Imagine for a moment a high-end jewelry store equipped with the latest anti-theft technology.. An ultra-modern system with surveillance cameras that detect movement, sound detectors and pressure sensors on walls and floors.

A diamond from a private collection is housed those days in the aforementioned store., waiting to be displayed the next morning. That night a couple of thieves try to access it., circumventing sound and motion systems, but they didn't have the pressure sensors on the walls...

Pain is a response of our brain to a signal that is interpreted as dangerous for our safety.. It is a protection system, unpleasant per se, so that we react and try to remedy it. Nobody likes to feel pain. Nobody likes their body to be in danger..
The majority of patients who demand physiotherapy come with a clear objective; remedy a painful situation. Somewhere in your body you feel that unpleasant sensation that has made you react to it and how you are not able to do so on your own., at first, to control it, come to our aid.

Then the professional evaluates after listening carefully to his patient and detects a series of subjective signs., (what the patient tells you), and objectives (that can be contrasted), to detect to what extent this painful response is adapted to damage to the tissues of the patient's body.

Let's go back to the jewelry store. Just at that moment when the thief touches the wall, alarm systems turn on. The police arrive and arrest one of the subjects, that he had already managed to force the entrance door but had not yet broken the security glass that contained the diamond.

Our brain turns on the alarm system and alerts us of danger so that we react and avoid further harm., how the touch sensor has prevented the glass that secures the jewel from breaking. The system is effective.

Now well, the next morning, with the commotion of the failed robbery attempt, The building security manager deactivates the famous pressure system on walls and floors, and motion cameras. Everything is ready to receive the owner of the jewel who is going to inaugurate its exhibition before the local authorities.. Then when you enter the room and cut the golden satin bow something happens...

Sometimes, even if there is no problem in the tissues of your body, you will feel pain if your brain thinks you are in danger.

The security guard looks around with a frightened face at the reproachful look of the jewelry store owner.. The owner of the jewelry is surprised to hear the unpleasant sound of the burglar alarm. What the hell is happening?

It is possible that sometimes the physiotherapy professional tells us a similar story.. Sometimes our body's alarm systems are activated when the danger signal is not such.. Its purpose is to prevent damage. The problem arises when there is no such danger. The lady who has entered and generated sound, activating the relevant sensors that have triggered the unforeseen situation, turns out to be the owner of the diamond.

We must learn to detect when pain is useful, and it is truly protecting us from a situation that threatens our integrity. Knowing how to identify the signals that our brain provides us to prevent us from a harmful situation or to defend ourselves from an unhealthy state. But we must also be aware of those situations in which the system is simply activated under a false alarm..

The physiotherapist is a pain specialist. He is one of the professionals who can help you understand these processes. Pain is something very complex but we can make it easy for you to understand..

And think that sometimes, These systems also behave strangely. If our brain has more pressing things than sending us a painful response, like when we puncture ourselves in the field with a slate chip but at that moment we are grabbing our friend who is slipping down the ravine. Or when despite having a headache they are telling us that they love us on a first date...

The thief waited for everyone to riot at the moment of confusion and indignation of the lady who owned the diamond., to take the jewel, under the security guard uniform…

If you want to know how the story ends, know more about pain, of the body's “anti-theft systems”, go to the physiotherapist.