In order to protect yourself from more pain, the only obstacle worse than the pain is to not participate in activities you enjoy. Our culture has been conditioned to attribute pain to physical injury. This is not the case with chronic pain and perhaps even other types of problems such as acute low-back pain. There is now edifying research that the underlying problem, of certain types of pain, lies within the nervous system itself— above the neck, not so much in a physical structure, such as bulging spinal discs, worn-out joints, or tendons. It is well established that MRI research has shown a poor correlation between physical injury and the types of pain a patient may feel. People who have minor structural abnormalities may suffer severe disability and people with severe anatomical defects may be free from pain.  A team of researchers at Stanford devised a way for chronic pain patients to view video MRI images of how pain is represented inside their brains. The patients were taught how to gain some control over their pain while watching videos of their brain activity. By gaining a visceral understanding of how pain works, and in particular how pain is generated inside the brain, these chronic-pain patients experienced an overall 64% decrease of pain. This work has stimulated discussion in various articles of what may be called the “Sarno phenomenon.” The book called “Healing Back Pain” by John Sarno, MD has been a best seller for many years. To understand the principles in this acclaimed book has been considered a guide to pain relief.  For many readers, Sarno makes a convincing enough argument as to why physical structure could not possibly be responsible for many types of unrelenting pain that healthy people may experience. He then suggests a way to examine and recondition perception and response to pain. The scientific rationale supporting these ideas is being disclosed in the neuroscience and psychological literature and is very exciting. We are in what is being called the Decade of Pain Control and Research. Perhaps these recent advances will change the way doctors and physical therapists help people, with chronic pain, restore normal movement ability. From a physical therapist perspective, movement is essential to a healthy body and brain. It is awe-inspiring to glimpse how the key to unlock neural patterns that have gone awry (i.e. pain) must begin within our own understanding.