A closer look
Your nervous system is totally capable of gaslighting you into agony. In conditions like fibromyalgia, a phenomenon called allodynia occurs, where a gentle breeze or a soft shirt feels like third-degree burns. This is caused by neuroimmune pain sensitization. Microglia, the immune cells of the spinal cord, randomly flip into an aggressive state and start dumping neurotoxic cytokines onto your pain-transmitting neurons. This chemically lowers the firing threshold of your nerves, turning the "volume dial" of normal touch reception all the way up to agonizing pain.
