Episode 110: Pain Management and Lyme

Cindy Kennedy, FNP, is joined by Dr. Melissa Colbert, who discusses her specialized integrative approach to patients dealing with pain, especially those with Lyme disease. Her background as a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist gives her the unique ability to utilize her skills with manipulation and neurofunctional acupuncture.

After completing an internship in Internal Medicine, my choice of speciality in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School’s program at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital gave me an opportunity to develop a deep understanding of how to help patients with physical impairments find creative pathways to living their best lives – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Dr. Colbert studied osteopathic treatment technique at University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine, and studied cranial osteopathy under the Cranial Academy and the Sutherland Cranial Teaching Foundation. Most significant is an ongoing mentorship with renowned osteopathic physician, Dr. James Gronemeyer, DO, since 2015.

Dr. Colbert earned Neurofunctional acupuncture certification at McMaster University in 2015. Neurofunctional acupuncture integrates Eastern acupuncture methods and Western neuro-anatomic scientific traditions, and is particularly useful for stress reduction, supporting fertility treatment and treating acute or chronic myofascial pain.

She enhanced her medical school training by spending several months immersed in yogic lifestyle studies at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, Mass. She completed intensive professional certification in Kripalu bodywork and subsequently undertook study in Cherokee bodywork with Dr. Lewis Mehl-Madrona; Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction with Dr. Susan Lorde; and Nutrition with John Bagnulo, PhD, at the Kripalu Center.

During residency in Harvard Medical School’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation program she had the opportunity to study Reiki with Reiki Master Libby Barnett and have utilized this modality as a successful adjunct to treatment for many patients. Also during residency in Harvard Medical School’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation program, she focused a month of intensive study with leading Functional Medicine physicians, including Dr. Mark Hyman and team in Lenox.

In addition to my role as Medical Director of Myomedicine, Dr. Colbert has served for the past three years as medical director for the Spaulding Outpatient Clinic in Medford, Mass., where we provide a rehabilitation-based, multidisciplinary program for patients with chronic pain.

For more information see her website.

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SHOW NOTES

Is physical medicine physiatry?
Why a special interest in pain management?
Are there different pain pathways in individuals?
What is osteopathic manipulation?
Acupuncture as a Chinese origin.
Specifics about pain with Lyme patients.
What are the emotional aspects of dealing with chronic pain?