Can Your Pain or Symptoms Be Reversed?

Below is a list of symptoms and conditions where the nervous system plays a key role in creating or maintaining the experience, even when there isn’t ongoing injury or damage (“nociplastic” or “neuroplastic” symptoms and conditions). You might also be interested in exploring this questionnaire and learning more in my blog. 

If you are experiencing one or more of the following symptoms or have been diagnosed with a condition included in this list, there is hope for full recovery through a mind-body approach. 

Beyond this list, my personal experience and over 20 years of practicing medicine and psychotherapy have shown me over and over again that anyone and everyone can grow in ease, wellbeing, and liveliness through a mindbody approach. Even in the presence of illnesses in which the genetic or biological aspect is more prominent, we can harness the power of bioplasticity to enhance health and resiliency and live more fully. 

Curious?

Let’s explore working together. 

Chronic Persistent Pain Syndromes

  • Chronic abdominal and pelvic pain syndromes

  • Chronic tendonitis (in any joint)

  • Vulvodynia

  • Piriformis syndrome

  • Repetitive strain injury

  • Foot pain syndromes

  • Myofascial pain syndrome

  • Amplified Musculoskeletal Pain Syndrome (AMPS)

  • Fibromyalgia

  • Tension headaches

  • Back pain

  • Neck pain

  • Whiplash

  • Knee pain

  • Patellofemoral syndrome

  • Temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome

Other Symptoms / Conditions

  • Non-epileptic seizures and functional neurological disorders (FND)

  • Globus sensation (lump in the throat)

  • Chronic cough

  • Spastic dysphonia

  • Chronic hives

  • Hypersensitivity syndromes (to touch, sound, smells, foods, medications)

  • Osteoarthritis

  • Migraine attacks

  • Trigeminal Neuralgia

  • Insomnia

  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) / myalgic encephalitis (ME)

  • Paresthesias (numbness, tingling, burning)

  • Tinnitus (ringing in the ears)

  • Dizziness

  • Persistent genital arousal disorders (PGAD)

Smooth Muscle Symptoms and Autonomic Nervous System Disorders

  • Interstitial cystitis (Irritable bladder syndrome / overactive bladder)

  • Inappropriate sinus tachycardia

  • Reflex sympathetic dystrophy (Complex regional pain syndrome)

  • Irritable bowel syndrome

  • Gastritis

  • Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)

  • Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)

Post-COVID syndrome (“long COVID”)

While the causes of post-COVID syndrome are still being studied, numerous people suffering from “long COVID” (post-COVID syndrome) have experienced a significant improvement and even a fully recovery through a mindbody approach. 

You may be interested in reading the recovery stories of Paul Garner, Professor at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Director of the Centre for Evidence Synthesis in Global Health and Co-ordinating Editor of the Cochrane Infectious Diseases Group, and BBC Reporter Lucy Adams.

Interested in learning how this approach can help you find freedom from persistent symptoms linked to COVID? 

I’d love to be your partner in this healing journey.

If you’d like to explore other resources, the Positively COVID website is a great place to start.

“Mental health” conditions

By now you probably know that I consider the separation between “mental” and “physical” health to be an arbitrary one - our bodymind is one and the same. And I also understand that the lived, embodied and social experience of having symptoms in what’s considered the psychological realm, like anxiety, depression, and obsessive ideation can be very different from feeling, say, back pain or fatigue. And because of how our healthcare system is organized, you may have been given certain diagnoses or been seen by different specialists, hence the separate list ;)

If you experience any of the following symptoms, or been given any of these diagnoses, a mindbody approach can help.

  • Depression

  • Anxiety

  • Obsessive-compulsive symptoms

  • (Complex) Post Traumatic Stress

  • Sleep related struggles

  • Eating related struggles and eating disorders

  • “Body image” and struggles related to experiences of embodiment. The quotation marks are because, while the term body image can be a useful one to describe a certain lived experience, I have a hard time with labels that imply that an experience of dis-ease is individual, when the reality is we live in a culture that imposes normative body ideals, strips us of positive experiences of embodiment through numerous forms of body-based violence, and engenders patterns of oppression, hatred and contempt towards anything deviating from the norm. At the same time, we can (re)learn a more positive experience of embodiment.

I’d love to support you on your journey of bodymind (re)learning
for wellbeing and ease.

Reclaim
Your Life

from chronic pain, fatigue & unexplained symptoms

Find your path to lasting healing, and step into the freedom to do what brings you meaning & joy

Replenish
Your Practice

for pain recovery clinicians, coaches & healers

Provide deep, impactful care without sacrificing your health, joy, or stability

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The Enchanted Loom*
Weaving neural pathways for healing

I write in support of:

  • Making sense of emerging evidence beyond oversimplified takes or dogma

  • Breaking free from one-size-fits-all approaches and exploring nuanced and compassionate ways to heal and feel like yourself again

*I carry on the metaphor of “The Enchanted Loom” from pioneering neuroscientist Charles S. Sherrington