The Pain PT News

Forgiveness can be an important piece in the process for chronic symptom recovery. Forgiveness is first about releasing and expressing and offloading our anger and resentment. Holding onto anger creates…

A recent 2023 study authored by Dr. Howard Schubiner in the Journal of Pain  assessed 222 chronic low back and neck pain patients in a primary care clinic. A physician was trained to diagnose for structural…

The role of mental and emotional stress in medicine has been by and large neglected and un-diagnosed as a primary cause of somatic symptoms and health illness in the body. Most primary health practitioners…

There's been more and more research emerging on the role of what's called alexithymia and it's role in health complaints in the body. Alexithymia literally means “lack of words for emotions” or is…

There is a bi-directional relationship between anxiety, worry, and functional somatic symptoms (FSS). This 2021 study  concluded that: Previous studies have shown that anxiety and FSS are associated…

The worldwide prevalence of back and neck pain is may be higher than you think- It has been found that upwards of 80 percent of all people experience back pain at some point in their lives and almost 25…

I posted a few weeks back the prevalence rates of somatization or what's called somatoform disorders is much higher than most know- upwards of 40% seen in general practice. Somatoform disorders comprise…

I’m excited to offer and to invite you to a limited time free screening of the documentary feature film This Might Hurt! The screening will be followed by a live Q&A with Jim and film producer Kent…

I get a fair amount of people asking me if stress can cause or contribute to autoimmune conditions. The  short answer is yes. This study completed in 2018 found 'that exposure to a stress-related disorder…

Somatization is defined as the production of medical symptoms with no discernable organic cause. Another way to describe it is the tendency to experience psychological distress in the form of somatic symptoms…

Hwabyung is probably not a diagnosis you have ever heard of. In Korea though, it is diagnosable and seen as a valid medical and mental health condition. According to this research paper "the term Hwabyung…

Wanted to share a 2020 research paper that studied the effect of attachment style in relation to emotional processing skills and subsequently somatic symptoms. Attachment style/theory was put forth by…

One of the things I teach in my 1-1 coaching and group work is shifting ourselves into the facing state, which is not the same as fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. These 4 I just mentioned are trauma or…

We have more and more research indicating there being changes in the brain with chronic pain. In particular, an area of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex has been implicated with somatic symptom…

One of the things I thing is very important from a mind-body perspective to healing is parlaying hope into want and desire for change then moving to will to make it happen. Will is an important mind-body…

We've come a long way in understanding chronic pain and how the brain shapes pain in ways we never knew before. The amygdala, which is the emotional generating and processing part of the brain, is now…

I want to share a large study (over 50,000 people) that highlights the link between anxiety and depression and somatic symptoms in the body. I treat a lot of unexplained physical symptoms that are purely…

In my work of treating chronic health issues, I focus on areas that most traditional medical professionals fail to look at. These are the psycho-social areas, which relate to the brain and nervous…

"A total of 248 college students participated in the daily diary study. Daily stressors, daily hurt feelings, and rejection sensitivity predicted somatic symptoms. Rejection sensitivity also moderated…