We have clear evidence from heart rate variability studies that people with chronic pain are in the fight, flight or freeze autonomic nervous system state (sympathetic state) and have a hard time activating and staying in the rest, digest and relax autonomic nervous system state (parasympathetic). This is one the big keys to getting out […]
Wanted to share the new film called ‘This Might Hurt’. My colleague and fellow PT Georgie Oldfield is showing a screening of this new film this weekend. I’ve included her invite below. I’m reaching out to invite you to join me for the digital premiere of the feature film THIS MIGHT HURT! An official selection […]
One of the things that has consistently been popping up in the brain MRI research is the role of the amygdala in chronic pain and anxiety disorders. The amygdala is the center of negative emotions and is part of the limbic brain. This part of the brain has been implicated in the transition of acute […]
The definition of pain is: “A sensory and emotional experience…” as defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP). Emotions are a part of pain. Not many healthcare practitioners address the emotional side of pain. It is very real and the more chronic the pain typically the more emotional it is. Acute/subacute […]
The prefrontal cortex is a part of our brain that controls what’s called ‘higher executive functioning’. This is the cognitive area of the brain that houses our conscious perception and decision making abilities, as well as the ability to send inhibitory messages to down-regulate pain. The prefrontal cortex is number one in my opinion as […]
As a PT (physio) I realized a long time ago that we are not just mechanical bodies cut off from the mind at the neck, but that in fact, our brains and nervous systems have a greater impact on our bodies than we could ever imagine. In this study that premise bears out as whiplash […]
Psychotherapist Julie Markowitz and myself Jim Prussack PT are teaming up to offer a 8 week course on healing chronic pain and other chronic health ailments starting in January 2021. The course is titled: ‘Feeling Safe, Feeling Well.’ There is such a need for this type of work as we know changes in the brain […]
2019 study article looking at emotional repression and chronic inflammatory rheumatisms (CIR) ( rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis). It also highlights how adverse childhood experiences increase the risk for CIR later in life. What they found: “Our results and those reported in the literature highlight the importance of emotional dysregulation, especially emotional repression, on CIR etiology […]
One of the interesting things with recent fMRI imaging studies of the brain is that we can see what’s happening in the brain when there is pain. This study on acute pain also sheds light on the transition to chronic pain via a couple of brain pathways we have spoken about before. We are talking […]
New research article titled: “Is lumbar fusion necessary for chronic low back pain associated with degenerative disc disease? A meta-analysis.” The short answer is “NO”. The researchers came to this conclusion after looking at multiple studies: ‘The present meta-analysis determined that fusion surgery was no better than nonoperative treatment in terms of the pain and […]
