chronic pain - Back in Control

Threat versus Safety Physiology

posted in: Recent, RUTs, Stage 1, Stage 1: Step 1, The Physiology/ Mental Mechanics of RUTs |

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

Become a Genius at Solving Pain

posted in: RUTs, Stage 3, Stage 3: Step 1 |

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

Essence of Illness

posted in: Important, Stage 1, Stage 1: Step 1 |

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

Pain: the Gift Nobody Wants

posted in: Stage 4, Stage 4: step 5 |

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

Clarifying the New IASP Definition of Chronic Pain

posted in: Important, Stage 1, Stage 1: Step 1 |

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

Smell the Peppermint–Safe or Unsafe

posted in: Stage 1, Stage 1: Step 1 |

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

This COVID-19 Pandemic is Solvable–NOW

posted in: Stage 1, Stage 1: Step 1 |

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

Expanding Your Horizon–Your New Life

posted in: Stage 4, Stage 4: Step 2 |

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

28 Surgeries–”I elected to not be in pain”

posted in: Stories of Hope |

For many years, I thought that for many patients there was a point of no return because the sheer magnitude of both physical and emotional trauma. I particularly felt this way with people who had undergone many failed surgeries. I was wrong and continue to hear stories of healing in … Read More

Never Too Late for Hope

posted in: Stage 5, Stage 5: Step 3, Stories of Hope |

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