The concept that stress can create physical symptoms has been around for centuries. In modern times we have become enamored with technology and have lost sight of the fact that multiple different physical symptoms will be caused by changes in the body’s chemistry because each organ system responds in its … Read More
I was running an hour late in clinic and was trying to get through my last patient before my already abbreviated lunch. A young Spanish-speaking woman from Puerto Rico was lying on the table moaning. Her husband, who was sitting motionless across the room, could speak limited English, and there … Read More
Dr. Howard Schubiner is board-certified in pediatrics, adolescent medicine, and internal medicine. He was a full time professor at Wayne State University for 18 years and now works at Providence Hospital in Southfield, MI. He is the founder of the Mind Body Clinic and the co-author of several of my … Read More
It is an almost universally held belief among surgeons and patients that a specific structural lesion is usually the cause of pain. If that lesion can be identified and repaired, the pain will abate. This seems plausible. A diagnostic test ought to be able to identify the source of intense … Read More
Pain is a perception that is affected by many factors. Our western medical culture has focused on the idea that there is always a direct physical source or “pain generator” that can be identified and fixed. You are Not a Machine “Pain-Generator” thinking takes the human body to be like … Read More
I don’t recall much about learning how to ride a bicycle. I remember the training wheels and taking a few nasty falls. I do know that my father wasn’t there to help me or witness it. He was a small town family doctor who routinely worked over a hundred hours … Read More
I talk about how anxiety and stress can lead to certain obsessive tendencies. Some of the tools from the DOCC project are laid out, specifically those that can help break down the circuits that fuel anxious and stressful thoughts and behaviors. For more, see Your Demons are Robots. BF
I talk about how the suppression of negative thoughts associated with chronic pain can really fire up the nervous system. Dr. Daniel Wegner from Harvard published an elegant paper in 1987 demonstratng the impossibity of trying to suppress thoughts. I’ve talked about it before in White Bears and ANTS. BF
I am a busy spine surgeon, yet I spend most of my time talking my patients out of surgery. When I do recommend surgical treatment, many, if not most, become apprehensive. They have heard that spine surgery never works and will relate stories to me about their friends, family, or … Read More
Our brain has neurological circuits that can become memorized. In this video I discuss phantom pain, which is more the rule than the exception with amputations. This factor is a significant problem with any chronic pain situation.