Dr. Sanjay Gupta

And when I say understand it, I mean, lean into the pain.

Like, let's say the pain is in your thigh.

Can you trace it?

Are there hotspots in the pain?

Can you identify that?

Like really, really use as many adjectives as you can.

Some people like to draw the pain, you know, so really like getting to know your pain, I think, and then understanding what makes it better, what makes it worse.

If you do have some of these things that we are not in any pejorative way referring to as baggage, depression, anxiety, fully understand that we are an integrated operating system, right?

Our whole bodies are this fantastic integrated operating system with the parallel operating system known as consciousness.

How cool is that?

But this integrated operating system, you have to really be addressing all these things in order to address chronic pain.

You are the most reliable narrator of your pain.

So embrace that role.

I think that's what pain doctors do with patients.

They treat them as an active partner, not just a passive participant.

I guess the parting words are something that I thought about a lot, which are, it doesn't have to hurt.

It requires work, but it doesn't have to hurt as long.

It doesn't have to hurt as bad.

What a pleasure.

Thanks for having me, Mel.