Tulsa Shooting – “The Pit of Despair”

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

Exercise Improves Your Health, Quality of Life, and Lifespan

posted in: Recent, Stage 3, Stage 3: Step 1

Objectives: Regular exercise is a defined and to measurably lower inflammation, which will decrease your pain. It is basic to healing from any chronic disease, including chronic pain. It won’t solve your pain by itself, but other interventions will have limited impact without it. There are well-documented weekly recommendations regarding … Read More

Not Being Judgmental–Not Possible

posted in: Recent, Stage 4, Stage 4: Step 4

  Objectives Human consciousness precludes suppressing thoughts and emotions without experiencing physiological consequences. You may intellectually understand that being judgmental is unkind, but it is universal and embedded in our existence. Judgements of others, positive or negative, are projections of our own self-opinion, much of which is based on cognitive … Read More

Surgical Stories of Despair

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

“The Curse of Consciousness” – Trapped by Your Thoughts

Objectives: Unpleasant thoughts are impossible to avoid and can significantly impact your quality of life. They are a “neurological trick” created by your unconscious brain. They are not subject to rational interventions. The root cause of the problem is the human need for mental control. It sets off two different … Read More

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