The Journey

As someone who has dealt with chronic pain for over ten years, I’ve tried just about every form of treatment under the sun.

For first few years, I didn’t have a great understanding of my body, or the reasons I was in pain.  Desperate and looking for answers, I was willing to try just about anything anyone suggested.

I’d seen multiple doctors, and they’d all made it clear they didn’t understand why I was in so much pain.  But I knew they were wrong when they said the problem was psychological.  There was something wrong with my body, not my head.

I was determined not to live the rest of my life this way, so I began to look outside of the box for answers.

I got really into “alternative health,” soaking up every word of books and articles that talked about the shortcomings of traditional medicine.

I investigated just about everything I could: energy healing, herbs, different types of bodywork.  I saw different chiropractors, with different approaches.  I tried reiki and reflexology; acupuncture, acupressure, and Chinese herbs.

I also tried more mainstream approaches to dealing with my pain—trigger point injections, different types of exercises, massage. At one point, my doctor referred me to an extremely overrated pain clinic.

Ultimately, none of these approaches turned out to be a magic bullet.  Despite everything I tried, I wasn’t able to get to the root of the problem until I met my physical therapist Tim, who introduced me to pain neurophysiology education.

However, I did learn a lot.  I ended up discovering a few things that helped me manage my pain, even if they didn’t solve the problem completely.  Those things are still in my chronic pain “toolbox” today.

I also had a few terrible experiences, particularly in the realm of “alternative medicine,” which is why I’m very skeptical of some of those approaches now.

I’m writing about my experiences now to share with you what I’ve learned, and to help you avoid some of my same mistakes.

Hope these posts are helpful!

How Not to Fall into the “Alternative Health” Trap— Some things to be aware of when you decide to try alternative medicine, to protect yourself and your wallet.

The Pain Clinic— The time my doctor got me in to a renowned pain clinic with a waiting list a mile long… and I hated it.

Be careful with chiropractors— Why I feel some chiropractors are amazing, and some are probably dangerous.

Have you ever tried yoga?— A look at how hard it is to tell people that yes, you’ve tried yoga, and no, you actually didn’t like it.

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