Learn Forensic Science

I was talking to Sammy yesterday and our conversation went something like this…

Professors Marilyn London and Tom Mauriello join Andrew Wolvin, Ph.D., to discuss how scientists assist in criminal investigations. They take a look at the lives, research, and education of criminal investigators and forensic anthropoligists to show how science is being used to solve crimes.

WHY YOU STILL HAVE BACK PAIN, DESPITE TREATMENT, AND HOW TO GET THE RESULT YOU WANT

The Proof

The overwhelming share of chronic pain is suffered by people with back pain, and yet treatment typically fails to eliminate or even reduce the level of suffering.

We waste over $12 billion on failed chronic pain programs here in Australia every year, and in the USA it is more than double that. If you add on the lost wages of the sufferer, and the cost in lost productivity to businesses, the costs run into many hundreds of billions of dollars, every year. It’s easy to imagine what this does to the health system, but of even more importance is the suffering of chronic pain patients and their families.

The experience of pain is common to almost everyone, but the thought of living in agony from day to day isn’t something most of us ever have to face. For those with back pain, or neck pain, every movement, sometimes even breathing, can bring that agony.

It is my hope that the methods described here will replace those currently being used which have little or inadequate effect. Based on our own clinical research, we know that we can achieve almost immediate relief for at least 75 per cent of people with back or neck pain. The majority of those people will achieve total elimination of their pain, even where they have suffered for many years.

In the Australian research with long-term chronic pain patients with a history of at least 2 failed pain treatments, half the participants achieved a 100 per cent elimination of pain on the first treatment. Of the remainder, a majority enjoyed over 50 per cent reduction of their pain levels, and the results were permanent with one exception, a patient who, curiously, continued her high-velocity cervical spine manipulations even though her pain increased dramatically with each visit to her chiropractor.

The research is ongoing, with more information available on the web site.

Reading this report will help you to:

** Understand the myths of back pain treatment so that it’s clear to you why your treatment hasn’t worked.

** Learn about a scientifically proven method for treating chronic back pain that has been used successfully in Australia for the past decade.

If you do decide you’d like to try the chronic pain program outlined here, it’s crucial that you first have a diagnosis of chronic pain from your doctor, so that we can ensure there isn’t any treatable underlying medical condition. With accurate diagnosis, we can then be more assured of getting the result you want.

So we stress that you should never self-diagnose, and any pain should be properly investigated by a licensed medical doctor. We also stress the importance of keeping your doctor informed of your progress.

HOW WE GOT IT SO WRONG WHEN IT CAME TO CHRONIC PAIN

Scientists and medical professionals used to have some pretty strange ideas about pain, ideas that are embarrassing when we look at them in the light of up-to-date scientific knowledge! But even though we’ve made excellent advanced in the treatment of acute pain, in contrast the treatment of chronic pain is still in the dark ages in most cases, and it’s not surprising that most back pain patients are suffering far longer than necessary, if at all!

It can be hard to understand this disparity in the research sector when we already have such good proof that chronic pain and acute pain are so different in their nature that they actually use 2 completely different nerve paths.

But it’s only really in the last decade that the difference between chronic and acute pain has become so clear, and better treatments have been developed. If you’d like to have much more detail about the shortcomings of current treatments, you can download a more comprehensive report from the official web site.

The reason why chronic pain treatments have been so worthless is that they failed to take into account that the patient’s nervous system is sub-consciously affected by non-physical issues in their environment, issues that the patient often had no control over.

Read on to see how chronic pain is produced by these non-physical factors, and what you can do about it even though willpower has nothing to do with it!

Almost all therapists have given wrong treatment based on their misunderstanding of the cause of chronic pain, even to the point of creating higher pain levels instead of reducing them.

Another very important mistake that therapists have made is where they’ve blamed the patient for creating his own pain. They haven’t been able to help the patient using the methods they believe should work, and therefore it is now conveniently the patient’s fault, and the patient must be taught to think “correctly”. This is what CBT does, and is why CBT usually fails.

We now know that those thoughts and attitudes certainly do help produce pain, but that they in turn are produced by unconscious emotional responses, over which the patient does not have direct control! So insisting that the patient use willpower and basically try to ignore their pain, could be seen as blatantly cruel.

A far more humane and effective approach (which is what you will learn about here) is to identify and deal with those emotional factors and permanently resolve them, not to try to make changes through willpower.

The third area where we didn’t so much “get it wrong” as much as just didn’t know, because the scientific tools to demonstrate this weren’t yet developed, was how the brain actually processes chronic pain. Brain imaging techniques have clearly demonstrated that the brain activity that typifies chronic pain signalling is almost identical to that created by emotional pain such as fear, anger or other emotional distress.

It seems amazing to us that until now no-one has linked this with learning theory and memory studies. If they had, they would discover that the same processes which modulate conditioned responses and memory, also appear to modulate chronic pain.

But so far in the story of development of pain programs, misunderstanding and lack of informatioin has led to a mass of programs which have as their goal teaching the patient to “cope” with their pain, rather than actually relieving it.

It’s no wonder that treatment with strong pain killers, surgery to cut nerve branches, cognitive behaviour therapy, hydrotherapy, chiropractic therapy, acupuncture and osteopathy have all proven to be woefully inadequate to help people in any permanent way with back pain.

A TREATMENT METHOD WHICH IS PROVEN TO WORK FOR BACK PAIN

Now that we no longer misunderstand the nature of chronic back pain we can stop blaming the patient, and stop treating back pain as if it were an entirely physical problem. We can instead eliminate the actual cause of your unrelenting back pain, which is the conditioned activity of your central nervous system.

In complete contrast to every other program, this chronic pain program has as its aim the complete elimination of your back pain. And it does that by working with the mechanisms which produce your pain signals, switching them off permanently so that they never recur.

This proven program is known as BMSA, or Brief, Multi-Sensory Activation therapy, and it has achieved outstanding results, even where back pain sufferers have had serious pain for many years, and even where the patient has tried and failed many other pain programs. Most people can learn to self treat very quickly and easily, and most people achieve some result from the very first treatment.

Over the last 6 years when clinical research has been carried out in Australia, we’ve come to expect that approximately 95 per cent of patients with chronic back pain will achieve total elimination of their back pain, or at least reduce it by more than half.

More information on this approach to treating chronic back pain is available from the web site, including some interesting case studies.

What’s the most common form of chronic pain on the planet? Lower back pain! And many people suffer from it for years, with no respite no matter what treatment they try.

It’s those long-term sufferers who have the most to gain from reading this article.

CHRONIC LOWER BACK PAIN REQUIRES A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACH

Back pain can be considered to be “chronic pain” when it persists over a long time without improvement, despite following treatment recommendations. The fascinating thing about chronic pain is that it has little or nothing to do with actual damage or injury.

Using x-rays of spinal damage, studies show that it’s impossible to predict who will experience pain and who won’t. Incredibly, there is no relationship between the damage and the degree of pain felt.

You may be quite shocked to hear that chronic pain is exactly the same as emotional pain, but in fact fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) shows that this is the case. Acute pain uses different nerve paths, but a map of chronic pain looks just like a map of anger, or a map of sadness.

This might sound even more hopeless but when we see true chronic pain cases with this kind of pattern we rub our hands together with delight because we know we can help! The information in this article could be the best news you’ve had for a long time!

YOUR CHRONIC BACK PAIN - 7 STEPS TO ELIMINATION

Step 1: Take out the stress. Have you ever seen a car alarm that would go off for no good reason? Maybe a slight breeze would blow and off it would go! Your nervous system can be just like that, all tightwired and ready to produce pain at the slightest provocation. By taking out the stress, you help your system to calm down and behave normally.

Step 2: Check your emotional state. Do you react to things angrily? Are you sad? Do you constantly feel frustrated? These things also hype up your nervous system and create or maintain chronic pain. But now we know how to switch these reactions off too, so you can feel calm and think a whole lot more clearly. Try the experiment at the end of this article on something that “gets to you” and you’ll see what I mean.

Step 3: It’s called social engagement. Yes, you definitely need to mix with people in a way that gives you pleasure. There’s a whole field of science devoted to the health advantages (mental and physical) that comes from being involved with people socially, so when you have pain, you especially need to pay attention to this.

Step 4: Being Active. People who don’t get enough physical activity have death rates higher than the combined rates of smoking, drinking, and unsafe sex! That’s how important physical activity is. Physical activity increases your metabolic rate and gives you energy, boosts your immune system and supports good health, and keeps your muscles strong so that they support your bones and joints properly. There’s always a way to increase activity, no matter how disabling your pain is, and no matter your movement constraints.

Step 5: Have an Interest or Hobby. When we’ve got nothing to think about except our pain, our pain gets worse. It’s as if the nervous system picks up on all the attention it’s getting and delivers more! The more you can get your focus absorbed in something else, the more you can help to trick your nervous system into shutting down the pain signalling.

Step 6: Check Co-Dependency. You might be surprised to learn that pain depends on environmental factors, and that if your brain thinks that the pain is useful in your circumstances, it may well try to keep it going! Is your pain serving any useful purpose (no matter how twisted) in your family life? Maybe not, but it’s definitely worth checking out!

Step 7: Actually treat the pain signalling directly. BMSA (Brief, Multi-Sensory Activation) is a relatively new set of techniques that quickly and easily switch off pain signalling. In clinical trials it’s proven to be highly effective for up to 100% of people with chronic pain. You’ll get an opportunity to experiment with BMSA for pain shortly!

TRY THIS BMSA EXPERIMENT

Before you try any treatment, it’s a good idea to “dip your toes in the water” and have some experience of what it’s like. Not everyone responds straight away, but many people do, and so it’s worth while going through the following steps to see what happens for you.

Take a moment to think about your pain, and make up a sentence that exactly describes the pain in your own words. This might be something like:

I have this stabbing pain just above my tailbone I have this burning pain in the middle of my lower back but a bit to the left Etc, etc, etc.

Notice that you’re describing the type of pain, and where it’s located. Now rate that pain out of 10, with 10 out of 10 being the most awful pain you could possibly imagine, and 0 out of 10 being no pain whatsoever.

The next step is to repeat that statement about a dozen times, and each time you say it you follow it with something silly (or at least something that has an emotional impact very different from the thought of the pain). As you talk out loud, you’ll be tapping all over your body (for instance 6 quick taps on your head, 6 quick taps on your chest, 6 quick taps under an arm - wherever you can reach). You might get even better results if you walk around at the same time, especially if you’re following imaginary shapes or letters on the floor.

If we take the example above “I have this deep ache near my left hip”, I’d be tapping along while saying the following sentence, for example:

“I have this deep ache near my left hip, but polka dots taste crunchy.”

You repeat this whole sentence a dozen times while you keep up the tapping process. That’s called a “bracket”. At the end of the bracket, keep focussing on the pain, and as you do that tap repeatedly on your chest while you take a deep breath through your nose and then exhale forcefully from your mouth.

Take a couple of easy breaths and then think about your pain again. Is it still the same rating? Has the pain moved? Do you notice other pain now, instead of the one you started with? What has happened with that pain?

BMSA is much more than this, of course, but this little exercise is a simple way to experience the fact that it can at least impact on your pain. Because everyone is so different, it’s impossible to predict what might happen now, whether you got an obvious effect from this or not. Some people might find their pain continues to decrease. Others will find that it comes back exactly the same or almost exactly the same. If you stick with it (see the book “The Pain Train - Time to Get Off”) you’re highly likely to get the result that you’re after.

Hovercrafts have fascinated not only scientists, it has also captured the interest of hobbyist. If you’re one of them, you might want to try your hand at designing your very own homemade hovercraft plan. The only thing is that you don’t know how or where to begin. Building a hovercraft is a neat project to do. Not only is it fun, it’s a learning process too. Especially if you plan to do this at home, you must start with a nicely prepared homemade hovercraft plan.

Any design plan tells you that there are principles applied to it. A homemade hovercraft plan must also follow this general rule of thumb. How a hovercraft works is simply by air cushion pressurized below a platform. That’s how simple the concept is. Assuming that it’s already floating, you need to put some additional power to thrust it forward. And of course, an improvised way to steer your homemade vessel should complete the design concept.

Ready-made hovercrafts can be expensive. So, many prefers to build their own at home. Also, some hovercraft stores would sell a design kit instead. It’s cheaper and it’s fun. Your homemade hovercraft plan should be something like this - a design kit.

When planning a design, keep the following items in mind:

1. Specifications for your fanning system. A vacuum cleaner or any gadget that can create air pressure such as a leaf blower can be an example to use. You will use this little machine to allow air flow. You may use improvised conduit type materials to control the direction of air. The objective is to send the flow of air below the platform.

2. Include the platform in your homemade hovercraft plan. This is because of two reasons. You need it to ride in to and you need a surface area to distribute the air coming from the fanning system. An improvised version can be made out of plywood or hard foam or fiberglass. As long as it can carry your weight and is not too heavy for the pressurized air you will create for cushion.

3. Include the flexible skirt. All hovercrafts have this. This is used to hold and limit the air beneath the platform. The effect will create the air cushion and therefore provides the lift for your vessel. In your homemade hovercraft plan, you may use heavy and thick plastic sheets. This is skirted around the platform. Specifically sized holes will be bored into the platform for air flow passage. A hovercraft cannot be a hovercraft without a skirt.

4. The propeller system must be detailed. If you have available equipment that can generate air pressure strong enough to exert air cushion and thrust for your hovercraft, use it. Label the specifications in your homemade hovercraft plan as to how this should be installed. Include the steering system as well. A simple steering for your homebuilt vessel is that of two handle bars that you can maneuver by pulling each. This should be connected to a rudder system behind the propeller.

When all of these items are in your design, you should be ready to go. Just don’t forget to put them all in your homemade hovercraft plan. Make sure it’s easy to understand. Then you’re done, start building the plan. If your plan works and works really well, you can even earn extra by selling your plan yourself.

Using a water heater timer could be the answer to your prayers. If you have been experiencing a surge in your electricity bills, start considering getting a water heater timer now. Water heaters are the highest energy-consuming devices found in your home. You could be spending up to $400 per year in electricity costs just because of water heaters!

An average water heater heats gallons of water every time, regardless of whether you use it or not. When you’re asleep or out of your home, your water heater heats water and continues to do so until you use it. This is the reason why you get high utility bills. In order for you to cut back on these costs, you can get a water heater timer.

What is a Water Heater Timer?

A water heater timer is a device that you can attach to your water heater. With the water heater timer, you can set your water heater to perform its function only when you need it.

How does this play a role in saving energy?

Most families only need hot water during showers in the mornings, and during the evening, maybe for laundry and doing the dishes. By controlling when and how often your water heater operates, you can save a huge amount of energy. You can save up to 12% of energy just by installing a water heater timer alone.

How does a water heater timer work?

All water heater timers have manual override buttons, so you can set your water heater on anytime. If you have an everyday routine on what time you usually need hot water, there are water heater timers available with up to 24 on/off settings for each day so you can fine tune your water heating schedule.

If your schedule varies with each day, you can opt for more highly developed water heater timers that come with a programmable function. A digital water heater timer provides seven-day programming that allows you to set a different schedule for each day of the week. Basically, you are in charge of setting the schedules according to your time of use. This is especially suited for those with flexible schedules who have no routine time in needing hot water.

For those with schedules varying only in the weekend, there are less expensive water heater timers available that come with a weekday and weekend schedule.

All digital timers also have a built-in backup (batteries or integral) that allows you to save your programmed schedule even when there is a power outage. Water heater timers also require minimal, if not zero maintenance since they are electronics with no moving parts.

How can I further lessen my utility bills?

Most utility companies offer a demand management program, where different rates are applied depending on the demand for electricity. During on peak hours (times when demand is high), higher rates are charged. On the other hand, lower rates are charged during off peak hours (when demand is low). If you can set your water heater timer to operate during off peak hours, you can further cut back on electricity costs.

If you want to reduce your expenses on electricity bills, consider purchasing a water heater timer. It is a very good investment since it is cost-efficient, cheap and easy to use. The best part of it is using the water heater timer for just about two to three months would save you the amount of money you used to purchase your water heater timer. It actually pays for itself! This shows how effective water heater timers are in saving you big bucks.