 minutes
Course of Care	6–10 sessions often produce lasting improvements; home units may be used for ongoing support
Side Effects	Rare and mild—some feel tired or mildly detoxed after the first few treatments
Improvements	Reduced pain, clearer thinking, better sleep, calmer mood, and renewed energy often occur within weeks

Many mainstream treatments can be retraumatising to a person experiencing Central Sensitisation. It is exhausting to function with it, and resources are understandably down for any further interventions in many cases.

FSM is gentle to receive, it is a nurturing experience, you don't feel the frequencies as they are subsensory, all people tend to feel is a welcome floatiness as the frequencies get to work regulating the central nervous system and resetting the neural networks that are under strain. FSM is a safe and restorative treatment.

Final Words: From Surviving to Thriving

If you’ve been told your symptoms are “just stress,” or if nothing explains your widespread, shifting, and stubborn pain—you may be living with central sensitization. You are not broken. Your nervous system has simply been pushed beyond its limit—and FSM offers a way to bring it back into balance without further strain.

By addressing inflammation, restoring the vagus nerve, calming brain circuits, and supporting the body's own healing systems, FSM empowers a return to peace, clarity, and resilience in body and mind. Sleep returns, as the internal restorative systems are supported and reset.