There is currently an epidemic of pain in our country, and chronic pain is increasing especially rapidly in people under 40. Teen anxiety, with its many physical manifestations is particularly problematic. A few of them include: Body image disorders Eating disorders Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis Irritable Bowel and Spastic … Read More
Depression is anxiety. It is the constellation of symptoms caused by relentless anxiety. This is critical to understand because anxiety is simply the sensation you feel when your body is full of stress chemicals, such as cortisol, adrenaline and histamines. It is the essence of your body’s neurochemical unconscious survival … Read More
The essence of solving chronic pain and also creating a life that you enjoy is learning how to regulate your body’s chemistry. When you are full of stress hormones such as adrenaline, cortisol, endorphins and histamines you are on high alert and you’ll feel agitated and anxious. When this state … Read More
Anxiety is the body’s neurochemical reaction to a mental or physical threat. Without it you can’t survive. It’s the sensation created by elevated levels of stress chemicals. Adrenaline – increases sensitivity and alertness Cortisol – mobilizes energy stores/ inflammation Histamines – immune system/ inflammation Endorphins – modulates the … Read More
“I am the biggest ever skeptic. But I thought what the heck. My lower back pain has been very bad and persistent whenever I stand or walk for more than a minute. I read the forward and immediately began using the ‘expressive writing.’ You take paper and pen/pencil and write, … 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
When I first met Sarah, she was close to 75 and had been experiencing debilitating pain for decades. But, since her spine x-rays revealed only normal degeneration consistent with her age, I set her to work on the DOC process. After about a year of working diligently through the tools, … Read More
Patients and physicians are frequently making illogical decisions regarding spine surgery. I have watched this phenomenon steadily worsen for over 30 years. One of the core problems is that there is little accountability. You would expect your surgeon to do everything he or she could do to optimize your chances … Read More
All living creatures survive and flourish by avoiding threats and gravitating towards rewards. Humans have language and consciousness, which creates some problems with this avoidance response. Thoughts create that same chemical reaction as a physical threat and we can’t escape our thoughts. Emotional pain is processed in a similar manner … Read More
My surgical decision-making dramatically changed over the last five years of my practice. In spite of watching so many successes of people healing from chronic pain without surgery, I still had a surgical mindset and was always looking for a surgical lesion that I could “fix”. In the first edition … Read More