If you’ve ever wondered why surgery can “fix” the structure but not always fix the pain, you’re not alone.

Dr. Megan Steele and Holly Osborne explore what really influences surgical outcomes, especially for people living with chronic pain. Join them as they break down why pain isn’t purely mechanical, how your nervous system’s threat detection can shape recovery (even under anesthesia), and why scar tissue, stress, and past medical experiences can change the healing process.

You’ll also hear practical ways to prepare before surgery - like prehab, planning for the hospital experience, and using calming strategies to dial down stress - plus realistic post-op considerations many people aren’t warned about, including digestion issues, brain fog, and why early movement matters. Along the way, they share a simple framework for evaluating newer procedures and what to ask a surgeon before agreeing to an approach that may not have a long track record.

Helpful for anyone weighing surgery, supporting someone through it, or trying to make sense of why “successful” operations don’t always lead to relief.

Links to interesting things from this episode:

1. Waddell Signs

In this episode, we discuss a personal experience involving violent assault, injury, and subsequent surgeries. Listener discretion is advised. If these topics are difficult for you, you may wish to skip this episode or listen when you feel supported.

If you’ve had pain for years, you’ve probably been asked to summarize your whole story in minutes, and then felt the conversation rush straight to tests, protocols, and a “game plan.” That’s often where trust breaks, important details get missed, and you walk out feeling unseen.

Here, you’ll hear what changes when the first goal isn’t to solve everything, but to create enough safety for the real story to emerge. Holly shares what it’s like to carry a long medical history alongside trauma, shame, and the pressure to “hold it together” in clinical settings. Dr. Megan Steele explains why open-ended questions, uninterrupted storytelling, and clear validation can be the difference between symptom management and meaningful progress - especially with persistent pain.

You’ll come away with practical ways to:

1. Prepare for appointments when your history feels complicated or hard to tell
2. Ask for what you need (privacy, time, clarity) without it feeling difficult
3. Notice when a provider is building trust or performing expertise
4. Understand how trauma, stress, and beliefs can amplify pain over time
5. Think about care as a partnership, not a performance or a test you can fail

Links to interesting things from this episode:

1. Marc R. Safran, MD
2. “You Can Heal Your Life” by Louise Hay

Did you know researchers are teaching kids about pain before they experience it - and it might prevent chronic pain in adulthood?

Between 20-25% of children with acute injuries develop chronic pain, but they're not just small adults. Their brains are more plastic, more vulnerable, and remarkably more responsive to intervention. Dr. Megan Steele and Holly Osborne explore what makes pediatric pain different, why some kids get stuck in chronic pain cycles, and what parents and caregivers can do about it.

You'll learn about the two critical periods in childhood brain development (ages 2-3 and 12-13) when kids are most vulnerable to pain becoming chronic, and why hormone shifts during puberty play a bigger role than we thought. Discover how sensory sensitivity in childhood predicts widespread pain later, and why having just two caring adults outside the home can buffer kids against developing chronic pain.

Holly and Dr. Megan discuss practical strategies for parents - including how to talk about your own chronic pain with your children without passing patterns along, when to normalize pain versus when to take it seriously, and why pain literacy education in schools shows remarkable promise.

Whether you're a parent, work with children, or experienced chronic pain as a kid yourself, this conversation offers hope and actionable insights for breaking the cycle before it starts.

Links to interesting things from this episode:

1. Joshua W. Pate, website - with links to the book series mentioned by Dr. Megan
2. Adriaan Louw's website, "Why you hurt"
3. ACEs Aware - organization educating about and screening for Adverse Childhood Experiences
4. "Adolescence"