The Pain PT News

We have more and more research showing that chronic pain involves the emotional centers of the brain. We also know anxiety, stress, depression, PTSD, trauma, all can cause somatic symptoms in the body.…

The research around the amygdala is showing it is not only a hub for emotions but a central hub for chronic pain. I talk about some of the studies coming out to support this.

We know now with a lot of good science that a lot chronic pain and chronic health issues are the result of a danger or threat message from your brain not from your body. Meaning the issue is not in the…

Here I show two infographic posters showing that many changes we see on imaging scans can just be normal age related changes we all have as we get older and not necessarily associated with pain. Like I…

I go over how the brain and nervous system (alarm system) can become the main source of chronic pain and chronic health symptoms. If you need help in overcoming your own chronic symptoms reach out by filling…

When we avoid things out of fear of pain and physical symptoms we get worse and we do less of that behavior. We need to break this and I go over the research that supports this. Reach out if you need help…

In this video I talk about fear and how it can keep you stuck or push you further away from getting back to a full life. Many people with chronic pain and chronic health issues can get caught in a fear…

Made an appearance on the "Our Power is Within" podcast with Chazmith Newton talking about the mind and how it affects the body with chronic pain and what we call PPD (PsychoPhysiologic Disorders) She…

Anyone wondering about knee or hip arthritis and it's relationship to the mind vs. the body- Here I go over a recent May 2021 study which (authors quote): "confirms that limitations and pain from osteoarthritis…

Stumbled upon this 2020 study that really brings the mind-body connection into focus on many levels. These researchers took fMRI scans of the brain while inflicting a painful stimulus to the arm and at…

With COVID, there has naturally been an elevated sense of stress and fear for many. Those who have had a history of PTSD already have been shown to have a high rates of physical somatic symptoms. This…

Interesting study that supports what I see in many people with chronic somatic complaints. What this study showed was what we already know: potentially traumatic events can lead to post-traumatic stress…

Another reminder that sympathetic fight of flight nervous system is at the heart of chronic musculoskeletal pain like we see in fibromyalgia. This is study found "the higher the sympathetic drive to the…

A lot of the people I work with have an increased tendency to worry, whether it's about their symptoms or about things in life. Worry by itself can cause more somatic symptoms. I've linked a study below…

This study from 2020 https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/14/11/1147/5716281 shows how the role of accepting pain and negative emotions reduces the intensity of both these things. One of the primary…

A review study here highlighting how a stressed out brain and nervous system create chronification of pain. The HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary- adrenal) axis in the brain (limbic brain) influences changes…

Continuing on the theme that most chronic disease is caused by an overactive sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze) nervous system and an inability to turn on and keep on the parasympathetic (rest, digest,…

We have clear evidence from heart rate variability studies that people with chronic pain are in the fight, flight or freeze autonomic nervous system state (sympathetic state) and have a hard time activating…

Wanted to share the new film called 'This Might Hurt'. My colleague and fellow PT Georgie Oldfield is showing a screening of this new film this weekend. I've included her invite below. I’m reaching…