How Mold Toxicity Triggers Chronic Pain

by Dr. Martin Hart

If you have acute pain, as in you are suddenly hurting RIGHT NOW, then everyone will be looking for the CAUSE of that pain. The obvious questions to ask would be, “Is there a broken bone, an infection, some sort of injury?”

If your pain is chronic, though, root-cause medicine goes out the window. Instead, to alleviate the pain, you may get physical therapy (if you’re lucky), some version of pain meds, and probably an antidepressant to make you “feel” better about still being in pain. If you go this route long enough, you know that, sadly, you may even get labeled as a drug seeker or an addict looking for more meds. But, in reality, you are just exhausted and desperate, because all you want is relief from the pain!

The Brain-Pain Connection

To understand chronic pain, you need to understand the nervous system. Many people do not realize that your brain is what generates pain: Without the brain, there is no pain. But even more importantly, you need to understand that there is still a root cause at play here. SOMETHING is triggering that pain signal, and we need to uncover that trigger. Mold illness is one of those chronic pain triggers. Mold illness is when your body has been exposed to inflammatory and toxic molds that create a predictable cascade of issues within your body. Today, I want to focus on how mold toxicity triggers chronic pain.

Some of the chronic pain syndromes we have seen associated with mold illness are as follows:

  • Fibromyalgia
  • Migraines
  • Tension Headaches
  • Sinus Headaches
  • Chronic Joint Pain
  • Sciatica
  • Neck, back, or spinal pain
  • Floating Pains
  • Nerve Pain
  • Complex Regional Pain Syndrome

How Mold Toxicity Triggers Chronic Pain

When we inhale mold spores and mold toxins (mycotoxins), they can lead to allergies, fungal overgrowth, toxicity, and high levels of inflammation throughout the body. All of these issues can lead to pain in one way or another.

Let’s look at a list of ways that mold illness can create chronic pain within the body:

  1. Decreased Endorphins: Endorphins make us feel good and reduce pain in our body. (This is how opiate medications work). Mycotoxins negatively affect our hypothalamus and pituitary gland, reducing amounts of endorphins that we produce naturally. I tell patients that this can lead to “less joy, more pain.”
  2. Increased Excitotoxicity in the Brain: Mold and the neuro-inflammation (brain inflammation) it causes can lead to excess glutamate in the brain. Glutamate is excitatory; it ramps up nerve cells. Too much glutamate can cause increased pain sensitivity, headaches, anxiety, panic attacks, muscle twitches, and seizures.
  3. Hormone Dysfunction: Mold toxins affecting the brain impair MANY different types of hormones in the body but especially affect the adrenal glands, progesterone, and testosterone. Research shows that when these hormones are lowered, you feel terrible for MANY reasons but especially because of the increased inflammation and decreased pain tolerance. Even small pains begin to feel massive.
  4. Elevated Cytokines and Chronic Inflammation: Mold spores and mycotoxins trigger our immune systems to release all sorts of cytokines (immune cells) to fight off the invaders. This triggers a full inflammatory assault that can leave us chronically achy and sore just like when we have the flu, not to mention the headaches this inflammation causes. Prolonged mold exposure can suppress the immune system but continue to trigger inflammation leading to delayed recovery. This is the same pathway that also triggers pain related to histamine intolerance and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS).
  5. Cellular Hypoxia (Oxygen starved cells): Mold lowers VIP, a specialized protein that delivers oxygen to our cells. Without oxygen, our cells become out-of-shape marathon runners trying to finish a race. It is one of the major causes of chronic fatigue syndrome but also has been shown to lead to fibromyalgia and other pain syndromes.
  6. Central Sensitization: If your brain is in pain for more than 3 months, it learns to create pain with less and less stimulation in order to try and “protect you.” This is why brain retraining is a part of every mold recovery case in our clinic. Mold and neuro-inflammation enhance this central sensitization effect.

Is it Mold?

How can you tell if mold is part of your chronic pain issue? Here is how we help our patients deduce if mold is a contributing factor:

  1. Test, test, test. We recommend using EC3 Mold Screening Test Plates to test the air in your home, and to tap test your clothes, furniture, carpeting/rugs, and even to test what is in your nose! Further you can use urine mycotoxin testing to determine the presence of mold toxins in your body.
  2. Treat the source. Remove mold and water damaged materials from your home (following safe protocols). Fog regularly and utilize EC3 Air Purification Candles. Wash your clothes and clean your home using mold-reducing agents such as EC3 Laundry Additive or EC3 Mold Solution.
  3. Heal the Body. Bind up mold toxins in your system using binders such as charcoal or humic/fulvic acid. Reduce inflammation by improving your diet and using supplements such as fish oil or turmeric. Support the body in clearing chronic sinus infections with things like Citri Drops Nasal Spray and Sinus Defense 2.0. Restore hormone balance in the brain, pituitary, and adrenal glands using CellTropin. Practice Brain Retraining exercises or neurofeedback.
  4. Directly Address Musculoskeletal Issues. In our clinic we utilize therapies such as Hyperbaric Oxygen and low-level laser to reduce inflammation and heal neuromusculoskeletal issues. Many of our patients receive gentle chiropractic treatments, kinesiology, and massage therapy to reduce pain and improve function.

In our clinic, chronic pain is a part of many cases. Often, mold illness is a major contributor to a patient’s pain. It’s important, no it’s vital, to address the root causes in order to promote long-term healing and pain resolution. Don’t neglect finding out if mold is a part of your pain.

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