The Pain PT News

What better study to show the power of negative thinking (catastrophizing) and how it can contribute to chronic pain than looking at people who have had a whole knee joint replaced but continue to have…

New 2020 research study looked at 220 asymptomatic knees with MRI scans. What they found just adds more evidence to what we already know: structural 'abnormalities' do not cause pain in a lot of people. Here's…

In addressing chronic pain, we need to address the brain, not just the body. Scientific studies are pointing to that. Here's a few quotes from this 2019 review research paper. "Several studies have…

2019 study looking 1000 people with shoulder pain in the UK found that it is your BELIEF (self-efficacy) that determines if physiotherapy is successful or not. The most important predictor of outcome was…

Dr. Sarno was a pioneer M.D. who found the link between repressed emotions and physical symptoms. I find emotions really interesting as we know so many people have learned to suppress and repress uncomfortable…

Psychosocial factors play a big part in ongoing chronic pain, though you don't have that many doctors asking patients about these things. Working with people in pain for over 20 years, you hear all sorts…

One of the least talked about things in the medical community is how emotions play a role in somatic symptoms. Many of these bodily symptoms don't have a physical or structural cause. This study was review…

A little article in TIME magazine to remind us that our emotions have the capacity to create physical symptoms in the body. If you have ruled out structural and organic causes with your physical symptoms,…

This study published June 7, 2019 was a systematic review looking at multiple studies and the role of emotions in somatic (bodily) symptoms. This is the first review to look at the combination…

How common are getting X-ray and MRI's of your back? How about a brain MRI? Well, one day hopefully we will include brain MRI's with acute low back pain. Why? Because certain brain activation patterns…

Natural healing happens with time no matter what treatment you have, unless your pain goes chronic. I have known this for awhile as a PT (physiotherapist). I can't take credit for healing, the body heals…

 

We hear the saying "Go with the Flow" and it sounds cliche. But there is power in opening up and letting life unfold as it does with all its ups and downs and in-betweens. This means letting our thoughts,…

I work with a lot of people with chronic symptoms and anxiety is one of the top things I see in many patients. What many people don't realize is that anxiety alone can create physical symptoms in the body…

Have you ever thought about doing the complete opposite of what you've been doing with your symptoms? We know fighting and resisting what we feel doesn't really work. What we resist persists. The opposite…

All pain is meant to protect us from something. It is always a protective response to try to help us as it thinks something is too dangerous or threatening. The definition of pain is that it is both a…

The body's alarm system is your brain and nervous system. With chronic pain, the alarm system stays turned on or is easily triggered to turn on. The alarm system is trying to protect us and thinks there…

This article really encapsulates many aspects of my mind-body treatment program for chronic pain and chronic health ailments. As Dr. Sarno states in his best selling books, we are talking about the subconscious…

Not many people think of TMS- Too Much Stress as the culprit in their chronic health ailment. The medical establishment is too fixated on structural findings, which we know have poor correlations with…