I have dealt with chronic pain for much of my adult life, and I have specialized in the treatment of people with complex, chronic pain conditions as an integrative physical therapist.

 

My chronic neck pain began when I was twenty-six, and it bothered me for fifteen years. At one point, I was scheduled for a spine fusion surgery. Luckily, my arm strength started to return a few days before, and the surgery was cancelled. 

 

After this challenge, at age forty-five, I developed a complex pain condition called interstitial cystitis (IC/BPS). My bladder was overactive and painful, my pelvic floor muscles were in knots, and my nervous system was ramped up and in overdrive. This time, in order to get better I had to stray beyond the Western-medicine boundaries that I felt so comfortable with as a physical therapist. I worked for almost a decade to heal, and I share my whole journey and everything I learned along the way in the three books of The Healing Series.

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I have been pain-free without medications for about five years. On the very rare occasion that my pain rears up again, I am able to tune in to the body-mind-spirit connection and quickly move out of discomfort. 

 

If you are dealing with chronic pain, or you care for someone who is struggling, here are some key healing concepts from Healing with Awareness.