Tackling about an interesting topic that does not often receive enough attention in the world of chronic pain management, Roshi Joan Halifax talks about the intersection of compassion and empathy in chronic pain care. She is the founder and head teacher of the Upaya Institute and Zen Center, and a pioneer in the field of end-of-life care. Growing up as a sick kid, her journey began by being surrounded with people who are in pain and fighting cancer. This gave her the opportunity to talk with car...
Sep 20, 2018•28 min
Pain goes beyond what we physically feel in our bodies. It reaches back into other aspects—from the mental to emotional. Take a deeper dive and explore the neuroscience of nociception and the perception of a painful stimulus with Dr. Tor Wager, director of the Cognitive and Affective Control Laboratory and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He talks about the factors that influence pain as well as the facts or myths about pain as a learned experience...
Sep 13, 2018•44 min
Traveling around Asia and in Tibet for a little bit, meditation expert Sean Fargo became fascinated by the simplicity of the life of Buddhist monks. Sean found a Dallas master who took him under his wing and taught him a lot of mindfulness exercises like mindfulness of walking, mindfulness of standing, and mindfulness of breathing. The combination of simplicity and difficulty and the Dallas master’s way of being was peaceful, radiant, and loving led Sean to think about devoting the rest of his l...
Sep 06, 2018•42 min
Nothing rounds up our understanding better about chronic pain than listening from a patient’s perspective. To have undergone through that pain with all the struggles and medications that come with it, a person could give the best account of dealing and overcoming all of it. Carol Kugler Ellis was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. As she shares her story, she imparts great wisdom and insight about chronic pain. Taking it head on, she clearly and honestly opened up about her pain, where she is currentl...
Aug 30, 2018•38 min
Nutrition is often one of the first interventions that I recommend for pain relief, especially if you have pain from an inflammatory disease such as fibromyalgia, CRPS, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, or even headaches. Anti-inflammatory nutrition has a sound evidence base to support it, but it's often ignored when it comes to chronic pain care management. When it comes to implementing it into a physical therapy practice, nutrition is very important because most of the patients that are be...
Aug 23, 2018•31 min
The treatment of chronic pain has been placed under a microscope because of the fallout from the widespread opioid epidemic. As we turn away from using opioids as a treatment for long-term pain, what many of you want to know is what are the alternatives? What are the non-drug alternatives or the non-pharmacological treatment and pain management for conditions so common such as lower back pain? Three experts, Dr. Steven George, Dr. Corey Simon, and Dr. Adam Goode are licensed physical therapists,...
Aug 16, 2018•49 min
Pain is a feeling we’re conditioned to heal without fully understanding it first. This leads us to taking the wrong medication that we suffer more from in the end. Pain master David Butler explains not only what pain is but dives deeper into the psychosocial model of pain care. He wrote a book called Explain Pain where he went beyond the traditional way of explaining pain by tapping into the emotional, mental, and physical state of a person. David also provides examples that relate pain to numer...
Aug 09, 2018•44 min
The chronic pain epidemic has opened up many doors as to the way practitioners approach pain and how the multiple systems of our body are intimately connected. It has also made us realize that this metaphor of the mind-body connection is no longer just a metaphor. Nowhere is this more exquisitely expressed than in the connection between our gut and our brain, or what is called the gut-brain axis (GBA). Your brain and gut are connected by an extensive network of neurons and a highway of hormones ...
Jul 26, 2018•31 min
According to a report by the American Joint Replacement Registry, there were 860,000 hip and knee replacement surgeries in 2017. That means by the end of 2018, we will be over the 1 million mark in the United States. Thousands of these orthopedic surgeries are performed yearly within the Veterans Affairs. Patients are offered surgery as an option for pain relief and improved function. Chronic post-surgical pain is a common and debilitating problem that occurs in 5% to 85% of patients following s...
Jul 19, 2018•36 min
Each day, millions of yoga enthusiasts flock to yoga studios for their daily or the weekly practice, celebrating an ancient wellness tradition as well as a form of exercise and therapy that's been validated in many studies by modern pain science. If done under the guidance of a skilled instructor or therapist, it can bring several health benefits that help people cope with conditions including anxiety, depression, chronic pain, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, and chronic stress, something t...
Jul 12, 2018•46 min
If you're someone who lives with pain and is trying to figure out the best therapies to utilize, you may be interested with Dr. Kathleen Sluka’s mechanism-based approach to pain management. Dr. Sluka is a neuroscientist and physical therapist who studies in neurobiology of chronic pain at the University of Iowa. She says the mechanism-based approach is also equally important if you're a practitioner who’s seeking a new and groundbreaking conceptual framework for evaluating the underlying cause o...
Jul 05, 2018•32 min
Many researchers have devoted their entire career to exploring and learning more about what happens inside the brain when chronic pain develops and persists. Even though there is no one area for pain in the brain, neuroscientists have been able to recognize some key brain structures involved in the various components of the pain process. This is what is known as the neuromatrix theory of pain. Dr. Tim Salomons is Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of Reading in ...
Jun 28, 2018•38 min
When we think of pelvic pain, we easily associate that with women disorders which they even call women’s health therapy or women’s health section. There aren’t enough specialized care provided for men who are experiencing pelvic pain, even more so for the LGBT community. Dr. Sandy Hilton is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and one of the world's leading pelvic health experts and the founder of Entropy Physiotherapy which is a practice that specializes in the treatment of complex chronic pelvic pain ...
Jun 21, 2018•40 min
If the red pill were real, would you take it? If you’ve seen the movie The Matrix, then you know what Robbe Richman is talking about. Robbe is the creator of the Xpill. The Xpill is not a prescription drug or a supplement. All it is is brown rice protein with no active ingredients. On its own, it has no healing properties, and yet the moment people take it, their whole perception and approach to life changes. The power of a pill lies in the transformation effect it has on people. What’s more int...
Jun 14, 2018•25 min
Many people have questions about the role of spirituality in pain management and pain relief. Dr. Amy Wacholtz, a licensed clinical psychologist, pain researcher and assistant professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado, explores the role of spirituality as part of an integrative pain management program. Spirituality can be defined as the experience of transcendence, connectedness, meaning and purpose. If you have pain, you know all too how it can derail you from your path and journey ...
May 31, 2018•43 min
PTSD can happen to anyone. It's not a sign of weakness. In many ways, it's a normal part of the traumatic healing process. Post-traumatic stress disorder can occur after you've experienced any type of trauma. A trauma is defined by a shocking or a dangerous event that you see or experience. Depending on which study you read, approximately 15% to 35% of patients with PTSD also suffer from chronic pain. Is there a link between trauma, PTSD, and chronic pain? Dr. Peter Levine, author of “Waking the...
May 24, 2018•34 min
For a lot of practitioners, medical and psychiatric patients are difficult to treat, approach, or figure out. Dr. Les Aria is a rehabilitation and pain psychologist with over a decade of experience in working with patients with chronic pain and other types of chronic diseases. He specializes in treating complex medical-psychiatric chronic pain patients, when others suggest nothing can be done. His love for the brain and pain has helped him develop a unique style in helping patients who are suffe...
May 17, 2018•32 min
If you have chronic pain, you’ve been told for years, decades, and even still today, to take it easy, to rest, and to not do any type of activity that may cause pain oftentimes by people who are well-intentioned and are trying to help you feel better. With the latest research and data coming out in the new world of pain science, exercise in its many forms and varieties actually have very specific benefits to reducing the severity of chronic pain. It promotes better sleep and decreases disability...
May 10, 2018•35 min
The overall state of cancer care has improved over the past two decades through the widespread use of traditional therapies such as surgery, medications, and chemotherapy. Improved cancer therapy has led to an increased life expectancy and cure rates. The good news is that in most types of cancers, the survival rate has increased dramatically. The not so good news for the more than 10 million survivors of cancer in the United States of America is that when most returned to a normal life, 20% wil...
May 03, 2018•45 min
To increase lifespan and longevity, practitioners as well as patients need to identify what they are doing incorrectly with their health practices and lifestyles. Jason Prall believes that the biggest component to the destruction of our health is the error in our ways of using technology, our bodies taking in toxins from food production, and even emotional traumas. He teaches people the mental framework of a healthy lifestyle and the emotional components of health, where it comes from and how we...
Apr 26, 2018•34 min
Physical Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy are two of the most important therapies for pain relief. To live an active life beyond pain, Jennifer Battles believes that combining ACT with PT is the best method. Your time and focus shifts from finding a way to reduce the pain to living your life knowing that your battling the pain and winning it. She shares her research about ACT, values, goals, and how to defuse unpleasant sensations, thoughts and emotions when you are in pain. Sign up...
Apr 19, 2018•39 min
Dr. Beth Darnall’s most recent paper, Patient Centered Prescription Opioid Tapering in Community Outpatients With Chronic Pain, raised some concern on opioid addiction and the reduction of opioid prescribing. Dr. Darnall highly believes opioids have a place as part of an integrative pain care program for certain types of chronic pain syndromes. If you're somebody who has chronic pain, conservative pain care can be difficult to access because it's often not prescribed. Her paper tackles the role ...
Apr 12, 2018•34 min
Have you ever wondered how your heart and brain interacts and coordinates? For decades, Dr. Stephen Porges, a leading expert in developmental psychophysiology and developmental behavioral neuroscience, has been studying the connection between human behavior and physiology, specifically the vagus nerve. Dr. Porges’ work on the vagus nerve opens up new insights into the way our autonomic nervous system unconsciously mediates behaviors such social engagement, trust, and intimacy. Simply put, the si...
Apr 05, 2018•41 min
When women get pregnant, they carry the child for nine months then go through hours of labor. The notion that women are more tolerant to pain stems from this. However, studies show that women are greatly over-represented as pain patients. Dr. Jeffrey Mogil explains that women say that they are in pain more often than men do, but that can also mean that women are more prone to diseases that happen to be painful. The only way to know the sex differences in pain between a man and a woman is when th...
Mar 29, 2018•31 min
America is in the middle of an opioid epidemic because it has become the alternative agent for practitioners and patients suffering from chronic pain. It is a natural way of alleviating pain but not without its side effects. There are already 29 states that have legalized the use of medical marijuana for medical purposes, but this still leaves a lot of unanswered questions. Dr. Rachna Patel has been working with CBD oil and medical marijuana to develop a methodology that allows her to walk a pat...
Mar 22, 2018•34 min
One way to define mindfulness is awareness of your experience in the present so that your perception of what is happening is not distorted by certain emotions. Being present in the moment of pain allows the mind to tell the body that healing is possible with mindfulness meditation. Sharon Salzberg believes that when you make peace with fear, you can start dealing with your pain. She shares how a world losing a sense of community and human connection can accept love and kindness into their lives ...
Mar 15, 2018•32 min
Freedom to move and perform activities is a privilege most people take for granted. For some people suffering chronic pain, the ease of doing simple tasks is a luxury. Chronic pain has been defined as any pain persisting over twelve weeks. It may result from injury or ongoing illness and may be accompanied with other health problems like sleep deprivation, decreased appetite, and fatigue, limiting a person’s strength and movement and lead to depression and disability. While medication, surgery, ...
Mar 08, 2018•33 min
Are you finding it hard to resist sinking your teeth into that third donut? Do you find that your pants are getting a little bit more snug than it was just a couple of weeks ago? You are not alone. The struggle with weight loss has increased over the years with the onslaught of food choices in great portions. Shifting your focus from your gut to your brain may be the answer. Dr. Stephan Guyenet takes us into the inner circuits of the brain and delivers profound insights on how weight loss begins...
Mar 01, 2018•46 min
It's great to be here with you for another episode. Before this episode, I sat down for a couple of minutes and I started to write out a list of all the different ways we have to treat, alleviate, control, or numb pain. Think about it for just a moment. Think about all the different types of pills, lotions, potions, surgeries, injections, practitioners, and treatments that all claim to resolve pain. It's quite mind-numbing after a while. If I had a nickel every time someone sent me an email or s...
Feb 22, 2018•47 min
Blood sugar balance is critical for our cells to get nutrients and energy. Every single organ and system of our body will be affected when there blood sugar imbalance. A symptom of this is brain fog, where the brain just goes offline because it is not getting all its needed nourishment. This imbalance also affects the liver. Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo explains more on how blood sugar can affect the body and how it is even related to chronic pain. She shares that the first step is to dampen the need ...
Feb 15, 2018•35 min
