Self esteem involves endless judgment of comparing yourself to others around you. I discuss the negative impact that this concept has on us.

For more, see The Myth of Self Esteem.

The post Video: The Myth of Self Esteem first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Video: The Myth of Self Esteem appeared first on Back in Control.

I talk about how anxiety and stress can lead to certain obsessive tendencies. Some of the tools from the DOCC project are laid out, specifically those that can help break down the circuits that fuel anxious and stressful thoughts and behaviors.

For more, see Your Demons are Robots.

BF

The post Video: Anxiety and It’s Demons first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Video: Anxiety and It’s Demons appeared first on Back in Control.

I talk about how the suppression of negative thoughts associated with chronic pain can really fire up the nervous system.  Dr. Daniel Wegner from Harvard published an elegant paper in 1987 demonstratng the impossibity of trying to suppress thoughts. I’ve talked about it before in White Bears and ANTS.

BF

The post Video 16/19: “White Bears” first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Video 16/19: “White Bears” appeared first on Back in Control.

I discuss how anger is the turbocharger that keeps anxiety both covered up and fired up. Until you turn off anger you won’t be able to get a handle on your anxiety or your pain.

The post Video 15/19: Anger Fueled Anxiety-“The Highway to Hell” first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Video 15/19: Anger Fueled Anxiety-“The Highway to Hell” appeared first on Back in Control.

BF

The post Video 14/19: Chronic Pain: Pain Free is Not Only Possible, it’s Probable. first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Video 14/19: Chronic Pain: Pain Free is Not Only Possible, it’s Probable. appeared first on Back in Control.

Our brain has neurological circuits that can become memorized. In this video I discuss phantom pain, which is more the rule than the exception with amputations. This factor is a significant problem with any chronic pain situation.

The post Video: Memorizing the Circuits: Phantom Pain first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Video: Memorizing the Circuits: Phantom Pain appeared first on Back in Control.

I discuss how the brain becomes more sensitive to pain with repetition. I also introduce the first 3 “E’s” of the 5 “E’s” of chronic pain as well as the evolution of pain. The 5 “E’s” are Empathy, Evaluation, Education, Encouragement and Engagement. For more on this, check out Sensitization of the Nervous System.

BF

The post Video: Your Brain Becomes Sensitized first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Video: Your Brain Becomes Sensitized appeared first on Back in Control.

I discuss the cultural belief system about spine surgery and it’s impact on the treatment for chronic pain. It took me years to understand that performing fusions for LBP is based on unsubstantiated belief rather than hard data. I thought that surgery could always alleviate pain and felt I had an obligation to perform an operation if I could find the smallest reason. I eventually realized the only specific identifiable structural problems with matching symptoms are amenable to surgery.

The post Video: I Can Only Fix What I Can See first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Video: I Can Only Fix What I Can See appeared first on Back in Control.

I look at the source of the pain and it’s receptors in reference to back pain and one’s spine. I also discuss the difference between a structural and non-structural source of the pain. Read more about this topic in discussing structural sources of pain.

The post Video: Is Your Pain Structural or Not? first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Video: Is Your Pain Structural or Not? appeared first on Back in Control.

Aching Back? Why Surgery Is Not Indicated for Lower Back Pain, Case In Point, July 201.  (Reproduced with permission from Case In Point.)

BF

The post Video 8/19: Fusions For LBP Don’t Work first appeared on Back in Control.

The post Video 8/19: Fusions For LBP Don’t Work appeared first on Back in Control.