Cover photo for the video version of the Major Pain season 5 premiere, featuring snapshots from the video conversations. From left to right: Joey, Colby, Jesse and Angela

Season 5 Premiere! Catching Up With Previous Guests Joey, Colby and Angela

Today we are kicking off the fifth season of Major Pain! Jesse reflects on the past year before we jump into three interviews with previous guests, updating us on their health journeys. Joey tells us about a surgery to manage his hidradenitis suppurativa, plus updates on his amazing advocacy work. Read more…

How Chronic Pain Led Pallavi to Holistic Wellness

Pallavi’s journey through chronic pain began with physical agony, but led to spiritual transformation. She grew up in India with a deep love of dance that had turned into a passionate career in her early 20s. On a fateful day about 6 months after her marriage in 2011, she fell Read more…

Every Time This Baker Eats, She Risks Intense Abdominal Pain

Danni Hertel (aka foodie_with_da_booty) has turned her passion for baking into a full time career. She is known for putting a fresh spin on classic treats. Her recipes have been featured in the Houston Chronicle, she has worked with dozens of celebrities and she has even won Best Holiday Cookie Read more…

Tayler’s EDS was Screaming for Attention, But Doctors Ignored It

Looking back through the history of her medical challenges, it becomes painfully obvious that Tayler was born with the connective tissue disease EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome). Unfortunately, the lack of quality healthcare in her youth prevented this diagnosis for many years. She struggled physically throughout childhood, often being accused of laziness Read more…

Being Crushed by a Tree Changed Steve Lovelace’s Life Forever

In 1982 Steve Lovelace was pinned by a felled tree that barber chaired, meaning it split lengthwise while being cut down. His injuries were severe – his face and several vertebrae were crushed. Steve found himself instantly paralyzed and stuck under this tree, where he would remain for hours while Read more…

Fighting Back Against CFS/ME With Dr. Hoppers

Dr. Melanie Hoppers never planned to become an expert on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). She learned about it briefly in medical school, but her professors largely brushed off the complaints of CFS patients. It wasn’t until her own daughter got sick that Dr. Hoppers began to research CFS, becoming desperate Read more…

From Lupus to Fibromyalgia: Kindra’s Evolving Diagnosis

For Kindra, it’s been a 17 year journey to figure out why she is chronically ill. Her symptoms started around 14 years old, and include not just widespread chronic pain, but also severe fatigue and brain fog. Although the pain is difficult, the fatigue has the most detrimental effect on Read more…

Are Scoliosis, Kyphosis and EDS Connected? Billie’s Twisty Tale

In 5th grade Billie’s classmates were all evaluated for scoliosis, and she was the one person in her entire class who had it. Scoliosis is a condition in which a person’s spine has an irregular curve, and as Billie got older this condition got worse and worse. Her spine was Read more…

Psoriatic Disease, Small Fiber Neuropathy and More: Angela’s Diagnostic Odyssey

When Angela was 25, she was used to physically pushing her body. She was a runner who had always been healthy, besides being suspiciously hypermobile. Then one day at the gym she suddenly became unusually exhausted, and her legs felt like they were on fire. This would kick off a Read more…

Visualizing Chronic Pain: A Conversation with KYRIANNA

KYRIANNA is a watercolor artist based in southern Oregon, who creates striking images that visualize chronic pain and illness. Since these conditions are often invisible, KYRIANNA provides a profound opportunity for her clients to see a representation of their conditions. Her process involves an in-depth interview that she calls a Read more…