The Spinal Truth

Seamus had been living with chronic pain. What started with shoulder and hip problems eventually became years of neck pain, radiating arm symptoms, headaches, nerve pain, muscle spasms, fatigue, and constant limitations in everyday life.

Along the way, he had three hip surgeries, shoulder labrum surgery, physical therapy, chiropractic care, massage, nerve blocks, injections, online programs, medications, and countless exercises. Some things provided temporary relief. Nothing solved the underlying problem. At one point, neck surgery and even nerve ablation were being discussed.

Then Seamus began working with Dr. Caleb Slater through telehealth and taking a different approach by focusing directly on the spine and progressively restoring movement and strength.

After only about five weeks and four sessions, Seamus estimates his daily pain has already improved by roughly 55–60%. He's having better days, fewer headaches, less constant nerve pain, and for the first time in years he says he can actually see a path forward.

This is not the end of his recovery. It's the halfway point.

Learn more about consultations and treatment options at thespinaltruth.com

Shoulder pain is often blamed on rotator cuff tears, bursitis, impingement, labral tears, or arthritis. But what if the painful area isn't actually where the problem begins?

In this episode of The Spinal Truth Show, Dr. Caleb Slater explains why neck and upper-back problems can create shoulder and arm symptoms, and why MRI findings can sometimes send treatment in the wrong direction. He breaks down the warning signs that suggest your shoulder pain may actually be spinal or nerve-related, including numbness and tingling, symptoms on both sides, pain that comes and goes, pain at rest, and treatment that repeatedly fails.

Caleb also shares his own experience with decades of shoulder and arm pain, a labral tear diagnosis, injections, and surgery that failed to solve the actual problem.

If you've tried physical therapy, injections, medications, or other shoulder treatments without lasting relief, it may be time to ask whether you're treating the right area.

After years of severe neck pain, frozen shoulders, a bicep tear, failed physiotherapy, injections, acupuncture, cupping, medications, and thousands of dollars spent searching for relief, Lynn believed surgery might be her only option.

She could barely turn her head, sit comfortably, drive, read a book, practice yoga, cycle, or enjoy the active life she once loved. She was told stress, inflammation, her shoulders, and multiple diagnoses were responsible, but none of the conventional treatments created lasting improvement.

Then she began using targeted spinal movements, a foam roller, and The Spinal Truth Neck Relief Course. Within weeks, she began seeing progress she had not experienced in three years. Today, she reports being approximately 70–80% better, has returned to yoga, can read again, is sleeping better, and has stopped relying on pain medication.

In this patient interview, Dr. Caleb Slater explains why treating the underlying spinal problem may be more effective than repeatedly treating symptoms with temporary solutions.

Learn more about consultations and the Neck Relief Course at thespinaltruth.com.

In this audience Q&A episode of The Spinal Truth Show, Dr. Caleb Slater answers questions about imaging, degenerative disc disease, neck pain, headaches, GI symptoms, Crohn's, bursitis, military neck, traction, TMJ, sleeping positions, and why the spine needs to move.

Dr. Slater explains why MRI and X-ray findings like degenerative changes, disc disease, labral tears, bone spurs, bursitis, and spinal arthritis are often found in people with no pain at all. He discusses when imaging is useful, why imaging can create fear, and why treating based only on a scan can lead patients down the wrong path.

This episode also covers why stretching or exercise may irritate symptoms, how pain during recovery can still mean progress, why posture is not the real answer, how spine problems may contribute to GI and Crohn's-like symptoms, why traction and passive treatments often fail, and why restoring spinal movement and strength may be the missing piece.

For consultations, telehealth sessions, and self-guided treatment courses, visit: https://thespinaltruth.com

In this episode of The Spinal Truth Show, Dr. Caleb Slater breaks down shoulder labral tears, why they are commonly found on MRI, and why a labral tear does not automatically mean it is the true cause of your shoulder pain.

Dr. Slater explains what the labrum does, why labral tears can be common even in people with no pain, and how shoulder pain, weakness, instability, clicking, numbness, tingling, or symptoms down the arm may actually be coming from the neck or nervous system.

This episode also covers Dr. Slater's own history with a labral tear diagnosis, failed traditional treatments, surgery, injections, physical therapy, and how treating the spine ultimately addressed the underlying cause. If you have been told you have a labral tear, are considering injections or surgery, or still have shoulder pain after treatment, this episode may help you think differently about what is really causing your symptoms.

For consultations, telehealth sessions, and self-guided treatment courses, visit: https://thespinaltruth.com

In this audience Q&A episode of The Spinal Truth Show, Dr. Caleb Slater answers questions about hand and finger pain, asthma-like breathing symptoms, GI flare-ups, neck stiffness during exercise, recurring disc bulges, failed injections and surgeries, degenerative disc disease, bone spurs, shoulder clicking, and chronic gastritis.

Dr. Slater explains why pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, breathing problems, digestive symptoms, and joint complaints may sometimes be connected to the spine and nervous system rather than the area where the symptoms are felt. He also discusses why imaging findings like disc bulges, degeneration, and bone spurs do not automatically identify the true cause of pain.

This episode also covers what soreness during treatment can mean, how symptoms may centralize as a nerve improves, why movement can be more effective than protecting the spine, and why repeating injections or surgery may not solve a problem when the underlying cause was never properly treated.

For consultations, telehealth sessions, and self-guided treatment courses, visit: https://thespinaltruth.com

In this special patient interview episode of The Spinal Truth Show, Dr. Caleb Slater talks with Tam, a retired nurse who had been dealing with chronic pain for years. Her symptoms included upper back pain between the shoulder blades, pain down the arm, hand symptoms in the morning, difficulty holding a coffee cup, trouble sleeping, and pain so severe that she would have to lie down multiple times while doing simple tasks like preparing dinner.

Before finding Dr. Slater, Tam had seen multiple providers, including orthopedics, rheumatology, chiropractic, massage, craniosacral therapy, and functional medicine. She was given diagnoses like fibromyalgia, inflammatory spondyloarthropathy, and psoriatic arthritis without psoriasis, and tried injections, methotrexate, biologics, prednisone, medications, supplements, and other treatments — but nothing was giving her lasting relief.

After finding The Spinal Truth online and working with Dr. Slater through telehealth, Tam began targeting her thoracic spine with specific movements and strengthening exercises. Within a few visits, she started having pain-free days, improved sleep, better function, and the ability to return to daily activities like cooking, mowing, walking, traveling, and helping others — without being controlled by pain.

This episode is for anyone who has been labeled with fibromyalgia, chronic pain, inflammatory conditions, unexplained pain, neuropathy-like symptoms, or "nothing else we can do" — and wants to hear a real patient story about what changed when the spine was finally evaluated and treated differently.

In this episode of The Spinal Truth Show, Dr. Caleb Slater breaks down fibromyalgia and why the diagnosis can be so frustrating for patients. Fibromyalgia is often described as widespread pain, fatigue, sleep problems, brain fog, headaches, dizziness, sensitivity, IBS, TMJ symptoms, pelvic pain, anxiety, and depression — but there is no definitive test that proves someone has it.

Dr. Slater explains why labels like fibromyalgia, POTS, AMPS, PPPD, IBS, TMJ disorder, and chronic regional pain syndrome can sometimes become catch-all diagnoses when the medical system does not know what else to do. Once that label is applied, patients are often told to manage symptoms instead of continuing to search for the underlying cause.

This episode explores a different possibility: that some "fibromyalgia" symptoms may actually be coming from multi-level spine problems, especially in the thoracic spine and cervical spine. Dr. Slater discusses how the nervous system supplies the body, how spine issues can create symptoms far beyond simple back or neck pain, and why restoring motion and strength may be the missing piece for some chronic pain patients.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, chronic widespread pain, unexplained fatigue, brain fog, headaches, dizziness, IBS, TMJ, or other vague chronic symptoms, this episode may help you rethink what has actually been checked — and what may still be missing.

In this episode of The Spinal Truth Show, Dr. Caleb Slater breaks down why many people diagnosed with carpal tunnel may not actually have a wrist problem at all. While true carpal tunnel involves compression of the median nerve at the wrist, many common "carpal tunnel" symptoms may actually be coming from the neck, especially when symptoms are bilateral, come and go, show up at rest, involve the pinky, or travel into the forearm, elbow, shoulder, or neck.

Dr. Slater explains how the median nerve starts in the neck, why imaging and nerve tests can be misleading, and why treatments like wrist splints, injections, nerve glides, ultrasound, laser, paraffin, stretching, and even carpal tunnel surgery often fail when the real problem is higher up the chain.

If you've been told you have carpal tunnel, or you're dealing with hand numbness, wrist pain, tingling, weakness, forearm pain, or symptoms into both hands, this episode may help you understand what's being missed, and why checking the neck first could save you from unnecessary treatment or surgery.

In this episode of The Spinal Truth Show, Dr. Caleb Slater and Chris discuss the new Chronic GI Symptoms Course and who it may be appropriate for. They break down why chronic GI issues like Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, IBS, SIBO, gastroparesis, bloating, diarrhea, food intolerance, stomach pain, and frequent bowel movements may sometimes be connected to an underlying spine or nerve issue.

Dr. Slater explains why many people are told their symptoms are purely digestive, inflammatory, dietary, or autoimmune — while their spine is rarely evaluated as part of the process. He also discusses why back pain, hip pain, groin pain, leg pain, sciatica, plantar fasciitis, or other orthopedic symptoms may be clues that these are not separate problems, but part of the same bigger issue.

The episode also covers how the GI course is structured, what movements are used, what equipment is needed, what symptoms to track, why early orthopedic changes may show you're on the right path, and why this approach is designed to check an often-missed box before moving further into long-term medications, biologics, steroids, or surgery.

Learn more about the Chronic GI Symptoms Course here: https://thespinaltruth.thinkific.com/products/courses/chronic-gi-symptoms-course