Ep44 - "A Firefighter Paramedic Fights Back Against Chronic Pain" With Joletta Belton

Did you know that just because you have pain in a spot, it doesn't mean there is damage there? Because pain and damage aren't necessarily correlated, different approaches can be taken to overcome it. Joletta Belton joins me on this podcast to discuss her experience with chronic pain that ended her career as a firefighter and caused her to dive deep into understanding what happened to her and how others can do the same. ABOUT JOLETTA BELTON Joletta Belton is a nature lover, bibliophile, and storyteller. She is cofounder of the Endless Possibilities Initiative, a nonprofit with a mission of empowering people with pain to live well.  She is also the creator of MyCuppaJo.com, where she makes sense of pain and healing through science and stories.  Both projects were born of her experiences living with chronic pain, pain that forced her to medically retire from her job as a firefighter paramedic, the career that had defined her.  Her desire to understand her pain led her back to graduate school, where she earned her MSc in human movement and studied pain science as her research focus.  Now Jo explores what she has discovered through the lens of her personal story in hopes of starting meaningful conversations about pain, healing, and being human that lead to better possible paths forward for all of us: patients, carers, clinicians, and researchers alike.  It is only by coming together, sharing multiple perspectives and forms of knowledge and expertise, that we can improve the way pain is studied, understood, and treated.