Pain is a bit like a musical number in the brain.
It has lots of variations and speeds, different lengths and volumes depending on the audience. The music that is played when you stub your toe as you go up on stage to accept a prestigious award might have the volume and length turned right down compared to that song that starts in the middle of the night when you are exhausted and get up in the dark to get a drink and kick the table on the way past.
The song changes and adapts when pain persists. It plays over and over and the volume gets turned up. It starts to care less about the audience. It plays even when it isn’t supposed to. It becomes disproportionate…but no less real.
A small breeze that should barely cause a rustle could blow you off your chair.
The STEPP program for persistent pain equips you to turn down that volume knob and get the song off replay.