The Pain PT News

One thing that's not talked about much in the chronic pain world is what's called self-efficacy. Self efficacy (SE) is defined in this review study as "the personal confidence to carry out an activity…

In this study the authors were looking at whether chronic anger expression or what's called stonewalling predicted cardiovascular or musculoskeletal complaints in married couples over a period…

Anxiety is probably the biggest thing I see in my practice that causes physical somatic symptoms in the body that are not originating from a physical structural cause. The symptom list is vast, check out…

Researchers at Northwestern University have been studying the brain-chronic pain connection for well over a decade. Based on their multiple studies "we argue that the state of the brain’s emotional and…

I've posted before about how we see stronger one-way brain signals from the amygdala to the pre-frontal cortex in anxiety and how this is one-way signaling can cause the amygdala to hijack someone into…

What this fMRI brain study and many others are showing is a loss of whats called cortical control over the pain system. This is where the prefrontal cortex loses its power (strength) and firing rates with…

This 2020 study in the New England Journal of Medicine from Harvard Medical School looked at people taking statin medications for high cholesterol. It really highlights the power of the brain in producing…

Central sensitization is something I see in a lot of people with chronic health ailments and something we need to address for healing. According to the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP)…

Radiating leg pain from a lumbar disc herniation is often attributed to either mechanical compression of the nerve root by the herniated disc, and/or local inflammation. This study of 53 subjects…

How we deal with and handle anger can have an influence on our pain levels. This recent 2022 research review article highlights that either overt anger expression like blowing up or anger suppression like…

Two of the biggest mental health issues out there are depression and anxiety. It is important to screen for both these emotional conditions as they can both manifest physically in the body with symptoms.…

I see a lot of people with what is being called 'Worried Sick'. It's where health anxiety (fear) is the driving force behind symptoms. Excessive worry, hypervigilance, combined with being an empathatic…

Interoception is not a word that many are familiar with but it can have a big impact on your health. Interoception is the ability to 'tune in' to your body signals and notice what's arising in your body…

Authors of this study with 3000 people state that chronic pain is common in up to 70% of patients with depressive and anxiety disorders. We need to be screening for and treating both anxiety and depression…

Sharing a fantastic recovery story by Dan, who has overcome so much: first spinal surgery to remove a tumor that basically paralyzed him for awhile. Then subsequent burning pain that sidelined him from…

The role of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) in chronic health disorders is massive. In this video I  share a study which I link below which reviews a lot of the research from heart rate variability…

Getting in touch with our feelings involves stopping and sitting with ourselves. See what's bubbling up in terms of sensations. Be Ok with that. This is allowing the expression of what you are feeling…

We have more and more research showing that chronic pain involves the emotional centers of the brain. We also know anxiety, stress, depression, PTSD, trauma, all can cause somatic symptoms in the body.…

The research around the amygdala is showing it is not only a hub for emotions but a central hub for chronic pain. I talk about some of the studies coming out to support this.