About three years ago, my staff noticed that our surgical patients who participated in The DOC Journey principles were doing much better. The outcomes were more consistent, and we were seeing fewer failures. The postoperative pain was more easily controlled. Patients were moving forward quickly with rehab while re-entering a … Read More
I started my practice in Seattle in 1986. I was feeling pretty beat up from my spine training. I felt well-trained and began to perform fusions for LBP with a zeal. It was what I was trained to do. It quickly became clear that chronic low back pain was much … Read More
Objectives Spine surgery is not an option if there is not a structural problem with matching symptoms. Back pain does not respond to surgery and it is often made much worse in the presence of untreated chronic pain. It is understandable why you might choose it as it seems definitive … Read More
Jean was a 48 year-old woman who came to me from a neighboring state for a second opinion. She filled out an extensive spine pain questionnaire, which included many questions about her quality of life, in addition to a history and diagram of the pain. She was a healthy physically active … Read More
Any skill in life, mental or physical is first learned and then embedded in our brains with repetition. This is true for physical sensory input as well as mental. In both chronic mental and physical pain, the impulses are memorised in about 6-12 months. The circuits are embedded and permanent. … Read More
There is deep basic science and clinical research that documents effective treatments for chronic mental and physical disease. Most of it has not entered into clinical care and our burden of chronic disease continues to grow. In fact, much of what is being done is not only risky, based on … Read More
Preston Phillips, the spine surgeon shot this week in Tulsa, was a colleague of mine in Seattle. I did not know him well but interacted with him in conferences and some patient care. He was as well-intentioned a surgeon and nice person as I have worked with. It is easy … Read More
Please do not let this happen to you, your family, or friends. The downside of failed spine surgery can be catastrophic, and it is impossible for you, as a patient, to comprehend how bad it can be. Complications happen with every surgeon, including me. That is not the issue. The … Read More
I quit my surgical spine practice in 2019 because I was seeing so much surgery performed on normally aging spines. They were causing severe damage to people’s spines and destroying their lives. Frequently, the impact was catastrophic. At the same time, I was witnessing hundreds of patients having their pain … Read More
This letter was sent to me by a woman that I have corresponded with a few times but I have never met or worked with. One of most powerful aspects of the DOC process is that is simply a structure that presents well-established documented treatments. Once a person understands the … Read More