Dealing with chronic pain on a daily basis can be challenging, stressful, and —at times— seem hopeless. Many people across the country try their best to carry on with their work, hobbies, and family life while experiencing pain.
This has always been an area that I’ve been interested in throughout my clinical practice. From working with veterans experiencing to chronic pain to the work that we now do at ProActive Rehabilitation & Wellness, helping people learn to manage their pain and get back to living their best life drives much of what I do as a clinician.
Let’s Talk Wellness Now! Guest Appearance
Since, I’ve focused much of my clinical career on pain management and treatment, I end up running into folks and having conversations about practical strategies for addressing persistent or chronic pain, and even the research and science around pain. Sometimes, that conversation happens to be recorded. In this instance, I was honored to be a guest on the Let’s Talk Wellness Now! podcast with Dr. Deb Muth.
We discussed the experience of pain, taking a biopsychosocial approach to pain treatment, and the mind-body connection that often gets overlooked in healthcare these days.
I love having these types of conversations because, as we continue to learn more about pain, the experience of pain, and the connection between physical symptoms and the not-so-physical symptoms we see that it’s not as simple as we might think. Sometimes, “fixing” a joint, muscle or tendon isn’t enough to relieve pain. Sometimes, we must focus on the mind-body connection to really overcome and effectively manage pain.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked with patients and clients experiencing chronic and persistent musculoskeletal pain. Sometimes, I was able to “fix” some physical problem to relieve their pain. More often than not, it required more of me than simply stretching a muscle or helping with a joint’s alignment. Pain, especially chronic pain, has both physical and experiential components. To effectively treat and manage chronic pain, we need to look not only at the physical stuff (muscles, joints, tendons), but we also need to look at those things that may not be easily seen or diagnosed on a scan or x-ray. Things like, nervous system responses or reactions, emotional affects on pain experience, and even stress/anxiety all impact our individual pain experiences. We can’t simply boil it down to one factor.
Here’s a clip from the show!
Check out the full episode here!
