What is proprioception — and why does it control your pain?
By Kenneth Collins · 6 min read
Your nervous system sends 15-20 million signals per second to your brain. These signals tell the brain where your body is in space, how it moves, and whether there is danger. When this system fails, pain occurs — even when there is no physical damage.
Your body's GPS system
Proprioception is your body's ability to register its own position, movement and force without using vision. It's the system that lets you touch your nose with your eyes closed, walk in the dark, or catch a ball without thinking about it.
The system consists of millions of microscopic sensors — proprioceptors — located in muscles, tendons, joints and skin. These sensors constantly send information to the brain about the body's state.
Think of it as your body's GPS. Just like your car GPS can send you the wrong way, your proprioceptors can send faulty signals to the brain — with pain as the result.
When does it go wrong?
Proprioceptors can start sending faulty signals for many reasons:
- →Old injuries that were never properly rehabilitated
- →Prolonged stress keeping the nervous system in alarm mode
- →Repetitive work or poor posture over long periods
- →Surgery or trauma that has disrupted nerve pathways
- →Inflammation irritating the sensors
When sensors send faulty signals, the brain thinks there is danger — and responds with pain, muscle tension and alarm. It's not weakness. It's your nervous system trying to protect you.
The science: 3 Nobel Prizes
Proprioception research has more than 200 years behind it. Three Nobel Prizes have been awarded for discoveries supporting what we know about the body's signaling system:
Camillo Golgi (1906)
Discovered the structure of nerve cells and sensory nerve cells in muscles.
Charles Sherrington (1932)
Described proprioception as a concept and mapped the nervous system's reflex arcs.
Ragnar Granit (1967)
Mapped muscle sensor function and communication with the brain.
What can be done about it?
The good news is that proprioceptors can be corrected. The nervous system is plastic — it can learn new patterns and send correct signals again. It requires targeted work, but the results are often dramatic.
In Body Correction, we systematically test your proprioceptive sensors to find exactly which ones are sending faulty signals. Then we correct them with gentle techniques. Most clients notice a difference after the very first session.
Want your sensors tested?
Book an initial examination of 30 min. We'll find out if your proprioceptors are causing your pain.
Book initial exam — 395 DKK