What do you know about Pain?

Modern men have a complicated relationship with pain. Somewhere along the way, we lost the ability to interpret what pain really means. We’ve been conditioned to either catastrophize every twinge or completely ignore our body’s signals. On one side, you’ve got the WebMD warriors—Googling every symptom and spiraling into fear. On the other, the “no pain, no gain” crowd that refuses to acknowledge discomfort at all. Both extremes miss the point.

The truth is, pain is not simply a measure of damage—it’s a protective alarm system built by the brain (Melzack & Wall, 1965). It can be turned up or down depending on factors like stress, sleep, fear, and belief systems (Wiech & Tracey, 2009). In other words, pain is real, but it’s also modulated. You’re not broken—you’re adaptive.

The Issue

After nearly 15 years of working with men in pain, I’ve seen a few consistent problems emerge:

• Lack of understanding about how pain actually works.

• Lack of education on how to manage pain effectively.

• Men being controlled by pain, rather than learning to control it.

• A cultural loss of toughness, where discomfort is treated as danger instead of feedback.

This mindset has to change. Pain isn’t the enemy—it’s information.

The Fix

To help you start that process, I’m giving you my eBook, The Pain Fix, free of charge. Inside, you’ll learn how to reframe your understanding of pain, calm your nervous system, and rebuild confidence in your body.

Read it. Digest it. Then take an honest look in the mirror.

Pain doesn’t define you—it refines you.

For more ebooks & courses, please visit www.drjacksontaylor.com/courses

If you want to start managing your pain better and getting your training in order, join The Brotherhood or reach out to me directly at jackson@drjacksontaylor.com.

References:

• Melzack, R. & Wall, P.D. (1965). Pain mechanisms: a new theory. Science, 150(3699), 971–979.

• Wiech, K. & Tracey, I. (2009). The influence of negative emotions on pain: behavioral effects and neural mechanisms. NeuroImage, 47(3), 987–994.

• Moseley, G.L. (2003). A pain neuromatrix approach to patients with chronic pain. Manual Therapy, 8(3), 130–140.

• Vlaeyen, J.W.S. & Linton, S.J. (2012). Fear-avoidance model of chronic musculoskeletal pain: 12 years on. Pain, 153(6), 1144–1147.