Solving the Pain Puzzle with Rick Olderman, MSPT, CPT

Pain is a PAIN in our lives. But what if there was an evidence-based, surgery-free, and medicine-free pain reduction method that can revolutionize the way we treat pain? Join us for this Aging GreatFULLy power-hour of enightYOUment as we welcome Rick Olderman, MSPT, CPT – otherwise known as the “Pain Detective!”

Rick Olderman is a sports and orthopedic physical therapist who has thought-provoking insights on fixing pain, and he uses a holistic yet evidence-based strategy to solve the body’s pain mysteries. Beyond his 25 years of expertise, Rick’s approach is well known throughout the USA by providing individuals with solutions to reduce or eliminate pain in their bodies.

Rick has written the popular Fixing You® series of books — found on Amazon.com — to help people with chronic pain or injuries. Rick is on a mission to show people how to live completely pain-free without the need for medication. In a study about chronic pain conducted in 2018, it was found that out of 5 Americans, 1 is experiencing chronic pain. Pain is such a joy stealer from the best life has to offer. But medicine and surgeries can be really expensive, and sometimes, they don’t necessarily work. Some people end up living in pain their whole lives.

But Rick brings novel detective perspectives to this issue and shares the many different types of acute and chronic pain we can experience in life, as well as surprising potential culprits and even solutions to kick your pain to the curb. He is dedicated to helping people truly understand why they are having pain and then providing insightful remedies. But he wants us all to know that the pain we experience is actually acting as a messenger to alert us to take notice – and that pain is a signal that something is wrong.

His most recent book, Solving the Pain Puzzle: Cases from 25 Years as a Physical Therapist, takes a deep dive into assessing and troubleshooting pain as well as offering readers practices and modalities to live more pain free. Solving the Pain Puzzle is now available on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3Y9pnjU.

As one of the top professionals in the U.S. when it comes to understanding recurring injuries and chronic musculoskeletal pain, Rick has also created downloadable video home programs to help people solve pain from head to toe. These programs include his pioneering approach that has helped solve hundreds of cases of chronic pain at his clinic for the last 10 years. Rick wants to enhance quality of life by helping people fix their pain once and for all. To preview a few chapters of Rick’s new book, Solving the Pain Puzzle, visit his website, www.rickolderman.com, where you can order his books, find his home programs, access his blog as well as a variety of other free materials.

Thank you, amazing Aging Rebels, for listening to the Aging GreatFULLy show! We are proud to be the Listener’s Show and create this show for YOU! If you enjoy this episode, please share it with your friends and family and leave us a positive show review on your favorite platform! We are grateful and love spotlighting listener reviews on air who do! We broadcast to over 170 countries around the world on your favorite platforms! To listen, stream, connect, share, download, subscribe, visit our official host page at or https://www.spreaker.com/show/aging-greatfully-with-gerontologist-holl or to connect with host Holley Kelley visit www.HolleyKelley.com where you can find official #AgingRebels™ Merch, stream Aging GreatFULLy with Holley Kelley © and much more! Always remember, YOU rock and YOU ROLE model!

Episode Transcript

(00:07):
I used to think time was myenemy. My future wasn't looking good.
So worried about the things I couldn'tsee, I couldn't see the things I
could. I was aging, fearfully, worrying my life away, when all

(00:32):
along I should have been thankful forevery day. Finally made a friend of
time. Now you could say thatI'm Aging gratefully, Aging gratefully, broadcasting

(00:57):
across this amazing nation and spanning theverse. You're listening to Aging Gratefully.
I'm your host, Jaron Talla,just Holly Kelly, bringing you exceptional guests
and novel information to ensure you agegreat, live full, and embrace each
extraordinary day for the incredible gift itis. We broadcast on all your favorite
players brought to you all over theworld. Welcome to Aging Gratefully, most

(01:19):
amazing listeners, So happy you're joiningthe show Today. We have another power
hour of enlighten you meant and I'mso excited to spend this time with each
of you. Thank you for embracingour messages and choosing to spend one of
your one hundred and sixty eight hoursa week with us. So grateful that
you do. And if you enjoythe content we're sharing with you. We
cherish you taking a moment and leavingus a positive show review on Apple Podcasts,

(01:42):
Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio,or wherever you take in our messages.
We so appreciate when you do,and we love it when you spotlight
a specific episode and tell the gueststhat we have on the show how much
you enjoyed the content that they shared. I love it when you do that
grateful So speaking of gratitude, appreciationand you out there makes me smile,

(02:07):
It just does. It makes mesmile. So would that let's strike our
signature, pose your grin fest smilesacross the miles and kick off that smiling
vandemic. Having a hard time talkingbecause of my smile. So wear a
smile and share a smile and feelthe magic happen. Now that's how we

(02:28):
start things around here. So todayI want us to focus on an important
topic, a topic that may impactyou, someone in your family, or
even someone you know. It's notonly important, but it can be a
happiness robber that raids life experiences.I'm talking about a four letter word.

(02:50):
I know the potty mouths that weare here on this show. This four
letter word is in a league ofall its own. What were you thinking?
I'm talking about a pain? Anyway, Pain can impact us throughout life.
It can be a short term visitoror a chronic residence squatter. Either
way, it's no fun to bea toast from that crick in your neck

(03:13):
arthritis from that childhood trauma. Well, it's formidable impact. And besides,
by doing so, you may createmore pain. Pain can show up out
of nowhere, or it can feellike it has no end. But pain
can also be insightful, sounding thepain alarm that something is a miss and
prompt us to see a doctor todiscover its source. In this situation,

(03:34):
can pain be considered our ally creatingawareness that something's just not right. Pain
can be a mystery, and allmysteries usually end up having a good detective
on the case to solve the crypticclues. Let's face it, if we
don't feel good, we don't feellike doing the things we love and aspire
to do, and feeling like painhas no ending can definitely lead to depression,

(04:00):
melancholy and impact our quality of life. But if pain could speak,
wait, wait, maybe it does. I made an acronym to echo the
message of pain. Pain announces importantnews, but that doesn't mean we want
to tune into the pain channel,right, But what news is your pain

(04:20):
telling you? More importantly, whatcan you do with this pain intelligence?
It's sharing, which brings us tothis week's Aging Gratefully alphabet suit for the
psyche. Pain is your body's voice. Listen to your body. That's by
Pete Egoskew. You'd love to goon that hike, take that cruise,

(04:41):
do this thing or that thing ifit wasn't for pain. Pain can truly
ruin the best of plans for livinglife forward with vigor and vitality. But
don't lose hope. Aging rebels wedon't want anyone overcome or inundated with pain.
Sometimes we just haven't yet discovered thatsecret potion for heal. So this
week's Aging Gratefully show dedication is tothe word hope. I like the acronym

(05:05):
hold on pain ends. Hope isa noun, and it means a feeling
of expectation and desire for a certainthing to happen, want something to happen
or be the case. And Iwant each person listening to embrace the spirit
of hope because otherwise we surrender tothe circumstance instead of welcoming new possibilities.

(05:28):
So what if you could eliminate painnaturally? What if you could kick pain
to the ass without surgery or medication? What if you could experience and live
a pain free life. I wantthe answers to these what ifs, and
I know you do to aging rebels, So I'm excited to bring you today's

(05:48):
special guests. Who has been helpingpeople with chronic pain achieve a pain free,
amazing life for over two decades.He says, your pain is a
puzzle, and that puzzle to besolved. I believe he's just the right
detective on the case. Rick Oldermanis a sports and orthopedic physical therapist with
more than twenty five years experience thatspecializes in helping people with chronic pain experience

(06:14):
a pain free life. Rick haswritten the popular Fixing You series of books
found on Amazon dot com to helppeople with chronic pain and injuries. More
recently, Rick has created downloadable videohome programs to help people solve pain from
head to toe. These programs includehis pioneering approach that has helped solve hundreds

(06:34):
of cases of chronic pain. Athis clinic for ten years. Rick has
a new book, Solving the Puzzlecoming out later I would say late spring,
and has posted a few chapters fromthat book on his website, where
you can also pre order the bookor order it depending on when you're doing
it at www dot Ricolderman dot comthat's O. L D E R M

(06:59):
A n dot com, where youcan find some of his home programs get
this amazing book, as well asother free content. Rick is one of
the top professionals in the US whenit comes to understanding recurring injuries and chronic
muscos skeletal pain. He wants toenhance quality of life by helping people fix
their pain once and for all.And today he's here to help us understand

(07:24):
and solve our pain. Mysteries.So excited to welcome you, Rick Olderman
to the Asian Gratefully Show. Welcometo the show. Thanks so much,
Holly, I'm excited to be here. We're so excited to have you.
So you love a great mystery,Oh, I certainly do. In fact
that the introduction to my book,I cite Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes Mystery because
I love his mysteries. And yeah, nothing gets me going like a good

(07:47):
mystery. Yes, I loved that. When I was reading that, I
was like, this is the coolestbecause pain is a mystery, and of
course you brought the King of mysteriesinto it. Pain is kind of like
a puzzle to solve for not onlythose experiencing it, but also practitioners like
yourself, attempting to determine its sourceand remedy it. Oh. Yes,

(08:11):
In fact, it was my failureas a physical therapist early, very early
in my career that led me downthis road, because it was then that
I realized, oh my gosh,I don't have the tools to solve chronic
pain. Yeah, acute pain,sure, but not chronic pain. It's
a different kind of animal, andthat's what's led me on this journey.
Can you define for listeners the differencebetween acute pain and chronic pain? Yeah,

(08:35):
someone in there, in their wisdom, many years ago, said that
anything less than three months is acutepain and anything greater than three months is
chronic pain. So why did theysay that, I don't know. So
if your listeners have pain that's twomonths in three weeks, I'm sorry you
don't have chronic pain yet, It'sstill acute pain, so none of this

(08:56):
information applies. No, I'm justjoking. Yeah, yeah, A lot
of people live with a chronic painand it really impedes their life fulfillment,
their quality of life, their demeanor, their perspective. Literally, it sabotages
their mind, body, and soulfrom every direction. Absolutely, and it

(09:18):
might be helpful for those people toreframe their pain as instead of that being
this different class of pain, thinkof it as a chronically occurring acute issue
that hasn't been solved yet. Ifyou think about that, then it opens
the door to thinking, oh,maybe I can then solve this, because
chronic pain sounds scary for a lotof people, but it's not. It's

(09:41):
just a misunderstanding. Yes, Ithink that's so important to not give up,
to maintain hope that you can solvethe mystery of pain, because we
see this where people suffer from migrainsmyself included, where you can spend a
lifetime chasing a potential remedy and thenyou know, fifty something years later you

(10:03):
might say, oh, my goodness, this is it. I wish I
would have had this thirty years ago. So we never know when the right
anecdote will walk into our lives andprovide relief for us. So you talk
about pain from so many different directions, but why do medical providers seem to
struggle in solving chronic nagging pain?I mean because a lot of them might

(10:26):
say, well, you know,welcome to getting older. Yeah. So
a lot of this has to dowith how we're trained as medical providers.
So we are trained at least asphysical therapists and largely as doctors too,
that we have a thousand tests todetermine exactly which tissue is damaged or which

(10:48):
tissue is hurting. We have Xray scans, we have orthopedic tests,
but we have zero tests that tellus why that tissue is damaged. And
so when we're trained in physical therapyschool, we're trained to understand and identify
these tissues and treat those tissues.But with chronic pain, the source of

(11:11):
that irritation to that tissue is oftenfurther away, and that's why it hasn't
been discovered yet. I refer toour training as a component thinking approach,
where we're breaking down the body intothese components and we solve those little component
pieces. But when you're dealing withchronic pain, unity systems thinking approach,

(11:31):
which is to understand how everything fitstogether as a system and how something farther
away is influencing that tissue. We'renot trained to think that way in medicine,
and largely it's because of the goldstandard in medicine is that everything must
be evidence based in in order forresearch to be generated on solutions, we
have to have one thing that wecan isolate from the body, test that

(11:52):
one thing and then say whether thatis has occurred or not occurred. But
with our body works as a system, you can't isolate, say a particular
muscle in the back and say,okay, now what it is exactly this
muscle doing because everything else is influencingthat muscle. So systems research is difficult

(12:13):
to find and generate. Yes,and I really, really firsthand have experienced
this. I appreciate so much thatyou are speaking to this. It also
is super interesting and only amplifies thispain mystery, saga dynamic that we're talking
about. But we think that painis where we feel it, when in

(12:37):
fact the root cause of the paincan be somewhere else. It's super interesting.
I've experienced myself, and it onlyamplifies the pain mystery saga, though
that dynamic makes this detective work evenmore challenging. Yeah, and again,
I mean, you're absolutely right.We're very good at solving that pain.

(13:01):
If the pain was only only hadto do with that damaged tissue, we
would solve that in medicine, youknow, one hundred times over. We're
really good at that. But becauseyour pain has been lasting, it means
that there is something further away.For instance, your migraines that you mentioned
earlier, Holly, the primary issuecausing most chronic migraine issues is actually the

(13:22):
shoulder blades, and we can gointo that why that is if you want.
But you know, that's something that'sa place that if any of you
are listening out there have had migraines, probably none of your practitioners have ever
looked at your shoulder blades as thesource of the problem. I believe that.
And yes, so, I mean, I think it's interesting for us

(13:43):
to track down the I guess theroute that the pain is traveling and radiating
from. So spoiler alert, youfind walking to be something very and it
can lead to other things that wehave no idea how that can manifest.

(14:07):
You taught Sally to forego inexpensive,well expensive shoe inserts that so many people
rely on. We love those things, all cushy on our feet. But
instead you taught her to walk better. And I was like, whoa walking?
We've e been doing this since wewere you know youngsters. That sound

(14:30):
this interesting, Yeah, but wehaven't done this how we're doing it since
we were youngsters. So if youwatch a youngster walk, how many youngsters,
first of all, do you seein tennis shoes with thick soles on.
They're usually in the barefoot running around, and you'll see that they are
moving much differently than you, asan adult or moving. And so an

(14:52):
easy way to feel this in yourselfis just go out for a twenty foot
walk on your sidewalk without your shoeson, in bare feet and feel what
that feels like. And then walkwith your tennis shoes on, and you'll
notice that you walk much differently withyour shoes on than with your shoes off
because of all of the protection shoesoffer. But those well nice for your

(15:16):
feet, they start causing damage upthe chain up into your back and hips
too. And here we are withthat dynamic of the root cause, you
know, radiating somewhere else. Sointeresting. I love that you focus on
pain. This is so important.On the other side of break, I
was hoping that you can talk tothe point that our daily habits cause and

(15:39):
often fix our pain, much likewalking. But I'm sure there's a lot
of other examples that you have fromlisteners. Oh yeah, I'm happy to
take your listeners through a back paintest right now if they want to see
and show how their habits are causingtheir back pain right now. Okay,
awesome, So don't go anywhere.On the other side of break, we're
doing this back pain analysis, soawesome with Rick Olderman. So I don't

(16:04):
go anywhere, because this fantastic conversationwill continue today. We are so grateful
to be with Rick Olderman talking allthings how pain. Well, it is
a pain, but it also offersimportant insight and what we can do with
that info to thwart pain is reallyimportant. He's kind of a pain detective

(16:25):
and solves the pain puzzle. Youcan learn more about him by visiting him
at www dot ric Olderman dot comand check out what he's got going on
there. So much there, includingsome free materials that you'll so enjoy.
By the way, I know youout there love our show's theme song for
new listeners, that's Jim be LoftAging Gratefully. You can find that on
iTunes and Amazon Music in his albumDreams I Left in Pockets. So go

(16:49):
give Jim some Aging Gratefully love.Let him know how much you appreciate that
song, Aging Gratefully. Get theentire album. You'll love it. And
I invite you to check his workoutat market music dot com. He's been
a guest a couple of times onthe show. He's written books, he's
a world renowned an incredibly talented musician. It is you, the incredible listener,
and our amazing guests like we havetoday that have made us a top

(17:11):
show on aging worldwide. And ifyou liked this episode, please leave us
a show review on your favorite platform. We cherish them so much, in
love recognizing our listeners who do.And it's time for me to tell you
my truth, and that is thatyou rock and you role model and I'm
grateful for each of you. I'myour host, youarontologists, Holly Kelly,
and We'll be right back. Hi. My name is Brendon W. And

(17:41):
I am author of book called RelationshipAre you sure you what one? This
is definitely a different look on relationship. I have just been on the Aging
Gratefully show with Holly Kelly and ohmy god, what a gift, what
a show. I'm grateful and hey, if you could make some different choices
today in your live we would that'dbe luck. Sunrises and Sunsets Final Affair

(18:11):
is Forged with flair, finesse,and Functionality is a delightful book for every
adult of any age and any stage. This multi award winning book, written
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your personal affairs and advanced care planning. Readers are calling it transformative, life
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(18:37):
on Amazon and most bookstores. Authorautographed copies aren't available at Sunrises and sunsetsbook
dot com, where you can subscribe, register for a workshop, and more.

(19:00):
Hi. This is Matt Muline.I was a recent guest on the
Aging Gratefully podcast with Holly Kelly.Holly's an exceptional host and she led us
through a really dynamic conversation. Wewent into great depth and her compassionate style
made for a really fun and informativediscussion. Our episode is going to help
everyone feel just a little bit betterprepared for the challenges and emotions that become
front and center during the empty nesttransition, and make sure that you stay

(19:23):
tuned to learn about Holly's mutual lovefor Taco Bell. So please say take
some time and listen to this andall of Holly's great content on Aging Gratefully.
Thank you so much, best listenersin the world. Welcome back to
Aging Gratefully. I'm your host,Jaron telogist Holly Kelly, here today with

(19:45):
our amazing guest Rick Olderman, who, in my opinion is kind of a
pain detective of sorts as for adecade or more. Actually, he's been
tackling and creating programs to solve ina rat Kate head to toe pain and
allowing for pain free living for somany people. I know that he's been

(20:06):
that rock star for so many Sobefore we resume our conversation, I would
like to give this week's listener appreciationshout out to a listener who sent an
enkind message to me and said,Aging Gratefully is such an inspiring show.
And it literally makes me happy everytime I listen. Thank you, Hollywood.
I love what you're doing well,so thank you. I appreciate that

(20:26):
when you send me direct messages andtweet to me and give a show reviews,
it means so much, and itmakes us realize that the work that
we're putting out there is making adifference in your life, so we cherish
it. And you know what elsewe appreciate is today's guest. I would
like you to visit him at wwwdot Ric Olderman dot com, where you

(20:48):
can learn more about his life enhancingwork in so many areas, including his
popular Fixing You series of books onAmazon, downloadable video home programs, sharing
his pioneering approach towards pain free livingand improved quality of life. We all
definitely want this, and you canalso enjoy a free a few free chapters

(21:12):
of his latest upcoming book, LateSpring. You can order it or preorder
it depending on where you're at withthat and listening to this show Solving the
Pain Puzzle. So definitely an amazingwork that he's created, and you'll so
enjoy the stories that he has inthere. But it's so entertaining, educational

(21:34):
and inspiring and it gives you hopeon your pain journey. So I'd love
for you to get that book Solvingthe Pain Puzzle. All right, you
promised listeners a back pain. Somany people suffer from back pain. Absolutely,
it's one of the most common problems. And I believe it's one of
the most common problems, Polly,because it's the most commonly misunderstood problems.

(21:57):
So wow, well I'll help yourlisteners understand their back pain right now.
So it's a really simple test.So first of all, there's gonna be
two parts to it. One isI'm going to ask everyone to lie down
on your back with your legs straight. You can do it on the floor,
you can do it on your couch, you can do it on your
bed, whatever's most comfortable. Justdon't do it driving there you go.

(22:18):
Yeah, And then a firmer surfaceis generally a better surface to lie down
on because it gives you more inputinto your body. Okay, So now
you're all lying down on your backswith your legs straight, and you can
even put your hand underneath your lowback if you want to. And I
want you to feel the tension orthe space that has been created in your

(22:38):
lower back area. Get a sensefor whether your back feels good in this
position. Now, I'm going toask you to bend your knees so your
feet are flat on the ground.And if you don't like that, then
go ahead and hug your knees toyour chest if you prefer that. So
and again, you can reach backunderneath your low back and feel the space
between your back and the floor,and you'll notice that your back is flatter

(22:59):
to the floor and your knees arebent. So of you listening will say
that your back feels a lot betterwith your knees bent then with your legs
straight. And the easy solution,the easy conclusion to come to, would
be that, oh, it's becausemy back is flatter. Well, that's
only part of the truth. Sothe second part of this test now is

(23:19):
that I'm going to ask everyone tostand up for the next two or three
minutes and listen to Holly's podcast.And while you're standing there, I want
you to notice that your knees,whether your knees are locked back in a
straight position or not. Okay,so, and if they are locked back
yet, they probably would be ifyou stood here for three to four minutes

(23:41):
and then your knees would gradually migrateback and lock out in the back there.
So let's go ahead and just lockthem either way, We're gonna lock
your knees straight, and I wantyou to feel what's going on with your
lower back in this position. Now, unlock your knees just slightly and feel
what just happened to your back.If you're not sure what happened to your

(24:03):
back, go ahead and lock theknees one more time, and you'll notice
that when your knees are locked,your back is more arched, and when
your knees are softer, your backis less arched. Why is this important.
We just found on the floor thatwhen your back is more arched,
when your legs are straight, yourback hurts more, and when it's less
arched, your back feels better.And now we've just found that your normal

(24:27):
way of standing for more than twoor three minutes is to lock your knees,
which arches your back. So ifyou simply unlock your knees when you're
standing and walking, I can almostguarantee you will experience a significant drop in
your back pain over the next fewdays. So most people are walking with

(24:48):
their knees straight as well. Andwhile it is a different way of walking
to walk with your knees unlocked,it's a better way of walking. And
that's an example of how your habitsare generating your pain. That's amazing.
I mean, absolutely novel insight intowhat's going on there. So why do

(25:12):
we develop the habit of walking withour knees locked? Yeah, so we
kind of touched on this before thebreak that our shoes, when we have
thick heels on our tennis shoes,it allows our foot to travel out in
front of our body when we're walkingand do a harder heel strike. Well,

(25:33):
when we do that, it locksour knee and that turns off all
the muscles in our lower body systemthat help protect our back. So that's
one of the reasons. And thenthe other reason that we just mentioned in
this test is that it's an energyconservation move. When you're standing in line
at a supermarket or back for anythingmore than a couple of minutes, you
start locking your knees to conserve energyso that you don't have to use your

(25:56):
leg muscles. Well, then youstart resting on your joints, and that's
what irritates joints as well. Brilliantabsolutely love that. Such a simple test
that everyone can do and provides justincredible insight into what's going on. So

(26:17):
we have a lot of daily habitsthat cause and fix our pain. Can
you share some others? Yeah?Well, that one habit knee unlocking.
I'm serious. If you unlock yourknees in three days, you should see
a significant drop and not only yourback pain, but possibly your hip,
knee, and foot pain. Solet's go to the upper body system.

(26:40):
We mentioned migrains earlier, and Isaid that a lot of problems with migraines
is anchored in the shoulder blade system. So one of the things that we
get wrong and we're taught is thatto create good posture, we squeeze our
shoulders back to our spine right,And you hear this in classes like yoga,
pas dance, everything like that.Bring your shoulder blades down and back

(27:03):
into the opposite back pockets. Andthat is actually the opposite of how the
shoulder blades should be functioning. Andif you look at the anatomy of the
body, you'll see that the shoulderblades actually shouldn't be involved with posture at
all. That's not their role.Their role is to help us move our
arms, and so when we squeezethem back towards our spine, what we're

(27:27):
doing is we're disrupting the muscles thatattached from the shoulder blade that attach into
our neckbones and the base of ourskull. And this is what tends to
lead to chronic neck pain and headaches, is because of the whole misuse of
the shoulder girdle system. There's amuch better way to create posture that we're
designed to do, but typically isn'ttaught, and I can show you what

(27:49):
that is if you're interested. Sure, Okay, it's really easy. So
put one hand on your chest andone hand on your belly. Take deep
breath in, and you'll feel yourchest rise, and when you exhale,
you'll feel your chest lower again.Okay, so now take another deep breath
in, feel the chest rise thistime when you exhale, don't let the

(28:12):
chest move down all the way.Let it move down the way, but
not that last one percent. Soyou're going to keep it up maybe an
eighth or sixteenth of an inch higherthan it normally is. And you'll notice
that when you do that, yourstomach muscles have just engaged ever so slightly
to help hold that rib cage up. This is your core muscles holding up

(28:34):
your posture. That's why we havethey're so large and we have so many
layers of them. Is to dothis now, and so they will turn
on naturally if you hold your ribcage in the correct position, which is
just a smidge higher than what you'reused to. So the second part of
this equation then is to bring yourarms down by your side, roll around

(28:55):
your shoulder blades to loosen those upand get those calm down. They should
like two loose ropes dangling at yoursides. But if you've done this,
you'll notice that when you do that, you've just let go of your core
muscles. And the reason is isbecause you've tied your posture to your shoulders
instead of your core. So yourpractice should be doing this exercise to decouple

(29:19):
that relationship. Take the shoulders outof it, and learn how to keep
the core activated naturally. While yourarms are relaxed. And we're talking like
a the core activation feels like afive maybe a ten percent activation, and
the focus is not to contract yourstomach muscles. You'll notice that the stomach

(29:41):
muscles will become contracted naturally if youjust use your body the way it's designed
to be used, kind of likeunlocking your knees when you're walking. So
amazing, and these habits are soinnate in us that we're not We have
no idea. They happened slowly andinsidiously. In the next thing, you
know, they became a normal wayof doing it. So just really appreciate

(30:07):
all this incredible information that you're sharingwith us. Love the work that you're
doing. Let's talk about surgery,because surgery is on the table to fix
a lot of people's pain situations.Yes, well, I am a believer
in surgery, but only if it'swarranted. So unfortunately, because most people,

(30:30):
most doctors or insurgeons will send aperson to physical therapy to get rehab
to see if they can solve pain, and then when that fails, I
guess we're going to have surgery.And so I don't think that doctors or
surgeons want people. Most don't evenwant you to have surgery. They'd rather
you not. But I think becausewe don't do a great job in physical

(30:53):
therapy from a system's thinking standpoint,a lot of these people are having surgery
that they don't need. In fact, my hip pain program, I just
had a call from a woman shewas scheduled for two hip replacements and within
two weeks of using my hip programcompletely one hundred percent pain free and doing

(31:14):
everything that she wants to do inlife, guarding, walking, whatever.
In fact, I have two peoplenow, so it can be that fast
and that comprehensive when you understand howthe body is supposed to work together as
a system, and unfortunately most peoplearen't being looked at and treated like that.
Wow. Do you do virtual consultingfor those that are interested in really

(31:36):
just having kind of that guidance oneon one with you? I do.
But you know, Holly, thisis why I created my home programs.
I have yet to have a virtualconsult that I'm giving them something that's not
in my programs already. And thisis why I've done it is because the
same patterns of problems are behind mostpeople's pain. And so the same pattern

(32:00):
of problem might cause you back pain, Holly, but it might cause someone
else sciatic pain and another person hitpain or si joint pain. So it's
just manifesting differently in different people.But it's all the same problem. And
so that's what I figured out inthese twenty five years is that these are
patterns of issues. They're not uniquelydifferent issues from one person to another.

(32:24):
So that's why I created my homeprograms to do that. I'm more than
happy to have a Zoom consult,but it will save you a lot of
money to just purchase a home programand follow the instructions there. That's why
I created them. Yes, soincredible. You definitely are the Sherlock Homes
of pain. So it's truly amazinghow you're helping people through their pain journey

(32:49):
and get to the other side.And so you talk about anxiety in your
book, and a lot of peopleare like, well, what's that got
to do with how my body feels? Can you elaborate on the importance of
this conversation? Yeah? Sure.I have an overwriting theory over the years,

(33:10):
because if you go to any bookstore, you'll see that there are a
million different books approaching pain from amillion different perspectives, but they boiled down
to three basic elements that are causingpain. And this is I call up
my three pillars of pain theory.And so we all have a threshold above
which we have pain. Who careswhere the threshold is, But if you

(33:32):
go over that threshold, you havepain, and if you're under it,
you have no pain. I findthat there are three primary issues that drive
us to that threshold. One aremuscular skeletal problems like what you and I
have been talking about. The otheris dietary issues such as gluten intolerance or
allergic reactions, mold things like thatthat we ingest. And then the third

(33:54):
is emotional, psychological or spiritual issues. All of these issues create tension in
our body, and the tension ishappening in certain patterns. So you one
person may have thirty psychological issues whileanother person has zero and another person has
one hundred percent. And that's whyyou have so many books that solve pain

(34:17):
from so many different perspectives, isthat they're all touching on these three pillars
of issues. So this is howanxiety contributes to pain, is because it's
causing a pattern of tension in ourbody that causes pain. Yes, and
I think a lot of people overlookthat showing up in their lives, you

(34:37):
know, through pain. So thatwhen we're anxious, you know, the
outlet for that anxiety. Often ourbody takes the brunt of that. Absolutely,
And so when I work with patientsin my clinic, because the muscular
skeletal aspect of what we do wasso successful, if people did not respond

(34:58):
to that, I immediately, withinprobably three or four visits started wondering if
they have an anxiety issue or sometimes, like when you work with someone,
you can read their body and seethat they have an anxiety issue. And
so when I query that, peoplewould be like, how did you know?
Well, hey, you're not respondingto the muscular skeletal corrections and be

(35:21):
you know, I just can seethe signs in your body that something else
is going on here that's contributing tothis tension pattern that you've got. Yes,
well it kind of seems like youhave a crystal ball, But the
truth is you're an orthopedic physical therapistand you've had a lot of experience and
been focusing on this. I cantell you're very passionate about ending the pain

(35:42):
cycle for people. Absolutely, It'sit's become my life's calling. Really.
I just feel, Polly that wedon't really need to have chronic pain in
our world. I think it's reallyjust because we have failed in medicine to
understand why it's happening. You know, I know it sounds crazy that someone
like me could maybe have big answersto this, but I really feel like

(36:05):
I've got a whole new perspective tounderstanding this, that it's my mission to
get out there. So awesome.I'm so glad that you are, and
we're glad to be able to shareyour messages to help people live happier lives
of vitality and joy and comfort.I am thinking about so many people that
wake up in pain. They haveworked their way through the many famous mattresses

(36:30):
and done their time with each ofthem to no remedy. And so what
happens when we're sleeping that people wakeup with back pain and things like that,
Well, what I always tell people, because you can't believe how many
recommend, how many questions I get, Hey, what kind of pillow should
I get? Or what kind ofmattress should I get? And so what

(36:52):
I always say is why don't youfix the body that's going to bed instead
of focusing on the mattress or thepillow. So, really, there's nothing
new happening while sleeping. What's happeningis a deepening of the issues that are
causing your pain during the day,so our body doesn't like to be in

(37:13):
one position for a very long time. I mean you can feel this just
when you sit in your chair formore than fifteen minutes, you have to
kind of squirm a little bit.Well, now you're sleeping for six d
eight hours. Of course it's goingto cause pain because it's causing your body
is contracting in deeper into the patternthat is your problem pattern in the first
place. Yes, and I thinka lot of people maybe are looking at

(37:37):
the wrong source for that because youknow, we blame our mattresses and things
like that. So pain is agreat teacher. Absolutely, it is a
teacher. It's trying to tell yousomething. And this is unfortunately in the
way that we've thought about pain.Pain is just something to be avoided,

(37:59):
you know, and get away frompain. We take medications or you know,
we get a massage, or weget some sav that we put on
ourselves. But really, if youthink of pain as a teacher, that's
trying you know, if you solvethis thing, then you're going to be
free of it. And that's whatyour teacher is trying to tell you.
And I've tried to provide the toolsto help you interpret those messages from your

(38:24):
teacher. Yes, and I thinkyou did a great job. Like your
chapter titles, you believe in lifebeing fun and even though pain isn't fun,
you have fun approaches to encourage peopleand kind of shepherd them through their
pain journey. So I just reallyenjoyed all the diffferent after titles that you

(38:49):
have in your book. Solving thepain puzzle and of course beginning it with
Sherlock Holmes was perfect. So Ilove your chapter titles. It's a really
fun approach that you took in solvingthe pin pain puzzle and shepherding people through
their pain journey. Did you havea particular chapter that you enjoyed more than
others? Gosh, um, well, them all, let's put it that

(39:15):
way. They're all and you cansee I went through a lot of trials
and tribulations to get to the answersin each of those chapters. But I
think I think that one of theones that I love the most is the
one about trigeminal nouralgia, where Ihelped this woman with her trigeminal nouralgia pain,
which is kind of an obscure issue, but it's one of the most

(39:35):
painful conditions in the human body thatis not thought to even be able to
be solvable by with conservative care likewhat I provide. And but just listening
to her story, I felt likeI knew what was going on, and
so that really opened my eyes tohow big this information can be in terms
of its effects and where it reaches. This one reach even into her brain

(40:00):
to change her brain response. Sothat was one of my favorites. I
think, Yes, so incredible tobe able to get people to where they
can enjoy life and be pain free. I imagine that it's a wonderful job
to be part of a fantastic career, to be able to be part of

(40:22):
somebody's end is suffering. Yeah,I feel blessed. I mean, you
know, it's a it's a professionwhere I get to have meaningful conversations with
people and get to know them.And that's really what a lot of our
human existence is all about, isn'tit. Yes? Absolutely? And so
how did you get this like novelunderstanding, this great sage wisdom on this

(40:51):
whole topic of pain? How didyou become the pain detective? Well,
you know, it's not from itcomes from other sources. Right. I'm
not brilliant enough to put all thistogether myself, So I took from three
other researchers. One is doctor ShirleySarmon, who's a ptphd out of Washington
University in Saint Louis. Another isThomas Myers, who studies fascia and discovered

(41:17):
fascial super highways connecting our feet toour head in our body. And the
third was Thomas Hannah, who studiedneurological patterns occurring in our body based on
deep reflex patterns. And all threeof them, Holly found the same three
patterns of issues causing most pain,but none of them knew of each other,

(41:37):
and they all happened at different timesof his So when I figured this
out and just like, oh mygod, they're all talking about the same
three things. And that's that's whenthe huge light bulb just exploded above my
head. I'm just like, thisis it now. I've got all the
systems put together, and so whatI've also been doing these past twenty five
years really is just trying to understandhow we're moving that's caused in these three

(42:00):
patterns of issues in our bodies soincredible. You are infectiously passionate about the
work that you do, and youreally really are a student of life when
it comes to growing your knowledge inthis area. And I mean even more
so the fact that you are sharingit with the world so that they too

(42:22):
can reap the benefits of all thatyou have gathered and accumulated along the way.
I absolutely love it. So whatwere you hoping that readers of your
book would receive from what you createdbetween the pages? My hope is that
they have hope. That's my biggesthope is that they see their story in

(42:44):
those stories and they see, Wow, no one's ever approached me like this.
I wonder if this would help me, And that's what I want because
so many people have given up andthink that they're broken, Ali, and
I just don't believe that at all. I think you just haven't had the
right information. I love that hope. Are aging, gratefully show dedication where

(43:08):
this week hold on pain ends.So I think that that's just so important.
We want everyone to maintain hope becauseyour remedy could be right around the
corner. So tell us what's waitingat your website, Rick that listeners can

(43:29):
visit your website and say, youknow what, I want to try this.
I want to kind of weave someof his practices into my life to
see if they work for me.What will listeners find and what have you
created there? Yeah, I've gotsome free stuff. I've got an ebook
because frankly, Holly, this issuch a departure from probably how your listeners

(43:51):
have been looked at before that theyneed to be eased into this idea of
oh my gosh, how I'm moving, how I'm using my body is the
thing that's caused in my pain,and this is how it's happening. Right.
It's so many people, you know. Just so, I've got a
free e book on there, I'vegot my patient stories from my upcoming book.
I've got a blog on there.So I've got you know, some

(44:13):
Somatics movement lessons, which are agentle way of starting to unlock your body
from these pain patterns of movement.You can start there if you want,
so a lot of different places forpeople to begin their journeys. And then
of course you can purchase the downloadablehome programs there as well. And then
I've also and because this is oneof the big things is I wasn't sure

(44:34):
if I didn't want to be like, oh, you've got to go see
Rick in order to get better,because it shouldn't really be up to me.
And so these past ten years I'vebeen training my other therapists to do
this in this approach too, tosee if they get the same results.
And they can. So that's whyI created a practitioner's course too, for
anyone who from coaches to surgeons tounderstand these principles and how to pain from

(45:00):
a system standpoint. So I've kindof got a whole spectrum of everything on
my website depending on where you arein your journey to either learn it or
get the help that you need.I love it because so many people listening
would be interested in a kind ofevolving to practice these modalities in the work

(45:21):
that they do for others to helpthem. So it's a pretty big wave
of wonderful that you have for theworld out there, regardless of what way
they want to look at it personallyor to help others. You have me
inspired. Now I'm going to whenthe rain ends, I'm going to walk
barefoot outside and then I'm going toput shoes on because I really want to.

(45:45):
I'm thinking about it now. I'mvery mindful of all that you have
shared. Yeah, if you justpay attention to Holly, to whether you're
locking your knees more or less withyour shoes on or off, that will
that's all the information you really needto dial in. And if you just
start unlocking your knees, a chainof events will start occurring in your body

(46:09):
to solve a lot of problems.So awesome. So is there anything else
before we conclude our time together thatyou want to make sure that listeners hear
from you today? Yeah, Ijust want to make sure that they understand
that, really you know how you'removing. When you like you're about to

(46:30):
walk with your shoes off outside andyou're about to experience what it feels like
to unlock your knees, your brainis going to say, whoa, whoa,
that's not how we do things.You've taught me to walk with my
knees straight, and so you're goingto get that message. And then you're
going to get another part of themessage in your brain that says this is
wrong. But that's a separate judgmentof something that's different. Your brain sets

(46:52):
off an alarm another part of yourbrain judges it as wrong. It's not
necessarily wrong. Your brain doesn't knowwhat's right yet. And when you feel
less pain because of unlocking your knees, then that other part of your brain
will start to be silenced because it'sgoing to say, oh, this is
actually right. I need to dothis more. And so this is the

(47:13):
kind of tug of war that's goingto be happening in your mind. When
you start changing habits that are causingpain. The initial response is, hey,
this has to be wrong. Thisis how I've done things. Well,
you know, here's the message.How you've been doing things normally is
probably causing your pain. That's whyyou're having it. So you've got to
change something. And so this isa good start. Yes, definitely.

(47:36):
Mindfulness is so important and just beingaware and trying to identify those habits that
could be the culprit. Yes,absolutely, yes, So we can't have
the hour end without knowing how youage gratefully. Well. I think one
of the things that never ceases toamaze me is, you know, as

(48:00):
long as we can breed, wecan change. And I just feel,
you know, a lot of peoplemight think, oh, this is too
much but it's not. It's it'syou can make one small little change and
change your life. And as longas you can breed, you can make
that change. So there's really,you know, no reason not to try
something. And because we have allthe elements in our body and mind to

(48:23):
heal our body, and when wehave chronic pain, it means that we
just haven't discovered what those elements areyet, that that we that are obstacles
to that healing. And so youknow, it's never too late and your
body is waiting for you to makethose changes. That's what's trying to tell
you. Well, I love that, and I love how you pretty much

(48:46):
are letting us know that change ispossible no matter what state that we might
find ourselves in. And my acronymfor pain, pain announces important news.
Will we need to be listening andtuning in to that station that our body
is echoing for sure. Just lovethe work that you're doing. I so

(49:09):
appreciate how you're sharing it with somany different people, from patients to practitioners.
And your book can be pre orderedSolving the Pain Puzzle or order depending
on when you take in the episodes. Let me tell you Aging Rebels you
breathe life into these episodes five yearslater, so I never know when you're
going to find what we're creating.But visit ric Olderman dot com and find

(49:36):
out all of the wonderful things thatare waiting for him. He has the
downloadable option, he has free chapters, and of course this book solving the
pain puzzle. We all want tosolve our pain puzzle. But he's a
detective that you want on your sidefor sure, So just so appreciate it.
Keep doing the amazing and we reallyjust appreciate the great things. And

(49:58):
Jim is that you're bringing to theworld you too, Holly, thank you
so much. You're very welcome.You've been listening to Aging Gratefully and I'm
your host, aarontologist. Holly Kelly, thank you so much for tuning in.
If you enjoy our message, Iinvite you to subscribe and share it
with others and share what show it'sbeen something that resusconates with you as well.
We really appreciate it when you do. May you remember to never at

(50:20):
your age and that age is justa number, and may you enjoy and
embrace the coming week in the spiritof gratitude. Until we meet again.
Here's to living your best life now. I used to think time was my

(50:43):
enemy. My future wasn't looking good. So worried about the things I couldn't
see. I couldn't see the thingsI could. I was aging, fearfully,
worrying my life away, when allalong I should have been thankful for

(51:08):
every day. Finally made a friendof time. Now you could say that
I am aging gratefully, Aging gratefully