Back In Control Radio

This episode features the first of Dr. David Hanscom’s two interviews with Dr. Marc Moisi, Chief of Neurosurgery at Detroit Receiving Hospital.  Dr. Moisi shares the evolution of his views on treating chronic pain. He learned that treating pain effectively requires a multi-dimensional approach involving all the relevant specialties from the outset.  He also talks about the importance of avoiding immediate surgical decisions and focusing more on non-operative care. Visit: https://backincontrol.com for more information. Download a transcript of this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features part 3 of Dr. David Hanscom's interview with physiatrist Melvin Belsky. Dr. Belsky talks about how many healthcare providers are pursuing unnecessary and ineffective treatments, procedures and surgeries for chronic pain patients who have high ACEs (adverse childhood experience) scores. This is frequently to the patient's detriment. These providers often do not understand the role of ACEs in exacerbating chronic pain,and the much less risky and more effective ways to address chronic pain. He also cites the reluctance of many physicians to talk with their patients about adverse childhood experiences as one reason for the resistance to this approach. For more information, visit: https://backincontrol.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features part 2 of Dr. David Hanscom’s interview with pain specialist Dr. Kevin Cuccaro. Dr. Cuccaro discusses the important roles played by the patient-physician relationship and the patient’s beliefs about their pain, in their healing. He also talks about a highly successful new community based model he has developed for patient and clinician education about pain and its treatment, called the Mid-Valley Pain Alliance.  Visit: https://backincontrol.com  for more information. Download a transcript of this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features the first of Dr. David Hanscom’s two interviews with pain specialist Dr. Kevin Cuccaro.  Dr. Cuccaro discusses the multi-dimensional nature of pain.  He provides a simple tool that he uses to help patients understand how their brain constructs their experience of pain, and allows them to exercise greater control of their pain. Visit: https://backincontrol.com  for more information. Download a transcript of this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features part 2 of Dr. David Hanscom’s interview with orthopedic surgeon and researcher Dr. Ian Harris. Dr. Harris discusses the lack of evidence to support performing spine surgery as a way to relieve back pain. He offers hope that spine surgeons will change the practice of routinely performing risky spine surgeries once they become aware of the scientific data about their ineffectiveness. But he cautions that the financial incentives operating in healthcare today are a formidable barrier to overcome.  Visit: https://backincontrol.com  for more information. Download a transcript of this podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features the first of Dr. David Hanscom’s two interviews with orthopedic surgeon and researcher Dr. Ian Harris.  Dr. Harris, the author of Surgery, The Ultimate Placebo, discusses his evidence-based approach for evaluating the effectiveness of a variety of surgeries, ranging from arthroscopic knee surgery to spine surgery to the implanting of cardiac stents.  His research shows that many types of surgery are performed on patients for whom they are not effective. Visit: https://backincontrol.com  for more information. Download a transcript of this podcast. Ian Harris is a practicing orthopedic surgeon and academic based in Sydney, Australia. He is a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of New South Wales and Honorary Professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney. He has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles and achieved approximately AUD50M in grant funding. His research interests are clinical in nature and are focussed on the effectiveness of surgical in

This episode features part 2 of Dr. David Hanscom’s interview with social psychologist James Pennebaker, PhD. He discusses the relationship between stress and disease, including the sometimes counter-intuitive effects resulting from stress on the immune system. He also focuses on the impact of early trauma on our long-term health. Visit: https://backincontrol.com  for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features the first of Dr. David Hanscom’s two interviews with social psychologist James Pennebaker PhD, one of the pioneers in the study of expressive writing.  He details the evolution of his research on expressive writing, how he came to understand the power of this simple tool, and how it can positively impact our physical and mental health. Visit: https://backincontrol.com  for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features part 2 of Dr. David Hanscom’s interview with physiatrist Melvin Belsky. Dr. Belsky shares his experience working with chronic pain patients who had suffered adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the role these can play in delaying or often preventing a patient’s recovery from chronic pain.  He provides a detailed discussion about what constitutes an adverse childhood experience and the problems they often cause throughout an individual's life. Visit: https://backincontrol.com  for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode features part 3 of Dr. David Hanscom’s interview with Mark Owens, a renowned photographer, ecologist and best-selling author who underwent major spine surgery and struggled for many years with chronic pain before recovering. In this podcast, he shares his thoughts about his difficulties with the healthcare system, its affect on the quality of his life and the impact on his path to recovery.  Visit: https://backincontrol.com/watch/ to view Mark’s story on video. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This podcast episode features part 2 of Dr. David Hanscom’s interview with former patient Mark Owens, a renowned photographer, ecologist and best-selling author. In this podcast, Mark talks about his debilitating, nine-year struggle with chronic pain following spine surgery and his recovery to a fully productive life. He discusses how he employs expressive writing and other self-healing techniques to help him stay remarkably pain free.  Visit: https://backincontrol.com/media2/watch/ to view Mark’s story on video. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The episode features an interview with Mark Owens, a renowned photographer, ecologist and best selling author. In the first of a 3 part series, he talks about his early experiences in Africa and the sudden disruption of his life after a serious accident left him with severe spinal injuries and intense chronic pain. For more informaton, visit: https://backincontrol.com. Mark Owens with wife Delia, lived for nearly eight years in the Kalahari Desert  of Botswana where they pioneered wildlife research studies on desert lions, Brown hyenas and migrating antelope in an unmapped fossil river valley so remote that the animals there had never before laid eyes on modern man.  Lions literally slept with them, brown hyenas licked water from their toes while they sponge-bathed, and a leopard slept on the stoop of their tent.  From the Kalahari they traveled to The Northern Rift Valley in Zambia where they stopped elephant ivory poaching by helping villagers find small sustainable businesses and improved agriculture as a

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is the term used to describe all types of abuse, neglect, and other potentially traumatic experiences that occur to people under the age of 18. The number of types of such experiences determines an individual's ACE score. According to the CDC, adverse childhood experiences have been linked to risky health behaviors, chronic health conditions, low life potential, and early death. As the number of ACEs increases, so does the risk for these outcomes. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom discusses the relationship between a high ACEs score and the incidence and severity of chronic pain with phsiatrist Dr. Mel Belsky. Dr. Belsky talks about his experience working with patients who had debilitating chronic and his discovery that the persistence and intensity of their pain was often associated with a high ACEs score. For more information,visit: https://backincontrol.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom holds an annual Omega workshop called "Relief from Chronic Pain." In this episode he, his wife Babs and daughter Jasmine talk about the specific design of the workshop and the experience they have designed to help attendees heal from their chronic pain. Through group discussions, guided imagery, and sensorimotor exercises, individuals learn to address all the factors that affect their perception of pain.This year's workshop is June 7-9. For more information, visit: https://backincontrol.com/events/rhinebeck-ny-omega-workshop-relief-from-chronic-pain. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Relentless untreated anxiety is the core driver of destructive human behavior. It is the sensation generated by your body’s stress chemicals in response to a mental or physical threat. We hate feeling anxious and will do anything to solve or avoid this sensation. Untreated anxiety is becoming a major social and health issue. Many people in their late teens, twenties and early thirties are suffering from crippling anxiety. These individuals are (or soon will be) establishing families and taking on greater responsibility in the workplace. Yet, a large percentage of them lack resilience skills. In this important episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom discusses the need to view untreated anxiety as a serious public health problem. He shows why it’s the root cause of destructive behavior and makes a compelling case that our human survival will depend on us addressing it correctly. He believes we already have the knowledge and means to accomplish this task. For additional information, visit: http://www.backinco

In this second interview with spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom, Melissa Cady, DO, a pain specialist and anesthesiologist, talks about the principles that have shaped her patient-centered approach to treating chronic pain. These help patients leverage their body's capacity to heal. She also discusses some of the factors in our current healthcare system that may be preventing physicians from delivering more effective treatment of chronic pain to patients. For more information, go to: http://backincontrol.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When she first began treating chronic pain patients, pain specialist and anesthesiologist Melissa Cady quickly realized the traditional approaches being used by her colleagues were, for the most part, ineffective and sometimes harmful. In this interview with spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom, she talks about how she developed a more patient-centered approach with much better results. She also talks about how she is extending that treatment approach using many different modalities. For more information, go to: http://backincontrol.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In part two of the litigation interview series, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom talks with attorney John Layman about how to move forward with your healing process while you are in the  process of litigation. They share insights on how attorneys and physicians can better help their patients / clients continue on their healing journey during litigation. John is an attorney representing victims of serious personal injuries, president of the Foundation Board for Inland Northwest Hospital Service and a partner of .John G. Layman LLP since 1983. For more information, go to: http://www.backincontrol.com/the-4-stages/stage-2-forgiveness-play/choose-not-to-be-a-victim or http://www.laymanlawfirm.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The medical literature contains a number of articles showing an increased risk for a negative outcome when litigation is a factor. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom talks with attorney John Layman about the impact that litigation has on the patient's healing process, their relationship with their physician and healthcare team, and the  quality of their lives overall. John is an attorney representing victims of serious personal injuries, president of the Foundation Board for Inland Northwest Hospital Service and a partner of .John G. Layman LLP since 1983. For more information, go to: http://www.backincontrol.com/angerloss-of-control or http://www.laymanlawfirm.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anger - from chronic pain or some other source - can distort our lives, and isolate us from friends and family. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom interviews Fred Luskin, best-selling author of Forgive for Good, about the tools available to help us forgive, move past our anger and move forward with our lives. For more information, visit: http://www.backincontrol.com/the-4-stages/stage-2-forgiveness-play and https://learningtoforgive.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices