When I left school, I was certain of one thing: I was done with studying. The plan was simple. Get a job, do the work, then get on with enjoying life. I became a farmer in Zimbabwe, and for a while, that felt like a future I could settle into. Then politics...
Every doctor has a moment that changes the course of their career — a moment that isn’t planned, expected, or even welcome at first. Mine arrived quietly, tucked inside a rural Canadian hospital where chronic pain patients were travelling hundreds of kilometres for...
Most people stand in their kitchen holding a hot pad in one hand and an ice pack in the other, wondering which one to use. And when you’re in pain, that confusion feels even worse. You want relief now, but knowing whether to use heat or ice for injury makes all the...
One of the most discouraging things a person can hear is that their scans look normal when they are clearly struggling. You may walk into a clinic with obvious discomfort, but when the MRI or X-ray comes back clean, the room suddenly becomes quiet. The implication —...
When people talk about faith and healing, the conversation often turns spiritual, but there’s also science behind it. Over the years of working with chronic pain patients, I’ve seen something remarkable. Those who have a sense of faith, purpose, or belief in something...
What Is Chronic Pain? Let’s start with the big question: what is chronic pain, and why doesn’t it go away? Pain is usually thought of as something simple: touch a hot stove, feel pain, pull your hand away. But that’s only part of the story. The International...
If you’ve ever had a rough night’s sleep and found yourself more sore or achy the next day, you’ve experienced the deep connection between sleep and pain. For many people living with chronic pain, this isn’t just an occasional frustration; it’s an exhausting cycle...
When summer arrives, many people living with chronic pain breathe a sigh of relief. The long, sunny days seem to promise more energy, fewer aches, and the chance to do all the activities you missed during the colder months. And in some ways, that’s true. Warm weather...
For many people, the back-to-school season comes with a burst of fresh starts: new routines, earlier mornings, and organised schedules. But if you live with ongoing pain, this transition can feel less like a clean slate and more like a juggling act with too many balls...
If your joints seem to predict the weather better than the evening news, you're not imagining things. Many people living with chronic pain notice their symptoms spike when the skies turn grey, the temperature drops, or a storm rolls in. It can feel frustrating—not...