Dr. Howard Schubiner developed a practical assessment system, the FIT criteria. The name comes from the initials of three categories of indications: Functional, Inconsistent, Triggered.

Prerequisite: The FIT criteria apply only after a doctor has ruled out serious organic disease (tumor, infection, fracture, inflammatory or autoimmune disease, etc.). They do not replace medical diagnosis — they complement it.

The more of the following statements that apply to you, the more likely it is that your symptoms have a neuroplastic cause. Even a single criterion is enough to raise suspicion.

F — Functional criteria

The symptoms do not match a known structural injury.

The symptoms began without an injury or physical cause.
The symptoms persist after the injury has healed (usually 3–6 months).
They appear symmetrically, or across one entire side of the body / half of the face.
They spread over time to different areas of the body.
They appear in many different places at the same time.
They have a tingling, "electric", burning, numb, hot or cold character.

I — Inconsistent criteria

The symptoms change in ways a structural injury would not justify.

They move from one area of the body to another.
They change intensity depending on the time — e.g. early in the morning or during the night.
They appear after activity or exercise, not during it.
They appear when we think about the symptom or when we are asked about it.
They worsen with stress or when we think about stressful situations.
They are minimal or absent when we are absorbed in something pleasant or on vacation.

T — Triggered criteria

The symptoms are activated by conditioned stimuli, not by disease.

They are triggered by things unrelated to the symptom itself: foods, smells, sounds, light, screens, menstruation, weather changes.
They are triggered by the anticipation of stress (before work, a medical test, a social gathering).
They are triggered just by imagining the activity (e.g. bending down, turning the neck).
They are triggered by light touch or harmless stimuli (air, cold, barometric pressure).

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Click the criteria above that apply to you.

Remember: A single "yes" proves nothing on its own, but a pattern of many "yes" answers — together with normal medical tests — makes a neuroplastic cause very likely. Definitive confirmation comes when treating these mechanisms leads to significant improvement.

Sources: Schubiner & Betzold, Unlearn Your Pain; Clarke, Schubiner et al. (2019).

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Are my symptoms neuroplastic?