#149 The Truth about Pain with Dr Monty Lyman

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We need to revolutionise our understanding of pain. Most of us hold on to the false belief that pain is a measure of tissue damage, a ‘detector’ of physical injury. But I’m speaking to Dr Monty Lyman who argues that pain is a ‘protector’ rather than a ‘detector’.

Dr Monty Lyman is a medical doctor and research fellow at the University of Oxford and his first book, The Remarkable Life of the Skin, was shortlisted for the 2019 Royal Society Science Book Prize, was a Radio 4 ‘Book of the Week’ and a Sunday Times ‘Book of the Year’.

Today, Monty and I discuss:

• What is pain really?
• His personal journey of dealing with pain from IBS
• How hypnotherapy and homoeopathy might work to reduce pain
• Why loneliness and lack of community can lead to pain
• The concept of neuroplasticity
• How movement, visualisation and education can help reduce and rewire our relationship with pain

In his new piece of work “The Painful Truth”, he beautifully presents a collection of patient stories, personal experiences and evidence base for a more nuanced understanding of pain and I highly recommend it as a read.

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