Essentials: Control Pain & Heal Faster With Your Brain

In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, I explain how to manage pain and accelerate injury recovery by leveraging protocols to modulate pain perception. 

I discuss how pain interpretation is a complex experience, shaped by both internal factors like emotions and genetics, as well as external factors, such as context. I explain how practical strategies like acupuncture, breathing techniques, exercise and temperature modulation can influence the body’s pain response and accelerate recovery. I also discuss topics like phantom limb pain, recovering from traumatic brain injury and the crucial role inflammation plays in the healing process. 

Huberman Lab Essentials are short episodes (approximately 30 minutes) focused on essential science and protocol takeaways from past Huberman Lab episodes. Essentials will be released every Thursday, and our full-length episodes will still be released every Monday.

Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.

Thank you to our sponsors

AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman

Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/huberman

David: https://davidprotein.com/huberman

Timestamps

00:00:00 Huberman Lab Essentials; Neuroplasticity

00:01:58 Somatosensory System, Pain

00:05:22 Pain vs Injury; Genes

00:07:38 Sponsor: Eight Sleep

00:09:09 Touch, Sensitivity, Pain, Inflammation

00:11:24 Phantom Limb Pain, Top-Down Modulation

00:15:31 Traumatic Brain Injury, Aging & Glymphatic System; Tools: Side Sleeping, Zone 2 Cardio

00:20:36 Sponsor: AG1

00:21:49 Pain Interpretation, Adrenaline, Emotion & Love

00:25:03 Acupuncture; Somatosensory System, Pain, Gut & Inflammation

00:32:15 Sponsor: David

00:33:31 Tool: Wim Hof Method, Tummo Breathing, Pain

00:34:29 Tools: Injury Management, Ice or Heat?

00:38:10 Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP), Stem Cells

00:39:43 Recap & Key Takeaways

Disclaimer & Disclosures