We notice it in our lower backs, our hips, our necks and then there’s that headache. Pain. It hurts. It aches. It pinches. All of it matters! September is Pain Awareness Month so Jenn dedicates this episode to those suffering from pain and those who know someone who suffers. Covering why typical treatments for pain are challenged and what to do instead, the focus is a multidisciplinary approach that’s biopsychosocial, just like the pain itself. To top it off, Jenn discusses the Placebo Effect and how it actually holds incredible promise. Listen now to help us end the stigma of pain and move us all forward in healing.

Outline:

• Welcome back & welcome back, Christine
• Intro today’s topic
• Sources for today’s conversation & resources for you
• Dr. Rachel Zoffness
• Kaiser Permanente
• US Pain Foundation
• Curable
• Understanding pain & the challenges in treating it
• Who experience it
• The causes
• The consequences
• Chronic vs acute pain
• Our doctors, stigma
• What’s happening now with pain treatment research
• Biopsychosocial
• Phantom limb pain, butterflies in your stomach
• Commonalities between pain-related diagnoses…trauma
• The biology of why this is the case
• ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences)
• Trauma, triggers
• Central Sensitization
• The vicious cycle of pain
• How opioids work
• Part of healing is desensitizing the brain
• Undo the stigma, undo the separation of mind & body
• Address all 3 pieces of biopsychosocial
• The way out is through, with measured, monitored exposures
• CBT & biofeedback
• Stress reduction techniques, nutrition, exercise & activity, sleep, community
• Parts of the brain involved & which parts lead
• Pain as a volume dial
• Turn Up: Fight or flight, negative emotions, focus
• Turn Down: Laughing, positive emotions, distraction/focus
• The need for habits & routines, motivation
• Detangling the back of the brain/middle of the brain
• Activating the front of the brain
• Meditation, source code meditation
• Vagus nerve toning
• Identifying & expressing emotions vs keeping them inside
• Tea Kettling
• Who we surround ourselves with & the therapeutic alliance
• Mood & thoughts
• Serotonin in the gut
• Stomach aches connected to mood
• Vagus nerve
• Why we can’t think our way out of this things FIRST
• Your ANTS (automatic negative thoughts)
• The social piece of asking for others’ perspective
• Placebo effect
• Putting it all together: Miriam Jacobson’s story as published in Huffington Post on September 10, 2021
• Final thoughts
• Curable
• US Pain Foundation
• Dr. Rachel Zoffness
• We want to hear about your  pain – https://bit.ly/step1anodunos

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Quotes:

"’Pain is a ubiquitous human phenomenon…we all deserve to understand it.’" – Jenn Trepeck

"50 million Americans endure pain every day." – Jenn Trepeck

"When doctors can’t see anything on a scan or x-ray they say ‘It’s all in your head,’ and I find it SO dismissive." – Jenn Trepeck

"All health, including pain, is biopsychosocial." – Jenn Trepeck

"One commonality between pain-related diagnoses is trauma." – Jenn Trepeck

"Pain counts! Even if it’s not crippling you or sending you to the ER, it counts." – Jenn Trepeck

"The way out of pain is through it and addressing all three elements of biopsychosocial." – Jenn Trepeck

"Cursing helps us release stress." – Jenn Trepeck

“Notice your ANTS, your Automatic Negative Thoughts.”– Jenn Trepeck

“We can reclaim control of our health and healing.” – Jenn Trepeck