Unfortunately conventional treatments for chronic pain have little evidence to support their use. Some of the most common treatments - drugs, physical therapy, and surgery - are rarely more effective for long-term pain relief than a placebo.

For example, no studies have shown that surgery for back and neck pain are more effective than conservative care. And the use of opioids for chronic pain can actually lead to an increase in pain.

Finally, injection therapies for chronic back pain have not been shown to be more effective than placebo injections.

A mindbody approach treats the root cause of symptoms through a powerful mix of education, helping clients feel good in their bodies, and emotional processing. These have been proven to be extremely effective in reducing or eliminating chronic pain/symptoms.

Think of it as 'learned' chronic pain/symptoms.  

Your diagnosis - of a herniated disc, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, etc. may not be the whole story. There may be other contributing factors besides what you've been told about your symptoms. Many who have been diagnosed with these and other conditions have TMS.  

Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS), also known as Tension Myoneural Syndrome, Mindbody Syndrome, or PPD, is a reversible condition that causes physical pain and other symptoms in the body.  

TMS is not a 'structural' or 'physical problem' but rather results in physical symptoms that are generated by the brain. The brain in turn affects the nervous system and different areas of the body.  TMS pain and symptoms can arise due to a number of factors, including as a response to stress, trauma, anxiety, or other psychological factors.  

TMS is commonly responsible for pain in the back, neck, hips, ankles, knees, elbows, etc. It can also produce physical symptoms like swelling, Chronic Fatigue, or GI symptoms like IBS.  

The pain and other symptoms associated with TMS can commonly vary in intensity and location, and can range from mild to severe.  

The condition was first coined by Dr. John E. Sarno, Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU, who helped thousands of  patients have become pain free through a non-invasive Mindbody treatment.  

Note: It is important for anyone experiencing chronic pain to speak with a healthcare professional to determine the cause and appropriate treatment options. This form is not intended to diagnose TMS - only a trained mindbody physician can do that.

If you had a score of 4 or more, then this is likely to be the case. Blaming pain on a structural issue found on an MRI can often be like blaming migraines on grey hairs. One does not cause the other.    

Modern medicine has been fantastic for advancing acute treatments - open heart surgery, cancer treatment, eradicating disease, and the like. But for chronic pain/symptoms, it's been a trainwreck.

Despite medical advances, chronic pain is an epidemic:  
1. In the US, chronic pain affects more people and has a greater economic cost than heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined  
2. Rates of chronic pain are increasing 
3. Back pain is the leading global cause of disability     

And structural problems are often mis-attributed to pain:  
1. 2/3 of people without back pain have a structural 'abnormality' - like a bulging disc, disc degeneration, or arthritis (Jensen 1994)  
2. Nerve alterations from carpal tunnel syndrome are seen in 40% of people without pain (Lucire, 2003)  
3. 40% of elite athletes have partial or full rotator cuff tears and have no pain or symptoms (Connor, 2003)  

The same can be said for pain in other areas - hips, knees, neck, elbow, ankles. 

Your pain IS real. Just as all pain is real. 

The brain is able to generate any symptom in any part of the body at any time.   It does this to keep us safe.    

Pain is a protector. Pain is the brain's way of keeping you safe from harm.  But that defense mechanism can become over-sensitive. Like a car alarm that has gone off due to heavy rain.

This is especially the case if we live with a heightened level of anxiety, stress, or have experienced emotional turmoil early in life which leaves us with a hypersensitive nervous system.

This is very common amongst neuroplastic pain / TMS sufferers.

Many people have pain or symptoms that are generated by movement, activity, weather, heat, cold light, sound, certain people, foods or situations. In each case, these are triggers - not causes - of pain.    

Like Pavolv, who taught his dogs to salivate by ringing a bell, your brain learns to associate symptoms with these activities. It does so because the brain is 'neuroplastic' - meaning it can be adapted and conditioned.  

The good news is that if pain is learned, it can also be unlearned, and countless individuals have proven.

We walk you through exactly how to do this in our Pain Free Comeback Program.

The good news: If you are a Good or Excellent Canddiate for a Mindbody Intervention, as described by the questionnaire above, your symptoms are probably reversible.

The brain is neuroplastic, meaning if it has been conditioned to be in pain, it can be conditioned out of pain. We've done it ourselves, as have countless others.

There are no drugs, hands-on therapy, or physical exercises required to heal.

Instead, a shift in understanding the origin of symptoms, and addressing their root cause are needed.

Namely, believing that the symptoms are generated by the brain (not a 'weakness' or 'abnormality' in the body) and reducing fear, which keeps us trapped in the pain --> fear --> pain cycle.   Everyone heals on their own timeline and there are step-by-step ways to help with both shifts.

Countless individuals have become pain-free, returned to full physical activity, and even enjoyed activities they never dreamed they'd do as a result of this treatment methodology. 

We teach it all in our Pain Free Comeback Program, which you can learn more about here.