Few things disrupt a person’s life more than having chronic pain, or experiencing a mind-body symptom such as IBS, or a functional neurologic disorder (FND). If you have one of these, please use the Contact Form (click "Contact Jeffrey" above, right) to get in touch, or join my mailing list to let me know of your interest.
Pain always has a mental side. Your body sends a signal to your brain, and your brain has to interpret it: is there danger? If so, your brain will give you the sensation of pain. But sometimes the brain can issue a false alarm, interpreting some benign signal as dangerous, causing you to feel pain. If that's the case, we can treat this and eliminate the pain by stopping the false alarm. The same is true for other mind-body symptoms such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional neurological disorders (FND), chronic fatigue, long covid, and others.
Research has shown that the vast majority of chronic pain is neuroplastic - neuro-: having to do with the brain and nervous system; -plastic: changeable. So by working with your nervous system we can change how your brain interprets signals it gets from the body. And that way we can eliminate your pain!
It’s very important to understand that, even if there is a mental component to your symptom, this doesn’t mean that it is not real. When I help people with chronic pain, I don’t minimize the experience of the pain or doubt that it hurts. Rather, I look for ways that your body may be expressing something on behalf of your mind. I am influenced by the work of John Sarno with back pain. My patients have had great success in overcoming back and neck pain, as well as other issues such as IBS, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, and bursitis using his techniques and theories. For a summary of his theory and TMS see this two-part interview from Medscape (Part 1; Part 2) with Dr. Sarno, which explains it very clearly.
There are also quite a few excellent videos and movies available:
- This seven-minute overview video is a great introduction.
- Though from a number of years ago, this 13-minute segment from a 20/20 episode is an excellent introduction to Dr. Sarno and his work.
- The full-length documentary "All The Rage" covers Dr. Sarno's theories, using the case of the filmmaker himself and interviews with experts and celebrities.
- Another full-length documentary, "This Might Hurt," follows a cohort of patients in Dr. Howard Schubiner's group-based treatment, which is based on Dr. Sarno's work.
- Finally, "Pain Brain" is a one-hour documentary on Pain Reprocessing Therapy, another variant of Dr. Sarno's approach and an important study that demonstrated the effectiveness of the method.
For more information about chronic pain, visit the website of the Association for the Treatment of Neuroplastic Symptoms. Other information can be found at the TMS Wiki.