Conversations About Everyday Pain

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If everyone could hear and see everyone else’s struggles, would we all find greater ease in pain? Pain changes how we view ourselves, our past selves and maybe causes us to worry about the future. In this episode, Jane discusses how gaining distance and allowing for the contrast of time and space, can really transform our outlook and offers us the opportunity to recognize our own fortitude. Key Points From This Episode: How to cope with airplane travel with lower back pain. How to use your mind’s eye and visualization to create ease in your body. Use of standing desks and being an "active sitter". Acceptance of changing body needs. The gluten controversy - Can the increasing gluten sensitivity be linked to a chemical sensitivity due to the impact on our wheat by the use of pesticides? Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Fear-Avoidance Behavior Impact on Pain https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15102230  “Axial” Definition  https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/axial Compression, Lengthening and Shearing Stress http://stopeverydaypain.com/2015/01/18/3-mechanical-stressors-can-cause-pain/ Mental Imagery and Sports Performance  https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/sports/olympics/olympians-use-imagery-as-mental-training.html  http://euacademic.org/UploadArticle/1396.pdf Jack LaLanne - the Godfather of Fitness and the First Fitness Superhero  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_LaLanne Image of the Passive Release Positioning  http://stopeverydaypain.com/2016/04/04/get-off-pain-causing-treadmill/ Pesticide Usage and Health https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4947579/ https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/15/4/1416 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945755/ https://ourworldindata.org/fertilizer-and-pesticides#pesticide-consumption-by-country The Sick Building Syndrome  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2796751/ The Toxin Solution by Dr. Pizzorno  http://www.thetoxinsolution.com/ Connect With the Show: Facebook Page – Everyday Pain Guide Facebook Group – Everyday Pain Forum Twitter – @noeverydaypain Music From This Episode Eric and Magill – https://ericandmagill.bandcamp.com/ Samuel Vas-Y – https://samyel.bandcamp.com The Fresh & Onlys - https://thefreshandonlys.bandcamp.com/ 

Jane's Story

What is your mindset about pain as you grow older? Do you believe that the body and the ageing process can be full of joy? Your perspective on life and coping, while keeping your sense of humor can be rewarded. In today’s episode, we delve into laughter and life experience with our guest, Alice. Alice is in her 80’s and she tells a story about expectations. Shaping expectations can play a major role in how things go and how expectations can have a huge impact on the experiences that follow. We follow her pain experiences from the choice of natural childbirth in the 1960’s to her “deteriorating” body with 5 or so joint replacements today.  The stories are all connected through laughter and positive mindset. Key Points From This Episode: Nocebic language - if you believe something is bad for you, it ends up being bad. The adverse effects of some drugs on our cognitive or brain functioning. The value of elder housing situations where young people are encouraged or incentivized to live alongside the older generation. McMaster University senior co-housing - connecting students looking for affordable housing with seniors who have a spare room. The correlation between how informed someone is about their body and how well they respond to care. Midwifery and the value of birthing center experiences where women can choose natural childbirth with a midwife. How labor pain is normal pain that isn’t related to dysfunction. How wishes are different from our expectations. Spiritual belief systems for not creating a lot of fear associated with pain. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Nocebo - https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-is-the-nocebo-effect-5451823/ List of drugs contraindicated in geriatrics -https://www.merckmanuals.com/en-ca/professional/geriatrics/drug-therapy-in-the-elderly/drug-categories-of-concern-in-the-elderly Senior Co-Housing in Ontario - https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/student-senior-university-mcmaster-housing-co-generational-1.4811115?cmp=FB_Post_News Grantly Dick-Read – Childbirth Without Fear and Natural Childbirth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grantly_Dick-Read  https://www.amazon.com/Natural-Childbirth-Grantly-Dick-Read/dp/1905177089 Flagstaff Birth and Women’s Center - https://www.flagstaffbirthcenter.com/ UW Willed Body Program: - https://www.uwmedicine.org/education/about/willed-body-program Hospital Delirium in Geriatric Medicine - https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/when-patients-suddenly-become-confused Quaker Meeting - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meeting_for_worship  Connect With the Show: Facebook Page – Everyday Pain Guide Facebook Group – Everyday Pain Forum Twitter – @noeverydaypain Music From This Episode:  Eric and Magill – https://ericandmagill.bandcamp.com/ Samuel Vas-Y – https://samyel.bandcamp.com Phil Steadman - http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Steadman/  

Alice's Story

How do we embrace the notion that our story has value? If we think that others have it worse than us, we often don’t get the care and attention we need and deserve. If we present with urgency, we risk being perceived as exaggerating. What if we embraced these pain messages and treat them as if they were a part of you? Pain IS a part of you. It’s a way to tune in and refine your body’s needs. In today’s episode, we learn about how important it is to listen to the smaller signs that come up and how to be an advocate for your health with our guest, Paige.  Paige is an acupuncturist and contemporary movement artist who explains how her pain got her attention. Paige shares her stories about how holding stress in the body is a real thing and how she’s linking emotions and pain to change her behavior with self-care. What does it look like to take yourself and your pain seriously enough to get the help that you need? Key Points From This Episode: Language for pain. Chronically ignored pain changes your brain relationship to pain. All pain has three contributing components to it: mechanical, biochemical, and emotional. Diagnosis is good, but it can really box someone in. Labels or diagnoses put a tangible concept to a potentially overwhelming situation to provide a roadmap out of it. Correlation between lower back pain and abdominal distress. SIBO - Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (under the umbrella diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome); occurrence happens usually after abdominal surgery and women over 40. Neuroscientist Candace Pert - the connection between body and mind. The psychosomatic network of proteins or neuropeptides. Alcohol use contribution to biochemical pain triggers. Self-care and the importance of emotional stress.   Links Related to This Episode: Stress Impact on the Body -https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/urban-survival/201505/5-ways-stress-hurts-your-body-and-what-do-about-it Emotions in the Body - http://candacepert.com/where-do-you-store-your-emotions/ Psychosomatic Network -  http://candacepert.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Psychosomatic-network-peptides-receptors-Pert-JI85-Pert-820-6.pdf Candace Pert PhD. - http://candacepert.com/ SIBO - https://draxe.com/sibo-symptoms/ Small Intestinal Bacteriral Overgrowth and Irritabel Bowel Syndrome - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5347643/ Featured Businesses: Peony Medicine Connect With the Show: Facebook Page – Everyday Pain Guide Facebook Group – Everyday Pain Forum Twitter – @noeverydaypain Music From This Episode:  Eric and Magill – https://ericandmagill.bandcamp.com/ Samuel Vas-Y – https://samyel.bandcamp.com Lame Drivers - https://lamedrivers.bandcamp.com 

Paige's Story

Pain can be a frightening reminder that we’re not invincible. So, how do you cope with it? Does your pain feel more manageable when you sideline it or when you confront it? Massage therapist and co-founder of SunSpace Massage in Seattle, Kellie is no stranger to bodies in discomfort, but when she started experiencing intense pain of her own, her journey to pinpoint causes and find solutions took her through a gauntlet of considerations. She speaks candidly about the intimate realities of her biochemistry, hormones, healthcare costs, and grieving connected with her pain experience. Dr. Beebe Dericks, a naturopathic physician and acupuncturist at Dericks Family Medicine, also delves more deeply into the science and impacts of hormonal and mitochondrial disruptors. When pain becomes too much to ignore, do you distract yourself from it or immerse yourself in it on the path to healing? Note: This episode contains some adult language. Key Points from this Episode: Ernest Becker’s philosophy that an unconscious fear of death drives and motivates all human actions Pain can have its roots in nonmechanical, internal biological factors When trying to pinpoint the cause(s) of pain, proximal activities may correlate, may be coincidental, or may be triggers of an already existing issue Correlations between pain, inflammation, ligament laxity, hormone fluctuations, and menstrual cycles Tracking body chemistry through menstruation, diet, sleep, stress Healthcare challenges: costs can dictate care Hormone/endocrine disruptors’ (e.g., copper IUDs) and mitochondrial disruptors’ impact on the body and natural processes Supporting optimal elimination (urine, stool, and sweat) to maintain balanced systems through detoxification Discomfort and inflammation radiating through nerves beyond the point of pain origin Psychological differences between knowing the source of pain versus not knowing Giving in fully to pain to control the experience versus distracting from pain The necessity of emotional and hands-on support in successfully handling both physical and psychological pain The physicality of expressing grief The line between being present in pain and obsessing over pain Wild animals’ physical expressions of trauma versus humans’ suppression of trauma Links Related to this Episode: Ernest Becker Foundation –  http://ernestbecker.org/ Ernest Becker, Denial of Death https://www.amazon.com/Denial-Death-Ernest-Becker/dp/0684832402 Robert Sapolsky –  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Sapolsky Robert Sapolsky, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers https://www.amazon.com/Why-Zebras-Dont-Ulcers-Third/dp/0805073698 Bowel Endometriosis –  http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S0104-42302009000500029&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en Pain and Emotions – Brain research: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn1704 Tammy Kent MSPT Holistic Pelvic Care™: http://www.wildfeminine.com/faq/ Featured Businesses: https://www.sunspace.life/ https://www.dericksfamilymedicine.com/ https://www.weeditpodcasts.com/ Radiolab podcast: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/452538884/radiolab Music from this Episode: Eric and Magill – https://ericandmagill.bandcamp.com/ Samuel Vas-Y – https://samyel.bandcamp.com Logan Whitehurst and the Junior Science Club – http://www.juniorscienceclub.com/loganarchive/ Mr. and Mrs. Smith “Pain in the ..” from Uncertain Gravity – http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Mr__Mrs_Smith/Uncertain_Gravity_1947/ 

Kellie's Story

Take a moment to scan your body from head to toe. Are there places where you feel tightness, soreness, fatigue, or pain? What messages do you think your body is sending you through these sensations? Just as importantly, are you listening to them? This episode features two guests, starting with Greg, whose journey with pain demonstrates the value in connection with our body’s physical and energetic needs.  Informed by years of martial arts practice, Greg learned to listen to his body, and found motivation to pursue alternatives for managing his pain without sacrificing his lifestyle or passions. We also hear from Michele, co-founder of a movement and healing arts studio in Seattle by the name of Shift, where you’ll find classes in T’ai Chi, Pilates, Kung Fu, and dance. She adds another perspective on tuning in to the body. Your body is talking to you throughout the day. Are you tuning in or tuning it out?  Key Points from this Episode: Tuning in to pain versus tuning pain out Interoception: the sensation of our physiological systems Listening to the body as a way to develop context for good and bad sensations The benefits of bodywork (acupuncture, massage, chiropractic) in helping us hear our bodies before, during, and after treatments Belief, optimism, and conviction in one’s abilities to overcome adversity (pain or otherwise) Pain and injury aversion leading to fear and counterproductive withdrawal from activities, particularly in adults Balancing the social and communal aspects of activities with mechanical and physical impacts There’s not one “right” or “wrong” way of performing actions, which must account for individual bodies and unique environmental circumstances Tai chi’s impact on the energetic and anatomical levels Energy “flow” through the human body: chi, kinetic, thermodynamic Trusting your own expertise about your body and what’s right for it Relief from pain as a way to re-set the nervous system response to pain  Links Related to this Episode: Assessment, Physiological Monitoring and Consequences of Inadequately Treated Acute Pain What is Interoception? Optimism and the Experience of Pain Balance Confidence and Fear of Falling: Falling in Older Adults: A Prospective Analysis The Scientific Hypothesis of an "Energy System" in the Human Body Biopsychosocial Care for Chronic Back Pain Injuries in Judo: a systematic literature review Risk of Cervical Injury in Mixed Martial Arts Acupuncture therapy: mechanism of action... Featured  Businesses:   shiftseattle.com/ weeditpodcasts.com Connect With the Show: stopeverydaypain.com facebook.com/everydaypainguide facebook.com/groups/everydaypainforum twitter.com/noeverydaypain   Music from this Episode: Eric and Magill  Samuel Vas-Y  Liam Fitzgerald and the Rainieros  

Greg's Story

When we feel pain, it can be almost impossible to take our minds off of it. But how we think about our pain and the language we use to talk about it can be extremely influential in how we experience and try to resolve it. After all, our physical bodies have a way of reflecting our psychological and emotional processes. This week’s guest, Steve, a writer and educator (among other previous careers), opens up about his chronic “standard low back thing,” but when he first experienced severe symptoms of back pain, he describes thinking he had "broken" his back and refers to feeling "disabled" during that time. In this episode, follow along with Steve’s transformation from then to now, where he strives to mentally respond to recurrences of pain with calm mindfulness, situational awareness, and practical solutions rather than letting his pain or his thoughts about it define him. Key Points from this Episode: Reevaluating whether we have to accept familiar, “standard” pain as part of our lives Optimizing our bodies’ self-repairing functions Combating low back pain through core stability and strength, which is more complex than simply “working the abs” Introducing Robin McKenzie’s system of diagnosis and treatment for specific lower back pain at the spinal level Stressing our bodies during air travel through both mechanical strain and biochemical disruptions (rest, nutrition, hydration) Fulfilling work can still involve physical tolls that may become intolerable Exploring Parker Palmer’s undivided life philosophy Comparing longer-term “balance” versus the best (and mutable) “mix” in the moment Pain tolerance Appreciating the role of language in the experience of pain Understanding different pain-coping personality types Checking in with yourself and learning what to pay attention to through mindfulness and self-knowledge Links Related to This Episode: The Everyday Pain Guide Facebook Page — https://www.facebook.com/everydaypainguide FB Group: “Everyday Pain Forum” — https://www.facebook.com/groups/everydaypainforum/ Stop Everyday Pain on Twitter — https://twitter.com/noeverydaypain IBPA — http://www.ibpa-online.org/page/MissionVision Ben Franklin awards — http://ibpabenjaminfranklinawards.com/ Steve Peha — https://www.ttms.org/steve_peha/steve_peha.htm Be a Better Writer — https://www.amazon.com/Be-Better-Writer-School-Anyone/dp/0997283106 Parker Palmer http://www.couragerenewal.org/parker/#bio Robin McKenzie — http://www.mckenzieinstitute.org/about-us/the-legend-of-the-mckenzie-method/ Herbert Benson — https://www.bensonhenryinstitute.org/about-us-dr-herbert-benson/ http://www.relaxationresponse.org/ Pain language: impact to pain experience — https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4589930/ Pain education: impact to pain experience — http://www.clinicalpainadvisor.com/painweek-2016/positive-impact-of-pain-education/article/521717/ Music from this Episode: Eric and Magill – https://ericandmagill.bandcamp.com/ Samuel Vas-Y - https://samyel.bandcamp.com/

Steve's Story

Where don’t we feel the impact of stress? It can affect the body, mind, our sleep, appetite, relationships, etc., creating a complicated (and sometimes painful) web of causes and effects. By the time we’re forced to address pain, it can be tough to identify what the underlying trigger was. Join Dr. Liou, in this lighthearted conversation with Jen about workplace stress and pain, while they take a winding path through the topics of stretching, pain medicine, biorhythms, and depression. Jen discusses her transitioning career from teacher to principal to real estate broker and the unexpected physical changes that came with each new role.  Jen shares how revelatory it was to have someone else ask the right questions about her pain, which led to constructive and practical changes in her daily routine. Who do you talk to for help uncovering and addressing the roots of your stress and pain? Key Points from this Episode: Mechanical and environmental stressors in the workplace. The value of conversation in treatment to connect the dots and set a productive course of recovery. Safe and productive stretching through muscle activation. Understanding the role of over-the-counter Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) for pain relief. The unexpected and unpredictable benefits that can arise after removing stress. Schedules that adapt to your natural biorhythms. Biorhythms and depression: the importance of finding successful motivators to avoid the cycle of depression and fatigue when the system is neuro-biochemically compromised. Appropriate responses to pain or stress are as unique as the individual feeling them. Links : Jen Jarta Real Estate - https://jjarta.kw.com/ NSAIDS and healing - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3764618/ NSAIDS and GI health - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3890944/ NSAIDS and cardiovascular health  - https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/879811#vp_1 On Stretching - http://stopeverydaypain.com/2014/06/22/stretching-pain-feels-good-good/   Music From This Episode Eric and Magill — https://ericandmagill.bandcamp.com/ Samuel Vas-Y -  https://samyel.bandcamp.com/   Follow Us: Everyday Pain Forum – https://www.facebook.com/everydaypainguide/ Everyday Pain – http://stopeverydaypain.com/ Everyday Pain Twitter – https://twitter.com/noeverydaypain  

Jen's Story

Talking to everyday people just like you, Dr. Liou takes us through uniquely crafted episodes that tell stories of pain, life and learning. These people's stories will not only give you insight into the wide variety of solutions to pain. You'll also hear about the pitfalls along the way that, in some cases, led to larger life insights, realizations and nuggets of unassuming wisdom. Sign up now, before the first episode drops! Listen for your story.  Become part of the community and you could be featured on the show.

Sneak Preview 2

Here's a show that offers meaningful connection, understanding and validation if you've ever asked yourself: "But it didn't used to hurt when I...?!" Talking to everyday people just like you, Dr. Liou takes us through uniquely crafted episodes that tell stories of pain, life and learning. These people's stories will not only give you insight into the wide variety of solutions to pain. You'll also hear about the pitfalls along the way that, in some cases, led to larger life insights, realizations and nuggets of unassuming wisdom. Sign up now, before the first episode drops! Listen for your story.  Become part of the community and you could be featured on the show.

Sneak Preview

These are frank and sometimes raw discussions with regular people just like you - sharing genuine experiences with aches and pains. Each episode is a uniquely crafted tapestry of pain, life and learning. Let these conversations about everyday pain shed light on your own situation. Let them entertain you and inspire you to see something lighthearted or poignant in the face of pain. Notice the thread of human connection and see that you are far from alone. Relief and resolution often starts with connection, understanding and validation. These people's stories will not only give you insight into the wide variety of solutions to pain. You'll also hear about the pitfalls along the way that, in some cases, led to larger life insights, realizations and nuggets of unassuming wisdom.