Recent Posts
28 Surgeries–”I elected to not be in pain”
For many years, I thought that for many patients there was a point of no return because the sheer magnitude ...
Science has the Answer to the Opioid Epidemic – Is anyone listening?
The Federal government has spent billions of dollars on combating the opioid epidemic. In 2022, 1.5 billion dollars was allocated ...
With every word I release, I free my heart and return to myself.
Expression Pain has a way of becoming a quiet tenant—settling into the soft chambers of the mind, curling into the ...
Suicide – A Horrible Way to Escape from Pain
Objectives The root cause of suicide is feeling trapped and mental and physical pain are problematic.significant reasons to feel this ...
Be Heard to Heal
You must understand the nature of a problem before you can solve it. It is well-publicized that over 100 million ...
Evolution of the DOC Framework
DOC beginning The DOC (Direct your Own Care) program evolved after I discovered that, through a systematic approach that addressed ...
Begin Your Healing Journey at Home
It has become increasingly apparent to me that chronic pain is a family issue. Your deepest human interactions happen at ...
Honoring Loss by Living
Objectives: Life is full of loss and unfulfilled wishes. Sehnsucht is intense regret. Stress of a deep loss can trigger ...
Create a Safe Haven – Family
Pain = Frustration. In the presence of unrelenting pain this frustration can be intense. Anger is a survival reaction and it ...
Let’s Wake Up
Overview Our conscious brain interprets our internal bodily sensations. Since we are geared to survive, most of our time is ...
The Gift of Pain – Thanksgiving 2013
Pain, The Gift That Nobody Wants is a book written by an orthopedic hand surgeon, Paul Brand. Through his work ...
“I Want to Believe”
Florence, Italy My wife lived in Florence, Italy from 1983 to 1990. She is fluent in Italian and some of ...
Stage 1 - Lay the Foundation
Select a step from the dropdown menu below to view the posts in that step. The steps are:
Step 1 - Learn About Your Pain
Step 2 - Expressive Writing
Step 3 - Active Meditation
Step 4 - Sleep
Step 5 - Don't Share Your Pain
Directly Calming the Threat Response
Your capacity to enjoy your life, feel safe and content is dependent on your body’s neurochemical profile. When you are ...
Principles of Solving Chronic Pain
All symptoms, physical and mental, result from your body gathering data from your surroundings through multiple sensors, your brain interpreting ...
Essence of Illness
The burden of chronic disease is crushing us while we have the answers right in front of us. A recent ...
Clarifying the New IASP Definition of Chronic Pain
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) is highly regarded international society committed to research and education about ...
Anxiety is the Correct Name for Pain
Every living creature on this planet survives by processing sensory input from all of the body’s different sensors and automatically ...
Reprogram your Brain Around Pain
One reason that chronic pain, mental or physical is consistently solvable is the brain’s property of neuroplasticity. Your brain physically ...
Smell the Peppermint–Safe or Unsafe
Humans survive on this planet by the brain receiving ongoing sensory input from the environment and interpreting it as safe, ...
This COVID-19 Pandemic is Solvable–NOW
Modern medicine has the capacity to halt this pandemic now. COVID-19 is a complex problem affecting the immune, metabolic, endocrine, ...
Anxiety is a Symptom – Not a Diagnosis
Every living creature on this planet survives by avoiding threats and gravitating towards rewards. The driving force is staying alive ...
Depression is Anxiety
Depression is anxiety. It is the constellation of symptoms caused by relentless anxiety. This is critical to understand because anxiety ...
Pain Sensitization – A Frayed Wire
Research has demonstrated what all of us already know. Repetition of unpleasant sensations worsens over time and becomes intolerable. This ...
My Cat has Irritable Bowel Syndrome?
We have a cat, Sophia, who is remarkably attached to my wife. She may pay some attention to me when ...
Anxiety Basics
Anxiety is the body’s neurochemical reaction to a mental or physical threat. Without it you can’t survive. It’s the sensation ...
Married 40 years – What Worked?
My brother and I attended a small private college in England in 1975. Over the last 43 years, about 25 ...
The Magic of Medical Hypnosis
A few years ago, I attended a four-day workshop held by Dr. David Burns, who is a Stanford psychiatrist and ...
Healing Begins at Home – The DOC Journey Starting Point
The DOC Journey began to evolve in 2003, as I emerged from my own 15-year struggle with chronic pain. It ...
Select a step from the dropdown menu below to view the posts in that step. The steps are:
Step 1 - Understand the Impact of Anger on Your Life
Step 2 - Acknowledge Your Disguises
Step 3 - Admit Your Victimhood
Step 4 - Choose Not to Remain a Victim
Step 5 - Forgive
Step 6 - Play
Forgiveness–The Continental Divide of Freedom and Hell
There is an intense relationship between anxiety and anger. Understanding this interaction is one of the most important concepts that ...
Bullying is Assault and Should be treated as Such
There are serious mental and physical consequences from being bullied. What would be the outcome of a scenario where a ...
Forgiveness as a Habit
Once is not enough in forgiveness Perhaps this game is like weeding. The trick is to become so practiced that ...
Is your Recreation “Wreck Creation?”
There is a basic dividing line in life that influences the development of your brain. Is your overall life outlook ...
Forgiveness is a Learned Skill–and a Power Move
Forgiveness is both a learned skill and an ongoing daily process without a beginning or end. It is a statement that ...
When I Dance – Omega 2019
Your brain changes every second and will evolve in whatever direction you choose. The term for this phenomenon is called, ...
Trapped – I Know How Gulliver Must Have Felt
I have been organizing an annual guy’s ski trip for over 30 years. Anywhere from 20-30 of us head to ...
No Action in a Reaction – Part 2
The essence of solving chronic pain and also creating a life that you enjoy is learning how to regulate your ...
“But I’m Not Angry”
One of the most sobering aspects of my journey in and out of chronic pain was my lack of awareness ...
Escaping the Abyss – Which One??
I saw two movies and a show this month that highlighted many issues about the human condition and pain. I ...
Wake the Fun up!!
Watching a baby take in every aspect of his or her surroundings with curiosity and awe is wonderful, delightful and ...
Chronic Pain is Solvable -Take Back Your Life
It has been my observation that suffering from chronic pain affects almost every aspect of your life, especially trying to ...
Omega 2017: Awareness, Hope, Forgiveness and Play
I will be holding a weekend workshop this July at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. This will be my ...
Your Unconscious Brain
Your body is a lean and mean fighting machine. That is all it is designed for and intended to do ...
Society’s Pain and World Peace
We live in an era of unprecedented comfort and freedom. A recent experience that drove this home was spending a ...
Out of the Valley, with Dolls
When I first met Sarah, she was close to 75 and had been experiencing debilitating pain for decades. But, since ...
Stage 3 - Move Forward
Select a step from the dropdown menu below to view the posts in that step. The steps are:
Step 1 - Commit to a Daily Practice
Step 2 - Create a Safe Haven - Family
Step 3 - Get Organized
Step 4 - Connect with the Life You Want
Step 5 - Create Your Vision
You Have to Feel to Heal – Emotional Awareness
Objectives Since emotional pain is processed in a similar manner as physical pain, why would you want to feel it? ...
Connecting to Life with Your Senses – Environmental Awareness
Objectives Humans are subject to an endless barrage of unpleasant thoughts that cannot be controlled. These thoughts are sensory input ...
Flip Your Consciousness – 4 Types of Awareness
Objectives A significant aspect of your healing journey is stimulating your brain to create a new set of circuits that ...
Becoming Aware of Being Unaware
Objectives Every action we take today is determined by what we learned from our past. Each one of us has ...
Awareness – The Starting Point for Deep Healing
Objectives All of our actions this minute are determined by all of your past experiences up to this very second ...
Taking Control – The Eye of the Storm
Objectives: It is a common perception that if we could manage our stresses better, we’d have a better life. That ...
Become a Genius at Solving Pain
I always wanted to play golf at a level where I could consistently shoot in the 70’s. I began to ...
Plan A–Lowering Inflammation Lengthens Life
The COVID-19 virus is a member of the Corona virus family that usually just causes the common cold. The problem ...
Negative Messages to Your Brain
I spent a day with Bruce Lipton, a cell biologist and author of a best-selling book, The Biology of Belief ...
People – The Most Powerful Part of The DOC Journey
It has become apparent that one of the most important factors in people moving away from their pain is our ...
The Guided Course of “The DOC Journey”
Chronic pain is a complex problem consisting of many variables that affect your perception of it. Additionally, we now know ...
Awareness–Ingrained Patterns
Awareness is the essence of healing in that you cannot stimulate your brain to develop in a given direction, unless ...
Develop a “Family Business” Business Plan
Any business of that consists of more than one person involves creating a legally binding contract that spells out the ...
Decreasing Your Stress Chemicals (Anxiety)
Chronic stress can be deadly. People experiencing chronic elevations of stress hormones such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, cytokines, histamines, and cortisol ...
Relationships and Rock Tumblers
Over the last several years, it has become apparent that family dynamics are a major factor in perpetuating or solving ...
Holiday Landmines – Your Family
For some, the holidays are synonymous with a strong sense of familial closeness and love. However, this is not the ...
Stage 4 Posts - Expand Your Consciousness
Select a step from the dropdown menu below to view the posts in that step. The steps are:
Step 1 - Pass Through the "Ring of Fire"
Step 2 - Step Into Your New Life
Step 3 - "Failing" Well
Step 4 - Look Up - Your Spiritual Journey
Step 5 - Giving Back is Healing
“The Bottom”
Generation Z and Millennials as a group are struggling. In spite of living in an era of unprecedented opportunities, they ...
Beyond Forgiveness–Compassion for Those Who Hurt You
Ongoing anger is an absolute block to moving forward and living a truly enjoyable life. You are stuck to past. As ...
The Gift of Hope – “This Might Hurt”
One of the worst aspects of being trapped in chronic pain is losing hope. No one can give you a ...
Success is a “Story”
There is currently an epidemic of pain in our country, and chronic pain is increasing especially rapidly in people under ...
Moving Forward – A New Horizon
I have stopped doing spine surgery and active clinical care to pursue the Back in Control project full time. This ...
“Dying” Before Living
Florence, Italy, 2013 On vacation We all intellectually know that life is short and somehow we spend a lot of ...
Learn Another Language – “An Enjoyable Life”
To master a new language requires a focused commitment for an extended period of time. Say you wanted to become ...
Anxiety with Success
No matter how many parts of my life were good, I was stuck in thinking about what I didn’t have ...
Healing With Support from her Community
Hi Dr. Hanscom, It’s Donna, a former patient. I just wanted to write and tell you some good news regarding ...
Compassion
Compassion: Empathy in the Face of Chronic Pain Empathy is an inherent part of the human experience. Being labeled as ...
Harnessing the Body’s Healing Power
The most powerful treatment for any disorder is engaging in practices that calm your nervous system and allows your body ...
How Much Suffering Can You Take?
This was the highlighted title of an article in the Sports Sunday section of the NY Times a few weeks ...
Remarkable Healing Stories – Dr. Bernie Siegel
I have had the distinct privilege of getting to know Dr. Bernie Siegel, who is a retired pediatric general surgeon ...
Mental or physical health – Which is more Critical?
I have been considering this question since I was eight years old. For some reason it was a subject that ...
Anger: Damage Control
There is a “genealogy” of anger. It begins with a person or situation that you blame for upsetting you. You ...
Select a step from the dropdown menu below to view the posts in that step. The steps are:
Step 1 - General Principles - The Grid
Step 2 - The Source of Your Pain
Step 3 - The Impact of Stress on Your Pain and Decision-making
Step 4 - Understanding the Magnitude of the Surgery
Step 5 - Making the Final Surgical Decision
Step 6 - Stories of Surgical Despair
Think Twice About Spinal Surgery
Roy Carey, a well respected spinal surgeon in Melbourne created this video highlighting the decision-making about undergoing spine surgery. It ...
Video: I Can Only Fix What I Can See
I discuss the cultural belief system about spine surgery and it’s impact on the treatment for chronic pain. It took ...
Video: Surgeons Do What They are Trained to Do
I discuss the lack of awareness to the alternative approaches in the spine surgeon world and the treatment of chronic ...
Surgical Results Overly Optimistic
What percentage of success would you want from your potential surgery on your lower back before you decided to proceed ...
Indications for Surgery
In order for a surgery to go right the first time, you need an idea of when spine surgery is appropriate ...
Anger Altering a Surgical Decision
Imagine your life before the pain. Stop and visualize a day or period back then when you were just plain ...
Stage 6 Posts - Procedures
Select a step from the dropdown menu below to view the posts in that step. The steps are:
Step 1 - General Considerations: Magnitude vs. Benefit
Step 2 - Decompressions
Step 3 - Lumbar Fusions
Step 4 - Deformity Surgery
Step 5 - Other Spine Surgeries
Step 6 - Stories of Surgical Despair
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Important Posts
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Using New Tools to Reclaim My Life
Beginning in 2003, I suffered low back pain in the L4-5 region. I saw a chiropractor from time to time ...
A Little Merrier Christmas – Letting Go of Blame
People trigger each other and the closer the relationship, the stronger the reactions. When you become anxious or frustrated, you’re ...
Life Sentence
After my fourth L3-L4 surgery the neurosurgeon sat me down and said “…you are not going to get better but ...
Chronic Pain is Solvable -Take Back Your Life
It has been my observation that suffering from chronic pain affects almost every aspect of your life, especially trying to ...
Healing With Support from her Community
Hi Dr. Hanscom, It’s Donna, a former patient. I just wanted to write and tell you some good news regarding ...
Out of the Valley, with Dolls
When I first met Sarah, she was close to 75 and had been experiencing debilitating pain for decades. But, since ...
Out of the Abyss After 25 Years
I received this email from someone that I had never met. I’ve now gotten to know her and she is ...
Remarkable Healing Stories – Dr. Bernie Siegel
I have had the distinct privilege of getting to know Dr. Bernie Siegel, who is a retired pediatric general surgeon ...
The Enlightenment Light and Judgment Mirror
I had a patient come into my office many years ago who represents one of the most remarkable turnarounds I ...
The Power of Love – Anthony
Anthony was a patient who I saw just a couple of times in his early 20’s. He was experiencing low ...
Never Give Up – Breaking Through After Six Years
Terry was a middle-aged mother of two children whom I met many years ago. For reasons that are unclear, her ...
To Become Strong – “ILOHLA”
My creative artist friend, Ernesto, endured a rough couple of years and for a while he “disappeared”. The details are ...
My Migraines
Fourth of July fireworks I was 5 years old and lived in a small town in New Hampshire. Our house ...
Can Your Body Language Change Chronic Pain?
Dr. Gordon Irving was in charge of Swedish Medical Center Chronic Pain Program for many years. His group has embraced ...
Leg Pain Gone with NPD Principles-Carol’s Story
Carol is one of my favorite patients and success stories. It is one that surprised both of us. Her turnaround ...
“Finding Health by Letting Go of Hate”
The common thread of those who successfully heal from chronic pain and other symptoms of Neurophysiologic Disorder (NPD) is letting ...
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Other Posts
- Falling in Love
- Create a Safe Haven – Family
- “I Want to Believe”
- Understand RUTs (Repetitive Unwanted Thoughts) and Solve Them
- RUTs – Can’t Take Your Hand Off the Stove? Turn Down the Heat
- Stories of Hope
- We have no protection from mental pain
- Accept the Gift of Consciousness – Choice
- Threat Physiology Can’t be Controlled with Behavioral Approaches
- Mental Rigidity – A Core Trait of Many Mental Health Diagnoses
- The Popcorn Machine – Healing RUTS
- Make the Right Decision About Spine Surgery – The Grid
- Everyone Needs Support
- The “Five E’s” of Chronic Pain
- Video 14/19: Chronic Pain: Pain Free is Not Only Possible, it’s Probable.
- Compassion and an Italian Dinner
- Video 8/19: Fusions For LBP Don’t Work
- Problems are Opportunities
- Video 7/19: The Catastrophe Index
- Examiners from the Worker’s Perspective
- Video 4/19: Listen When Your Surgeon Says “No”
- Arm the Worker
- Video 8 of 19: Finding the Source of The Pain
- Video 5 of 19: An Alternative Approach to Chronic Pain & Spine Surgery
- It Really is Upside Down
- The Catastrophe Index
- Your Doctor Might Not be Listening
- Worsening Prognosis with Time Off of Work
- Two Kinds of Anger
- Anger Affecting Nerve Pain
- Stress Management Overview
- How am I Going to Get There?
- Where am I Going?
- Where am I?
- Setting Goals with Three Questions
- Anti-Spasm
- Anti-depressants
- Anti-seizure
- Anti-anxiety
- Non-Narcotics
- Narcotics
- Medication Management
Click a Show Section button below to view the posts in that section.
Section 1 - Overview of RUTs
Section 2 - Solving RUTs
Section 3 - The Evolution of RUTs
Section 4 - Consequences of RUTs
Let's Wake Up
Falling in Love
Remember the first time you fell in love? Maybe you had a crush on a classmate in sixth grade. What about your first true love and being head over heels to the point you felt you couldn’t live without them? ... Read More
Honoring Loss by Living
Objectives: Life is full of loss and unfulfilled wishes. Sehnsucht is intense regret. Stress of a deep loss can trigger chronic pain, and there is nothing you can do. Remaining attached to your trauma prolongs the pain. Live your life ... Read More
Let’s Wake Up
Overview Our conscious brain interprets our internal bodily sensations. Since we are geared to survive, most of our time is spent in survival physiology. In this state, blood flow shifts away from our highest thinking brain, and we react more ... Read More