"The one thing that pulled me out of my hole was expressive writing. Nothing really happens or changes without expressive writing." - David Hanscom

In 1990, Dr. David Hanscom, a renowned orthopedic surgeon, had his life turned upside down. He began experiencing chronic pain that made him develop 17 symptoms – including OCD, depression, migraine headaches, and many more issues. He shares that his "whole body was lit up" and nobody could help him figure out what was going on. In today's episode, he explains why 90% of symptoms in your body's physiology (how your body functions and runs), and only 10% of issues are structural. Unfortunately, the medical community tends to treat people backwards by doing structural fixes (i.e. spinal surgery) before treating the physiology, which can end up being more destructive on the body and not what it needs to heal. In 2019, he quit his orthopedic practice to go on a mission full-time to stop the aggressive trend of spinal surgery after years of researching and discovering other profound ways to heal from physical and mental pain. Tune in as he talks about what causes inflammatory markers in our body that lead to many people's pain problems today.

About Today's Guests:

Dr. David Hanscom believes that each human being has a deep drive to thrive and give back. This force is frequently compromised by chronic pain, which has been documented to have a similar impact on your quality of life as terminal cancer. Life becomes one of survival. Through his own personal ordeal, he discovered that chronic pain is curable by systematically using established medical practices in a self-directed manner. The key is connecting to your own healing capacity. He is a renowned spinal surgeon of 30 years. His revolutionary approach to treating chronic pain has helped hundreds of patients live pain-free. His pioneering book, Back in Control: A Surgeon's Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain, showed chronic pain sufferers how to quiet a turbocharged central nervous system, relieve the anxiety and depression that often accompany chronic pain, and make a full recovery. His much-awaited follow-up book, Do You Really Need Spine Surgery? Was later published in 2019. Dr. Hanscom is a frequent guest on TV and radio programs, a regular contributor to Psychology Today, and a sought-after speaker at medical conferences around the world.

Mentioned in the Episode:

• The DOC Journey App
• com
• Do You Really Need Spine Surgery? Take Control with a Surgeon's Advice by David Hanscom
• Back in Control: A Surgeon's Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain by David Hanscom