Back in Control with David Hanscom, MD

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.

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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.

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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 interventions using randomised trials and registry and cohort studies. He has also written two popular books: "Surgery, the Ultimate Placebo" (2016) and "Hippocrasy, How Doctors Are Betraying Their Oath" (2021).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 alternatives.  Their three international best-selling books, Cry of the Kalahari, The Eye of The Elephant and Secrets of The Savanna chronicle their remarkable journey.

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