The Pain Metaphor Bank
Turning Pain Science into Stories That Stick.
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🔹 Purpose: To help clinicians explain complex pain concepts through clear, relatable metaphors—so patients don’t just understand, they feel the message.
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🔹 Why This Matters: Our words shape nervous system responses. The right metaphor can reduce threat, deepen understanding, and accelerate change.
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🌀Examples:
🔸 1. Pain as an Alarm System
“Pain is like a smoke alarm—built to protect, but sometimes it goes off even when there’s no fire.”
➡️ Use when: Explaining central sensitization, chronic pain, or pain without clear tissue damage.
🔸2. Pain as a Volume Knob
“Your nervous system has a volume knob, and sometimes it gets stuck on high—even if the song hasn’t changed.”
➡️ Use when: Explaining sensitivity, flare-ups, or why small inputs create big responses.
🔸3. Pain as an Overprotective Friend (or Dog)
“Imagine your brain is like an overprotective friend—it loves you, but it sometimes overreacts.”
➡️ Use when: Addressing fear, nervous system vigilance, or movement avoidance.
🔸4. Pain as a Memory
“Pain isn’t just what’s happening now—it’s what your system remembers from the past.
➡️ Use when: Discussing persistent pain, trauma, or recurring patterns despite tissue healing.
🔸5. Pain as a Habit
“Just like a movement can become a habit, pain can too—it’s not conscious, but it’s learned.”
➡️ Use when: Talking about neuroplasticity, chronicity, or unlearning protective patterns.
🔸6. Pain as a Learning Signal
“Pain isn’t punishment—it’s your system trying to learn and protect. It’s information, not judgment.”
➡️ Use when: Addressing shame, guilt, or belief that pain means something is wrong with them.
🔸 7. Brain as a Prediction Machine
“Your brain doesn’t wait for damage—it predicts threat and acts to protect before harm even happens.”
➡️ Use when: Teaching predictive processing or pain without structural explanation.
🔸Bonus: Pain Isn’t a Liar—It’s a Storyteller
“Pain is telling a story. Sometimes it’s exaggerating, but it’s always trying to make sense of your world.”
➡️ Use when: Reframing chronic pain, validating lived experience, or shifting from a fix-it model to a curiosity model.
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✅ Tips for Clinicians:
▫️ Ask the patient which metaphor makes sense to them.
▫️ Invite them to build their own metaphor.
▫️ Use these not as scripts, but sparks.
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🧠 Final Thought:
The right metaphor doesn’t just teach—it transforms. When patients see their pain differently, they start to move differently. Metaphors help shift the story from fear to understanding, from broken to adaptive.
This resource is part of The Wondering Clinician Toolkit. It’s not medical advice—just a tool to support learning, reflection, and healing. Always consult your clinician when needed.