Mastering the Psychology and Physiology of Chronic Pain In this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head Podcast,' Justine Feitelson and Dr. Dan Bates tackle effective strategies to manage mood and stress for chronic pain sufferers. They explore the impact and fundamentals of diaphragmatic breathing techniques, and share ways to integrate mindfulness and movement more effectively into daily life in different situations. This episode aims to equip patients with simple, actionable strategies th...

Managing Dysautonomia & Chronic Pain: Practical Strategies for Patients & Clinicians Join Dr. Dan Bates and Justine Feitelson in this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head,' where they delve into dysautonomia and its impacts on chronic pain patients. They discuss various symptoms, such as orthostatic intolerance, gastrointestinal issues, and urinary problems, and provide actionable conservative management strategies for both patients and clinicians. From dietary adjustments and hyd...

Join co-hosts Dr. Dan Bates and Justine Feitelson on 'It's Not In Your Head' as they tackle the complex world of sensory sensitization. In this episode, they delve into the science behind sensory sensitization, its connection to nociplastic pain, and how they lead to increasing pain and other issues. From light and sound, to touch, temperature, and more, learn about the various conservative management strategies you can implement to alleviate and cope with more intrusive symptoms through meth...

In this episode of It's Not in Your Head, Dan Bates and Justine Feitelson discuss the intricacies of chronic fatigue syndrome and treating excessive fatigue. Learn about the illness behavior network and conservative management strategies for aspects of fatigue including sleep, pain, cognitive issues and mood, with a deeper dive in the role of nutrition and how to make convenient, sustainable changes with such limited capacity. This comprehensive episode offers actionable tips and strategies f...

Understanding Central Sensitization: Effective Pain Management Strategies Join Dr. Dan and Justine, a pain coach, on this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head' podcast as they delve into the complexities of managing various aspects of chronic pain, particularly central sensitization, its causes, and various treatment strategies. You'll gain practical advice on how to identify symptoms and consequences, as well as address the neuroinflammation itself and what is driving it. They also get i...

Understanding and Managing SI Joint Dysfunction Justine and Dan delve deep into the complexities of pelvic dysfunction, focusing specifically on sacroiliac joint (SIJ) instability. This episode covers everything from symptoms, affected populations, and conservative management techniques involving movement and exercises, to more advanced procedural treatments. Tune in to learn about the importance of proper diagnosis, the different causes, get insights into useful tools like SIJ belts, ...

Understanding Pain through Political Lenses: Left, Right, and Center Approaches In this insightful episode of 'It's Not In Your Head' podcast, Dan and Justine discuss the concept of managing chronic pain through political analogies—left wing, right wing, and centrist approaches. They delve into their experiences and observations, identifying different pain patterns and the treatment methodologies that work best for them. The conversation touches on the influence of media on public perception ...

Navigating Difficult Conversations in Chronic Pain Care In this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head,' Dan and Justine discuss the intricacies of managing chronic pain, highlighting the importance of having difficult conversations between patients, caregivers, and medical providers. The episode delves into strategies for effective medical decision-making, including how to prepare for worst-case scenarios, manage communication challenges, and maintain control and clarity in complex m...

Prioritize and Execute: Managing Overwhelm in Chronic Pain In this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head' podcast, Dan and Justine discuss strategies to manage feelings of overwhelm often experienced by chronic pain patients. Using their structured pyramid of owning your care, they explain how to prioritize, execute and delegate tasks so you can take control of both medical decisions and daily aspects of managing pain to more effectively deal with complexity and decrease helplessness. Key ...

In this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head', Dan and Justine delve into the complex relationship between hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS) and central sensitization, focusing on hEDS as an example of a metabolic driver. Dan shares personal insights from his practice and elaborates on the common patterns and markers identified in patients with hEDS, how it should be diagnosed and treated, and associated challenges. Justine adds her perspective, particularly on the connection between CRP...

Understanding CRPS, Central Sensitization & Neuromodulation | Q&A with Dan and Justine In this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head,' Dan and Justine answer your questions around various aspects of complex chronic pain management, focusing on Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) and central sensitization. They delve into the Budapest criteria for diagnosing CRPS, the overlap with central sensitization, and treatments like spinal cord stimulators (SCS) and their pros and cons. Dan...

Understanding Central Sensitization and Chronic Pain Drivers | It's Not In Your Head Podcast In this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head' podcast, Dr. Dan Bates and Justine dive deep into the intricacies of neuroinflammation in chronic pain, focusing on understanding the drivers behind it. They discuss the philosophical challenges in current pain management approaches and how this limits effective communication and treatment. By breaking down central sensitization into seven key areas, t...

Strategic Empathy: Handling Chronic Pain and Invisible Illnesses In the inaugural Q&A episode of 'It's Not In Your Head,' Dan and Juz discuss strategies for managing chronic pain, addressing both patient and provider perspectives. They tackle how to respond to common misconceptions about chronic pain, offer quick ways to explain one's condition without going into detail, and share methods for recognizing personal capacity and setting boundaries. Additionally, they delve into how doc...

In this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head' podcast, Dan and Juz explore the myriad of challenges and strategies around traveling with chronic pain. They discuss pre-travel preparation, in-flight strategies, travel management, and post-travel recovery. Justine shares personal anecdotes about her recent trip to Costa Rica, highlighting practical tips and emotional aspects of managing pain while traveling. They also delve into medication management, communicating needs, and creating a tailored '...

Managing Complex Chronic Pain: Patient and Provider Strategies In this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head' podcast, Dan and Juz delve into effective strategies for managing complex chronic pain for both patients and providers. The conversation is sparked by Dan's experience at a recent patient-focused conference, where problematic suggestions about managing doctor-patient conflicts arose. This episode aims to provide more constructive tips for patients to own their care, improve communication ...

In this episode of 'It's Not In Your Head' podcast, hosts Dr. Dan Bates and Justine Feitelson discuss nociceptive pain, also known as body part pain. The episode delves into their Nociceptive Pain Algorithm, breaking down the different types of somatic pain, including mechanical, inflammatory, myofascial, bony, and vascular pain. It includes discussions on different pain management strategies from first-line to specialist referrals, the interplay of different pain types and overlapping issues...

In this Pt. 2 of sleep episode, Dan and Juz cover the conservative measures around improving your sleep, particularly if you struggle with insomnia, or painsomnia, as many pain patients refer to the challenge of falling asleep. They cover external and environmental factors including circadian rhythm, as well as internal or behavioral variables that affect our sleep quality and drive. They dive into special topics and strategies around constructing an effective wind down routine including rele...

Dan and Juz dive into the significant relationship between pain and sleep, and how it drives sensitization. They cover sleep basics, how lack of it long-term negatively impacts patients cognitively, and share a helpful analogy you can use as a patient to better explain what chronic pain feels like - especially with regards to increasing buckets of central sensitization. Dan then delves into the medical side of sleep, covering disorders including snoring, as well as various medications used to...

In this podcast episode, Dan and Juz explore the concept of pacing and give it a bit of a re-brand, going through their structure and personal examples to learn how to break down managing your timing, tasks and tolerance more effectively so you can reclaim activities and passions pain may have limited. Effective pacing includes careful planning, task batching, and managing context variables to adjust to fluctuating physical and emotional demands. Key strategies involve scheduling pressure-rel...

In this podcast episode, Dan and Juz explore a step-by-step approach to managing lower back pain. They begin with busting some significant yet persistent myths when it comes to patient recovery, and continue the conversation by identifying key patient concerns, focusing on red flags and understanding their ability to cope. For pain that is manageable and under three months in duration, they dive into the conservative treatment pathway. As pain becomes more long-lasting, they delve into approp...