Being told your pain is only in your head is maddening when it’s your back that hurts. But is there more truth to this statement than we have long believed?
https://neu.fit/ (NeuFit) founder Garrett Salpeter says that pain is sometimes not an accurate depiction of the extent of an injury, but rather an overreaction by your nervous system.
At NeuFit, Garrett draws on his background in engineering and neuroscience to help athletes and other patients recover from injury, develop sustainable fitness regimens, and improve their overall health.
Garrett joins this episode of Back Talk Doc to explain why his unusual approach to treatment acknowledges the structural focus of traditional pain management, but operates within a neurological framework.
“There is this very important common thread… from early-stage rehabilitation all the way through general fitness and elite athletic performance, and that is the nervous system,” Garrett says. “It controls so many things about us: How we heal and recover from injuries, how our muscles work and move, whether we experience pain or not.”
Garrett also created a new muscle stimulation device, the Neubie, that combines the alternating current traditionally used in these devices with direct current, to maximize relief. In addition to using it with patients, he relies on it to optimize his own workouts.
Listen to this episode of Back Talk Doc to explore the intersection of neuroscience, engineering and physiology, and how it can offer a holistic approach to treating pain.
 
? Featured Experts ?Name: Garrett Salpeter
What he does: Garrett has studied engineering and neuroscience. From this unique vantage point, he leads neuromuscular therapy provider NeuFit, which is dedicated to treating athletes and patients, helping them reach their fitness goals and heal from injuries. He also hosts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-neufit-undercurrent-podcast/id1521720570 (The NeuFit Undercurrent Podcast) and is the author of https://www.amazon.com/NeuFit-Method-Unleash-Nervous-Performance-ebook/dp/B09BBRBTKM (“The NeuFit Method: Unleash the Power of the Nervous System for Faster Healing and Optimal Performance.”)
Company: https://neu.fit/ (NeuFit)
Words of wisdom: “If someone comes in because they ‘threw out their back’ …  in that really acute spasm-like state, a lot of times there’s some minor insult or something like that, but the reason that they’re in such pain and they’re so debilitated is because of the neurological overreaction.”
Connect: https://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-salpeter-a860ab4/ (LinkedIn)
 
⚓ Anchor Points ⚓Top takeaways from this Back Talk Doc episode
★    Examining your pain within a neurological framework offers advantages over a traditional approach. The traditional approach to treating pain tends to lean heavily on structural explanations: If your back hurts, there must be something physically wrong with it. Instead, focusing on your body’s response to an insult as a neurological overreaction that creates pain (without discounting the possibility of a structural issue) may be more effective.
★    The body’s protective responses to stimuli are necessary, but often an overcorrection. When Garrett and his team identify a defensive neurological reaction to an insult, they are careful not to eliminate it completely, because it serves a purpose.  Yet the response is often too far-reaching. Many times, this has to do with bad habits that a patient has developed in the way they move their bodies, so treatment is usually more a matter of recalibrating the response than getting rid of it.
★    When it comes to muscle stimulation, direct current is worth a second look. Direct current fell out of favor among pain specialists decades ago. Despite its therapeutic effectiveness, it burned and stung the skin. To address this and harness direct current’s power, Garrett developed...