One strategy for spinal cord injury repair is to make cellular bridges that support axon regeneration. However, the bridging cells often fail to integrate with host tissue and may lead to increased pain sensitivity. Recent work has tested bridging with two forms of progenitor-derived astrocyte. One type integrates, suppresses scar formation and promotes axon regeneration, whereas another very similar type, reported in Journal of Biology, does not support regeneration and increases pain sensitivity.