Dr David Hanscom, a celebrated complex spinal surgeon, describes a detailed roadmap out of chronic pain without surgery. He describes a systematic self-directed framework that connects you with your healing capacity in his book “Back in Control”. He found that not only did his patient’s post-surgical outcomes improve after following his instructions and improving their sleep, diet, stress, support network and exercise regime, but many of his patient’s miraculously no longer needed surgery as their symptoms had improved so radically.
With a holistic mind-body approach you can learn to re-programme the nervous system and unlearn pain. These principles can be applied to any type of pain; back pain, neck pain, arthritis, TMD, migraines, fibromyalgia, sciatica etc.
If you have persistent pain, this book is definitely worth a read. Or book an appointment and we can have a chat about how some of these strategies may help you!
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One easy exercise that he implements with all of his clients is Expressive Writing. Write your thoughts out by hand, with no regard for legibility, grammar or punctuation, and then instantly destroy them. It allows you to become aware of your thoughts (positive or negative) and separates you from them. If you’re not a writer, try saying your thoughts out loud. By including the tactile and visual or auditory pathways of your brain, you change the neurological circuits that contribute to chronic pain. Dr Hanscom recommends to try this exercise once or twice a day for 15-30 minutes and you can start seeing results in as little as one week. Try integrating it into your daily routine, like brushing your teeth or washing your face.
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Make sure your therapist can see your case holistically.
References
Pepe, L., Milani, R., Di Trani, M., Di Folco, G., Lanna, V. and Solano, L. (2014). A more global approach to musculoskeletal pain: expressive writing as an effective adjunct to physiotherapy. Psychology, Health & Medicine, [online] 19(6), pp.687–697. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24251961/ [Accessed 21 Sep. 2021].
Oh, P.-J. and Kim, S. (2016). The Effects of Expressive Writing Interventions for Patients With Cancer: A Meta-Analysis. Oncology Nursing Forum, 43(4), pp.468–479.
