Back In Control Radio

People who have suffered from some sort of long term vulnerability - e.g., chronic pain - can become angry and build a "grievance story" to justify holding on to their anger. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom talks with Fred Luskin, best-selling author of Forgive for Good, about this process of victimhood, and its power to shape and distort our lives. For more information, visit: http://www.backincontrol.com/the-4-stages/stage-2-forgiveness-play/understand-the-impact-of-anger-on-your-life-2 and https://learningtoforgive.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The relationship between a doctor and patient can be a potent force for healing or a barrier to the patient getting better. In addition to providing treatment for a specific condition, the doctor plays an important role in helping guide the patient to tap into their own healing powers. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom talks with world renowned surgeon Bernie Siegel, best-selling author of Love, Medicine & Miracles. Bernie shares his thoughts and stories about the critical role a doctor-patient relationship based on understanding and compassion, as well as mutual trust and respect, plays in connecting us with our incredible capacity for healing. Bernie Siegel has touched many lives around the world. In 1978 he began talking about patient empowerment and the choice to live fully and die in peace. A retired surgeon, he speaks, writes, and runs support groups in his effort to empower patients. His best selling books have included Love, Medicine & Miracles, and The Art of Healing. For more informa

Part of healing chronic pain is deciding to move forward and then choosing the tools that will help redirect your brain's response to pain. This can include mindfulness, visualization, re-engaging with family and friends, play, and more. In this episode, Dr. David Hanscom discusses how nurturing the part of your brain that enjoys life is a learned skill. That is why it is so critical what you choose to program it with. If your default state of mind is that of being agitated and upset, that is what will evolve. As you trigger the same response in those close to you, then there is no end to this universal ping pong game. Conversely, if you choose gratitude and joy, the same phenomenon will lift you upward. There is a lot to be angry about and also much to enjoy. How will you choose to move forward? For more information, visit: http://www.backincontrol.com/moving-forward-with-your-pain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Within each of us is a powerful capacity for self-healing. This is especially true when it comes to our experience of chronic pain. Our brains turn sensory inputs and thoughts into chemical processes that can either diminish or amplify our experience of pain. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom talks with world renowned surgeon Bernie Siegel, best-selling author of Love, Medicine & Miracles. Bernie shares insights and stories from his decades long work with cancer patients. He reveals his personal discovery of our incredible capacity for healing. For more information, visit http://www.backincontrol.com and http://www.berniesiegelmd.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Part of the journey to healing chronic pain is creating new pain pathways that minimize the production of the stress hormones that trigger anxiety and pain. The old pain pathways do not go away, however, and can still be triggered from time to time. This may cause individuals who have freed themselves from chronic pain to feel they have "failed" in some way. In this episode, Dr. David Hanscom explains that it is natural (and probable) to re-experience pain. It is OK to have the negative thoughts and emotions as long as you recognize what you are doing to yourself. This awareness and acting on it (i.e., "failing well") can help establish the resilience you need whenever pain is triggered. For more information, visit: http://www.backincontrol.com/the-4-stages/stage-4-expanding-your-consciousness/fail-well   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anxiety is the body’s neurochemical reaction to a mental or physical threat. Without it you can’t survive. It’s the sensation created by elevated levels of stress chemicals. Because the unconscious brain is over a million times stronger than the conscious brain, anxiety is not subject to rational psychological interventions. In this episode, Dr. David Hanscom shows that your capacity to enjoy your life depends on your skills in minimizing your levels of stress hormones and stimulating your “play” chemicals. In essence, modern neuroscience has documented why “Laughter is the best medicine.” For more information, visit: http://www.backincontrol.com/anxiety-basics-2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The definitive step of your healing journey is giving back. Your attention is focused away from you and your troubles, and you’ll move a long ways from your pain circuits. The reason that many people dealing with chronic pain seem self-centered and self-serving is that they have been disconnected from themselves by anxiety and anger. It’s impossible to reach out to others if you are just trying to survive emotionally. In this episode, Dr. David Hanscom explains that healing doesn’t entail “seeking happiness” at every step of the way. Life isn’t that way and challenges will never stop coming at you. The key is connecting to what is, and understanding that some days are much better than others. Overcoming adversity also becomes part of your core. As you learn to “be with your pain," you’ll be able to more easily pass through “The Ring of Fire." For more information, visit: http://www.backincontrol.com/the-4-stages/stage-4-expanding-your-consciousness/give-back Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.

We all want to become better, happier people, and we work pretty hard at it. The marketing world keeps reminding us that we are not even close to our potential and holds up endless images of perfection that reinforce that idea. We are programmed into being defined by external factors. What we really mean when we say that we want to be happy is that we would like to experience less anxiety. When we stop trying to "fix" ourselves, we have more energy to experience the moment and enjoy life. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom talks about how he works with chronic pain patients to use this approach to support their own healing. For more information, go to: http://www.backincontrol.com/enjoy-your-day-today Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The solution to the opioid epidemic is to solve chronic pain. Eighty-seven percent of patients on opioids have chronic pain, which is both driven by and results in severe anxiety. The second aspect of dealing with the opioid crisis involves recognizing that what drives most people to use opioids is mental pain and secondarily the physical pain. Unrelenting anxiety is intolerable. Environmental factors, especially family dynamics, may be the single greatest factor exacerbating chronic pain. Allowing physicians to take the time to listen focuses on the real problem rather than just randomly treating symptoms. Finally, since the problem is so pervasive, the answers must be widely available and able to be implemented by anyone. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom offers a completely new approach to solving the national opioid epidemic that has captured headlines recently. He shares his unique perspective, based on his work with patients and his observations of the incentives that currently drive our

Chronic pain develops in a series of steps from our first experience of pain. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom talks about the four stages of chronic pain and details the physical and emotional characteristics of each stage. For more information, visit: http://www.backincontrol.com/four-steps-in-the-evolution-of-chronic-pain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chronic pain is a family issue. Your deepest human interactions happen at home and family members trigger each other. These powerful reactions have severe consequences. Partners and parents often end up acting in ways that they would not tolerate in their children. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom discusses how each of us has patterns of behavior, embedded in our nervous systems, that are a result of witnessing the actions of our parents. Whether you adopt or reject these patterns, they are still running your life. The behaviors play out the most strongly in new families regardless of their makeup. They originate in the unconscious part of your brain and are not solvable – especially when you are not aware of their magnitude or existence. Dr. Hanscom offers suggestions for family healing that also heal chronic pain. For more information, visit: http://www.backincontrol.com/begin-your-healing-journey-at-home   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you’re frustrated about any situation or relationship that you have no control over, you are wasting your time and destroying your quality of life. You might wish things were different, but this won't make things better. Fred Luskin, author of Forgive for Good, has called these situations the "unenforceable rules." Trying  to "fix" them generally only worsens the situation and causes more problems. Instead it is better to find strategies to move on from situaitons or relationships which you cannot control. In this episode, Dr. David Hanscom, explains how unenforceable rules affect chronic pain sufferers, and offers suggestions for becoming aware of those situations and taking steps to handle situations over which you have little or no control. For more information, go to: http://www.backincontrol.com/the-unenforceable-rules Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Chronic pain takes a terrible toll on families. People in pain often have forgotten what it’s like to have fun. They tend to become socially isolated and withdrawn, even within their own home. Much of the conversation centers around pain and medical care. It becomes tedious and frustrating because there is little that can be done to solve the problem. Additionally, it’s common for patients to lash out with their family being the closest target. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom explores this chronic pain family dynamic and discusses strategies for how to break the cycle of rage and create a family environment that supports healing. For more information, go to: http://www.backincontrol.com/do-you-like-your-family-listen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every human being has anxiety as a necessary survival trait. Every cell in the human body has evolved to survive – not to have a great time. Unfortunately humans become anxious in the face of perceived threats in addition to real ones. The result is that the hormones adrenaline and cortisol are secreted much more often than needed. These are the chemicals that create the “flight or fight response.” In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom explains how chronic pain can lead to an over-adrenalized nervous system, and a cycle of anxiety, anger and more pain. He also discusses first steps individuals with chronic pain can take to break that cycle. For more information, go to http://www.backincontrol.com/anxiety-anger-and-adrenaline-3 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode. Dr. David Hanscom talks about how his surgical decision-making became clearer when he noticed that many patients with significant structural anatomic problems improved or resolved their symptoms without surgery after engaging in a self-directed, structured care approach. He discovered that as a patient's anxiety resolves it is common for pain to abate. Crippling anxiety is a solvable problem with the correct approach. That does not include surgery. Also, after a failed surgery, another level of hope has been taken away. For more information, go to: http://www.backincontrol.com/am-i-operating-on-your-pain-or-anxiety. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many patients have been told that they have “arthritis, bulging discs, herniated discs, bone on bone, ruptured discs or degenerated discs”. They are terrified that they will become increasingly disabled and need to be especially protective of their spines. Their lifestyle may become quite limited. We know that if you view any body part as “damaged”, you’ll tend to focus on it and the sensations from that area become magnified. Then the next logical step in thinking your spine is “a disaster” is to be worried about becoming paralyzed. None of this is true. Physicians don’t know the exact source of back pain most of the time. But we actually do know that the discs between the vertebrae are not the source of chronic pain. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom reminds us that there are hundreds of thousands of spine fusions being performed annually in the U.S. on degenerated discs for back pain. The results are unpredictable and people are often worse. He warns us to be careful. A spine fusion is a ma

If you suffer from chronic pain, you can learn a new language, a language called “an enjoyable life.” Since anxiety and anger are basic survival responses, that’s where your brain is programmed to go as the default mode. These automatic responses become stronger with age and repetition. To train your brain differently requires a deliberate long-term focused effort. The first step in any new endeavor is to create a vision of where you want to go. What do you want your life to look like? Do you want to live in this state of affairs indefinitely? You can’t accomplish anything of significance until you know what it looks like and internalize it. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom shows that what you’re doing by creating and pursuing what you want is essentially reprogramming your nervous system. As you continue to work on learning the language of “an enjoyable life,” you’ll be paying less attention to the pain circuits and they will atrophy from disuse. At some tipping point, your pain and anxiety

Extensive research shows that expressive writing is effective for improving both your mental and physical health. It appears that expressing thoughts and emotions works. Why is it so effective? One theory is that it switches your thinking into a slower, more rational mode, unlike automatic fast thinking. Expressive writing is a tool that helps to calm and re-route the nervous system, and in the process, reduces or eliminates chronic pain. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom discusses his use of chronic pain with patients and explains why it is so effective in the treatment of chronic pain. For more information, go to http://www.backincontrol.com/write-and-dont-stop/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is an extreme form of anxiety. It is characterized by a relentless assault of unwelcome intrusive thoughts.You cannot control your thoughts or emotions without paying a significant price. It all sounds dismal and the general feeling about anxiety disorders, especially OCD, is that you can manage the symptoms but not generally solve these disorders. Once you understand that anxiety is the pain you are able to move past and through it. As you learn to live with uncomfortable feelings, they will lose their power over you and your pain will diminish. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom discusses how to get comfortable with uncomfortable feelings as one way to control chronic pain. For more information, go to http://www.backincontrol.com/ocd-is-no-fun-and-not-funny-extreme-mental-pain/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you noticed that when your spouse or partner is having a great day that your day is better? Conversely when he or she is having a bad day, then it takes yours down a couple of notches. It is because a similar part of your brain is being triggered. Almost uniformly, the family members or friends of my patients will roll their eyes when that question is asked. It is not that easy living with someone who is suffering from constant pain. But it can be. In this episode, spine surgeon Dr. David Hanscom discusses how discoveries about mirror neurons can be used to create a better environment in homes where a family member suffers from chronic pain.  For more information, go to http://www.backincontrol.com/mirror-neurons-family-healing/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices