The State of Health Care Podcast
Welcome to the State of Health Care Podcast! In this podcast, we interview health care professionals from different backgrounds, experiences, and expertise, in an effort to discover what's really going on in our health care system. Additionally, we also speak with patients, or those who have been dealing with short-term or chronic illness, injury, or health challenges. This podcast was started to shed light on the health care system, while simultaneously, highlighting resources and options available for you to make empowered decisions about your health care. We delve into traditional western medicine to alternative therapies to everything in between! Thanks for listening!
The State of Health Care Podcast
Tracy: Her Patient Experience
It's the final episode of season 2 and today we are chatting about my journey with chronic pain and how each path to healing is individual. In truth, healing is so much more than simply treating the physical state of the body.
Joining me as host for today is my friend and yoga instructor, @kristalane66. In this final episode, I speak to my experience with chronic pain, a neck injury that was sustained from a serious car accident almost 20 years ago. This resulted in frequent and debilitating migraines and headaches. At the same time of the accident, I was just beginning Physical Therapy school and every 2 weeks I wasn't able to function, due to this injury.
In the more traditional route, I was first prescribed a lot of medications and injections, which created their own set of serious problems, coupled with concerns about the birth control I was on at the time. I quickly realized this wasn't the healing path for me and had to look for alternative options of therapy.
I provide insight on how I manage this ongoing chronic condition. Posture, ergonomics, sleeping position and pillows, managing my stress level, self-care, and more, have allowed me to live the life I wish to create. All things aerial are a passion of mine and while initially you would believe that a neck injury would prohibit participation in aerial activities, when I went looking for additional (proper) strength training to help in my aerial classes, my neck actually began to improve.
Finally, we touch on the fact that your healing journey can't just be about physical treatment, but your mental and emotional states have to be considered as well. If you are constantly angry, upset, and disparaging of your body, the healing process will slow. You have to give yourself hope, gratitude, and love for what your body can do, and what it is still capable of.
Thank you so much for listening to another season of The State of Health Care podcast! I appreciate each and every one of you and am looking forward to Season 3, launching this fall 2024. Stay tuned and take care of yourselves!
Disclaimer: The information shared on this podcast is not a substitute for any form of professional physical health care or medical care. Listening does not constitute a doctor-patient relationship with Tracy Karas, DPT. The information provided is for inspirational and educational purposes only.