The Science Behind the Symptoms: Back Pain

Malissa's full recovery from years of chronic, debilitating back painIn this episode of The Science Behind the Symptoms, Howard Schubiner, MD, and Becca Kennedy, MD, discuss Malissa’s story and examine the science behind how chronic back pain, diagnosed by multiple specialists as stemming from real degenerative findings on MRI, can completely resolve without medicines, procedures, external devices or surgery.   As Malissa began searching for answers beyond what the specialists had told her and uncovered the true reasons her brain was trying to protect her, her pain began to shift.   This conversation connects the science of learned neural pathways with the courage to change relational patterns, offering evidence-based hope for anyone living with chronic pain.Sources:Brinjikji et al. MRI Findings of Disc Degeneration are More Prevalent in Adults with Low Back Pain than in Asymptomatic Controls: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2015 Dec;36(12):2394-9. doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A4498. Epub 2015 Sep 10. PMID: 26359154; PMCID: PMC7964277.Slater et al. "Sit Up Straight": Time to Re-evaluate. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther. 2019 Aug;49(8):562-564. doi: 10.2519/jospt.2019.0610. PMID: 31366294.https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/04/13/in-a-growing-share-of-u-s-marriages-husbands-and-wives-earn-about-the-same/