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
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
Lesson Objectives Consider ongoing environmental input separately from your body’s responses. Understand the essence of illness/ disease is sustained exposure to real or perceived threats. It creates an adverse chemical profile that increases metabolism (your rate of fuel consumption) and causes inflammation. Your tissues will be physically damaged over time. … Read More
I always wanted to play golf at a level where I could consistently shoot in the 70’s. I began to play when I was 14 but I never took lessons and didn’t practice much. Then in college I subscribed to Golf Digest and read about a dozen golf instruction books. … Read More
The burden of chronic disease is crushing us while we have the answers right in front of us. A recent summary reported that the total cost of chronic disease in the US is 3.7 trillion dollars a year, which is approximately 19.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. (1) … Read More
I have felt that it is important to pick out heroes to emulate. One person that I have greatly admired is an orthopedic surgeon, Paul Brand. He is the co-author of his autobiography, Pain, the Gift that Nobody Wants. (1) I knew him personally and he was as gracious a … Read More
The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) is highly regarded international society committed to research and education about pain. It was founded by one of the most prominent pioneers in pain, Dr. John Bonica. Conceptualizing pain What is pain? We toss the word around a lot without really … Read More
Humans survive on this planet by the brain receiving ongoing sensory input from the environment and interpreting it as safe, neutral or unsafe. You will act accordingly to live another day. For pain, the brain “switch” has to be on in order to feel it. Acute pain is protective and … Read More
Modern medicine has the capacity to halt this pandemic now. COVID-19 is a complex problem affecting the immune, metabolic, endocrine, nervous system, and the inflammatory response. The end result is death when there is severe tissue destruction. To solve the problem, every aspect of it must be systematically and simultaneously … Read More
The DOC process evolved from my own, mostly futile, attempts to both figure out how I fell off a cliff into the Abyss of pain within a matter of 10 minutes and then how to get back out. I tried everything, talked to anyone, had medical workups, and eventually gave … Read More