I actually learned about this before I learned about the perimeno x fibro link, but I forgot all about it which is why I'm writing about it after the perimeno x fibro link.
This is going to be a super short post because the science is very, very much at the beginning and there's not a lot out there that I could find and understand.
Proprioceptors are, basically, how we know where our body parts are without having to see them. Close your eyes and move a part of your body, for instance, bend your left elbow. Proprioceptors are how you know that your left elbow is bent without looking at it. Proprioceptors are what allow us to walk, run, type, hold things, scratch our noses, do aaaaaaaaaaaaall the things we don't think about as we're doing them. They're how we know how to carry a baby versus a heavy suitcase. They're a kind of instinct we develop in life.
As far as I've understood, our bodies decode two kinds of pain: nociceptive and non-nociceptive.
Nociceptive pain is the pain we feel due to some form of stimulus - for example, stepping on a Lego brick (iykyk) - while non-nociceptive pain is caused by some kind of damage to our nervous system that causes it to decode pain in the absence of any stimulus.
Proprioceptors are linked to non-nociceptive pain.
In a healthy body, proprioceptors fulfill their function without causing pain signals to be sent. For example, before fibro, I could dance all night wearing heels, I could prep and eat a meal, and I could enjoy an hour-long massage. Post-fibro, I'm either wearing heels and not moving or moving and not wearing heels; I'm either prepping a meal or eating it; and I'm enjoying a massage in the moment with the knowledge that it's going to hurt like hell for weeks afterwards.
So, this seems to indicate that there is a fundamental defect of some kind because healthy proprioceptors don't result in pain being felt.
What that defect is and why it exists isn't yet known. So we'll just all watch this space ...
In case you'd like to read up on the science, here is the article I found; and I Googled some things from the article and to clarify things I wasn't sure I'd understood fully. I didn't use any AI.
Me & Miel (2020)
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