Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
October 01, 2025
Half of Americans Suffer Unexplained Pain, Survey Reveals
TLDR
- ATNS survey reveals neuroplastic treatments offer 75% pain reduction advantage over traditional methods, creating opportunities for healthcare innovation and market leadership.
- Neuroplastic symptoms occur when the brain generates pain through learned nerve pathways that can be reversed by training the brain to recognize and turn off unnecessary danger signals.
- Widespread awareness of neuroplastic treatments could help millions suffering from unexplained pain while reducing healthcare costs that exceed diabetes, cancer and heart disease combined.
- The brain can generate reversible pain anywhere in the body through learned nerve pathways, with new therapies achieving 75% pain reduction in just four weeks.
Impact - Why it Matters
This research matters because chronic unexplained pain affects nearly half the American population, creating immense personal suffering and healthcare costs exceeding those of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease combined. For millions living with persistent symptoms that traditional medicine cannot explain or effectively treat, these findings validate their experiences while offering concrete hope. The survey demonstrates that most sufferers recognize psychological factors could contribute to their conditions and are open to neuroplastic treatments that have shown remarkable success in clinical trials. This represents a paradigm shift in pain management—moving from viewing chronic pain as purely physical damage to understanding how the brain can both generate and resolve symptoms through retrainable neural pathways. The implications extend beyond individual relief to potentially reducing the staggering economic burden on our healthcare system while transforming how medical professionals approach treatment-resistant conditions.
Summary
A groundbreaking national survey conducted by the Association for the Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms (ATNS) in partnership with XandY reveals that nearly half of Americans (48%) are living with ongoing pain or illness that lacks clear medical explanation or isn't responding to conventional treatment. The survey of more than 1,500 U.S. adults highlights the staggering prevalence of neuroplastic symptoms—conditions where the brain generates pain or illness through learned nerve pathways that can be reversed. According to the research, these conditions affect tens of millions of Americans and cost the healthcare system more than diabetes, cancer, and heart disease combined. The findings show that stress, trauma, and emotions are key contributors to these symptoms, which include chronic back pain (65%), muscle and joint pain (57%), chronic fatigue (43%), and headaches (35%).
ATNS President David Clarke, MD, emphasizes that while highly effective treatments exist for neuroplastic conditions, public awareness remains critically low. The survey results indicate that 76-97% of sufferers believe psychological factors could contribute to their symptoms, and 47% are willing to try neuroplastic recovery therapies. Clinical evidence supports this openness—the Boulder Back Pain study showed 75% pain improvement in just four weeks, while UCLA research demonstrated veterans achieved significant pain relief four times more often with neuroplastic treatments than with traditional cognitive-behavioral therapy. The organization has released a video titled Pain Science Paradigm Shift featuring recovered patients and leading clinicians to illustrate these human stories behind the research.
The survey serves as a crucial roadmap for healthcare transformation, showing that most neuroplastic symptom sufferers have endured their conditions for years—63% for up to five years and 37% for more than five years—with multiple symptoms occurring simultaneously. Co-authors Matthew Goldberg, PhD and Abel Gustafson, PhD stress that chronic unexplained pain represents an urgent public health crisis requiring widespread professional training and better treatment access. ATNS provides comprehensive resources through their Symptomatic.me platform, including detailed survey results, membership opportunities, and educational materials aimed at empowering patients and practitioners to recognize that healing from neuroplastic conditions is achievable through brain-retraining techniques.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content disributed by 24-7 Press Release. Read the original source here, Half of Americans Suffer Unexplained Pain, Survey Reveals
