I have held several three and five-day workshops in Rhinebeck, NY at the Omega Institute with Dr. Fred Luskin, a Stanford psychologist and author of Forgive for Good, my wife, Babs Yohai, a professional tap dancer, and my daughter, Jasmine Yohai-Rifkin who is an expressive arts therapist. The tightly-structured seminar is based … Read More
One of the tenets of successfully solving chronic pain is to stop discussing your pain with others. Dwelling on your pain only strengthens those neural pathways and therefore reinforces your perception of pain. Over the last couple of years, I have seen evidence that has made this notion clearer to … Read More
Your experience of pain depends on many parts of your brain receiving a signal, and comparing it to your expectations based on past experience. Recent research is confirming this on functional MRI (fMRI) scans that look at what part of the brain lights up in response to sensory input. Pain … Read More
There have been numerous terms used to describe the body’s response to chronic stress and the physiological response. The original descriptor was Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS) coined by Dr. John Sarno in the 1970’s. Other terms have included Stress Illness Syndrome, Psychosomatic Disorders, Central Sensitization Syndrome (CSS), and Mind Body … Read More
The ability to process anxiety in a healthy way is critical to maintaining your quality of life. It is even more important for someone who is experiencing chronic pain. Anxiety is a reflection of your body chemistry changes when you are in an arousal state. Your senses are heightened … Read More
There are two fundamental aspects to the perception of pain: The source: Three Sources of Chronic Pain Possible structural problem Inflammation of soft tissues Neurophysiological Disorder – “short circuits” The receptor—your brain Three additional variables affect your perception of pain: Sensitization Memorization The “Modifiers” –1) anxiety 2) anger 3) sleep … Read More
There have been numerous terms used to describe the body’s response to chronic stress and the physiological response. The original descriptor was Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS) coined by Dr. John Sarno in the 1970’s. Other terms have included Stress Illness Syndrome Psychosomatic Disorders Central Sensitization Syndrome (CSS) Mind Body Syndrome … Read More
The second edition of Back in Control: A Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain will be available November 17th, 2016. Why did I write a second edition? The first book was based on my personal experience and observing the successes with my patients. A great deal of new neuroscience research … Read More
Objectives: Adequate sleep is a necessary requirement for healing. Insomnia is a cause of chronic pain, and it is not the other way around. It is almost always possible to experience a consistently good night’s sleep using a combination of approaches. Do not undergo any major invasive interventions until you … Read More
To say that the wave of mass shootings over the last few years is disturbing would be grossly understating how most of us feel. One of the most basic of human needs is to feel safe and we largely depend on our society being reasonably civilized. We count on our … Read More