Nutrition and Persistent Pain How are nutrition and persistent pain related? We understand that to be fit and healthy we need to sleep well, exercise daily, and manage our stress with deep breathing practices or mediation. Developing healthy lifestyle choices …
Diet Modification for IC/BPS Diet modification is considered the first line of treatment for interstitial cystitis (IC)/bladder pain syndrome (BPS). Most (but not all) people with IC/BPS find that certain foods make their symptoms worse. Elimination Diet The list of …
Interstitial Cystitis (IC) and Bladder Pain Syndrome (BPS) Many use the definitions of interstitial cystitis (IC) and bladder pain syndrome (BPS) interchangeably under the umbrella of chronic urologic pain, but many would agree there are differences in the presentations of …
Catastrophization Why is it important to understand catastrophization in persistent pain? It is normal for human beings to catastrophize from time to time. Catastrophizing is a way of thinking called “cognitive distortion” where, when an event occurs, we think …
Pain Education in a Nutshell Understanding pain and what to do about it has been shown to be an effective strategy to manage persistent pain across different pain conditions. We recommend that you get the book, Explain Pain by David Butler and …
Self-Treatment Techniques for Foam Rolling Here’s a self-treatment strategy for the connective tissue and muscles: A foam roller increases blood flow to the connective tissue. The roller has the same consistency as the human touch and is a form of …
What Are My Myofascial Tender Points? Dr. Janet Travell and Dr. David Simons were the pioneers of myofascial tender (“trigger”) points. They defined a tender point as a hyper-irritable spot in a muscle that is associated with a palpable …
Connective Tissue Dysfunction Connective tissue is self-explanatory in its name. It connects things in our body. It is one of four types of tissues in the body including skin, muscle and nerve tissue. Connective tissue (CT) is the fascia, …
Laughter Humour, for the Health of it! Fun Facts About Laughter: Laughter strengthens the immune system and increases resistance to disease by activating the cells which destroy invading micro-organisms. Invading micro-organisms make us sick. Happy people get less sick! Laughter …