The Pain PT News

The Nocebo Effect Produces Physical Symptoms

This 2020 study in the New England Journal of Medicine from Harvard Medical School looked at people taking statin medications for high cholesterol. It really highlights the power of the brain in producing…

Central Sensitization in many chronic pain conditions

Central sensitization is something I see in a lot of people with chronic health ailments and something we need to address for healing. According to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)…

What contributes most to pain with lumbar disc herniation?

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Radiating leg pain from a lumbar disc herniation is often attributed to either mechanical compression of the nerve root by the herniated disc, and/or local inflammation. This study of 53 subjects…

The Intersection of Anger, Chronic Pain & the Brain

How we deal with and handle anger can have an influence on our pain levels. This recent 2022 research review article highlights that either overt anger expression like blowing up or anger suppression like…

Depression Showing as Physical Symptoms

Two of the biggest mental health issues out there are depression and anxiety. It is important to screen for both these emotional conditions as they can both manifest physically in the body with symptoms.…

‘Worried Sick’- How Anxiety Causes Symptoms

I see a lot of people with what is being called 'Worried Sick'. It's where health anxiety (fear) is the driving force behind symptoms. Excessive worry, hypervigilance, combined with being an empathatic…

The Importance of Interoception to your Health

Interoception is not a word that many are familiar with but it can have a big impact on your health. Interoception is the ability to 'tune in' to your body signals and notice what's arising in your body…

Study: The Association of Depression and Anxiety with Pain

Authors of this study with 3000 people state that chronic pain is common in up to 70% of patients with depressive and anxiety disorders. We need to be screening for and treating both anxiety and depression…

Recovering from Chronic Burning Pain

Sharing a fantastic recovery story by Dan, who has overcome so much: first spinal surgery to remove a tumor that basically paralyzed him for awhile. Then subsequent burning pain that sidelined him from…

The Role of the Nervous System in Chronic Health Issues

The role of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) in chronic health disorders is massive. In this video I  share a study which I link below which reviews a lot of the research from heart rate variability…

Simply Sit With Yourself

Getting in touch with our feelings involves stopping and sitting with ourselves. See what's bubbling up in terms of sensations. Be Ok with that. This is allowing the expression of what you are feeling…

Chronic Pain is an Emotion

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.…

How Two Small Almonds Play Such a Huge Role in Chronic Illness

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.

The Danger is in the Brain not the Body with Chronic Pain

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…

Normal ‘Abnormalities’ on Imaging Scans

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…

The Pain Cycle & Body’s Alarm System

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…

What 100 Years of Fear Conditioning Research Has Taught Us

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…

Face Your Fears To Move Forward

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…

Podcast Appearance on ‘Our Power is Within’ with Chazmith Newton

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…

Hip/Knee Arthritis Pain & Disability More Related to the Mind Than to the Body

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…