Live More. Struggle Less.
It's possible to change your pain experience.
Understand painThe path to pain recovery starts with education.
Pain is an experience with biological, psychological, and social factors, not just a number on the pain scale. Just treating chronic pain biomedically with pills, injections, and surgery isn't enough. We need to treat the whole person with a multidisciplinary approach using the biopsychosocial model as the standard of care. |
Accept painIt’s often the struggle with chronic pain that’s the worst part of having pain, not the pain itself.
The struggle makes it easy to become distressed and feel like a victim. To minimize the struggle, it’s helpful to come to terms with the pain as our “new normal” – accepting the pain as a part of life with no immediate magical cure. |
Manage pain
It’s easy to become preoccupied with chronic pain. To feel distressed, to give up, and become a victim just based on how much attention we give it.
The good news - it's possible to turn down the pain volume. We can train our brains to change the way we think, feel, and behave around chronic pain so we're not so worried about it. And we can learn techniques to actively self-manage the pain. |
Read my published articles. Hear my story.
- A Letter to Pain Providers: 10 Do and Don’t Tips from a Chronic Pain Patient
- We Have a Chronic Pain Problem, Not a Prescription Opioid Problem
- Are You Missing Two-Thirds of Your Potential Pain Treatment Plan?
- Five things I wish I knew earlier in my journey with chronic pain
- Hopping Off the Pain Merry-go-round
- My Time at the Mayo Clinic Pain Rehabilitation Center
- Stop Whining and More No-Nonsense Tips from a Chronic Pain Champion
- Living With Chronic Pain: ‘Suffering Is a Choice, and I Choose Not to Suffer’ (GoodRX article about my experience)
- Compass Opioid Stewardship interview - Learning to Champion Chronic Pain (Podcast episode with Dr. Don Studer and Dr. Rachael Duncan, PharmD about my experience)
- Modern Pain Care interview (Podcast episode with Dr. Mark Kargela about my experience)
Take Control
Imagine being in a car with your chronic pain. Where is the pain?
Is pain behind the steering wheel - determining where you go and what you do? Or are you driving?
You can change your pain experience and other related symptoms by taking control.
