Straight Shot Health Talk

Growing up in Montana, Jean Beriault fell in love with the outdoors.  Camping, hiking, biking,...she did it all.Then she started her career in law enforcement and loved that too. (And discovered that many of the 'bad guys' weren't, necessarily, 'bad' but were instead trapped by addiction) Over time, though, she began noticing more pain...and more pain...until she ended up somewhere she never thought she would be.On high doses of opioids and unable to do the outdoor activities or the job she loved. 

Cindy’s Personal Story of Transformation Cindy’s story begins similarly to many others. One day she had a headache. Then, over the ensuing weeks and days, she experienced more headaches until, finally, they were constant. But while trying to find solutions for them…she continued to get sicker and sicker. More physicians led to more prescriptions until she was taking 19 different medications per day. More specialists led to more specialists until she was receiving 30+ injections (PER SESSION) and undergoing multiple other medical procedures. & More diagnoses (including an autoimmune disorder, a malabsorption syndrome, and an ‘incurable’ chronic pain condition.) But no answers. Until, one day, while lying in a hospital bed thinking she was going to die she asked, “But what will happen to my horses?” And that’s where the story gets interesting.

The worlds “Addiction” & “Pain” often get used in the same sentence. Sometimes it even seems people use the words interchangeably. But there is a difference and it’s important…especially if we want to have a rational discussion about improving health and healthcare. In fact, it could be argued that the misunderstanding & mistreatment of addiction...Read More »

All ‘treatments’ have side effects but while we typically think that side effects are bad they don’t have to be. However, what treatment you choose will affect which types of side effects you end up with. Interestingly, when we start understanding pain and facilitating change the side effects can be profound. (And profoundly good) More...Read More »

Positive & Negative feedback loops are found everywhere.  They’re what allow a plane to arrive at its destination (generally on time) and they also allow your body to function. However, you can also find positive and negative feedback loops at work in belief systems and THESE feedback loops & the beliefs that anchor them are...Read More »

Simple Question: What if you were only paid if your client got results from your treatment?  Or, if you’re the client, you were 100% financially responsible for any treatments you pursued? How would that change your practice (or what you are willing to pay for)? Unfortunately, in our current world of “Pain Management,”  Price-to-Value ratios...Read More »

Luckily for us, Firefighters understand Fire well. They know HOW fires are constructed but they also understand HOW fires behave. More importantly, they’ve figured out how to simplify (but not ‘dumbify’) very complex processes into easy-to-use and understand models. Unfortunately, in the ‘Pain World’ we’re not there yet.  Instead, there seems to be an ever-increasing need...Read More »

One of the more upsetting (out of the many upsetting aspects) of the ‘pain world’ is a persistent but false belief that patients who were prescribed opioid medications can’t come off of them. In fact, some doctors describe a ‘Lost Generation’ of pain patients.  They believe these patients because of the duration of time they’ve...Read More »

I almost didn’t publish this episode.  However, I am because it is important for people to understand that misinformation on pain continues to get distributed. Unfortunately, even in places where it should not be occurring. Background: A listener to Straight Shot Health asked me to listen to an episode from another ‘pain podcast.’ So I...Read More »

Here’s an analogy of the Healthcare System (at least in the United States): Imaging you’re thirsty and want a drink of water.  However, the only water available is from a single river…and that river is a raging torrent of white froth, rocks, and tumultuous waterfalls. Plus the shores of the river are rocky and steep....Read More »

Stress…stress…stress.  Everywhere you look someone is talking about “Stress Management” or the “Problem of Stress.” But they’re missing the point.  Stress, in and of itself, is NOT a bad thing! In fact, stress is necessary for a healthy life because it causes growth (in all facets of health–physical, emotional, spiritual, community, etc.) Instead, the problem...Read More »

Do you enjoy listening to the same intro over and over again for podcasts you subscribe to?  If so, I’d like to know why? I’m not sure, after the first episode or two, how that intro helps the listener? Anyway, this episode discusses why I took the intro out of this podcast (even though it...Read More »

When people optin to the Straight Shot Health email list, I ask them, “Why’d they sign up?” and, “What questions do you have?” Then I read those responses. This episode talks about some of those questions. (Lots of rambling but the last 5-10 minutes has a KEY point on when to decide aggressive interventions such...Read More »

A “lost” episode from early 2017. (This episode was created before “Thing vs. Action vs. Experience.)

A “lost” episode from 2017. Who can you trust when it comes to pain?    

  “Your pain is coming from…         “Your pain is constructed from…”

This is short Ted talk (8:02 minutes) presented by Barry Schwartz Ph.D. that I recommend everyone watch. You can find it here. While the topic itself is interesting and thought-provoking. (Quick summary: How we think about job creation and work is flawed and this has important implications to how you life and work.) It is...Read More »

  Are you thinking about back surgery or have you been told by a surgeon that back surgery “could be done”? Has someone said, “We could do surgery…If you ‘fail’ all these other therapies first…”? Or maybe you’re considering surgery because it’s “The Last Resort.” If so, then you’re going to want to listen to...Read More »

  The Healthcare system in the United States is well known as the most expensive, least beneficial, healthcare systems in the world. We spend more money and get worse results than any other industrialized country out there. This, of course, is ‘bad.’ But is it worse? Is all the cutting, poking and drugging we do...Read More »

Direct, Honest Answers (& Questions) About Pain