Dr. Andrea Furlan, pictured in January, 2021, specializes in the treatment of chronic pain. She’s also become popular online, with a YouTube channel that has more than 700,000 subscribers.Ian Willms/Colour
Dr. Andrea Furlan works at the University of Toronto’s Department of Medicine as a professor. She is a staff physician and senior scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. She is also an award-winning researcher on treatments for chronic pain, including medications, rehabilitation and alternative therapies. But most people know her for her YouTube channel, which has more than 700,000 subscribers.
Dr. Furlan’s videos are fact-based and direct. The channel has explainers on what chronic pain is and its various types. It also has stretches and exercises to help folks manage symptoms.
There are dozens of testimonials talking about how her work has changed lives. Dr. Furlan’s video on exercises for osteoarthritis has comments such as: “I followed your instructions and WOW No More Pain.” Another on shoulder stretches said: “You have saved many people from visits to a variety of caretakers.”
The doctor released a new book this month. You’re Unique and So is Your Pain, A Daily Reflections Journal for Lifelong Well-Being offers prompts that help readers better understand and deal with the effects of chronic pain in their day-to-day. The goal of the book is not to document each painful moment, but encourages readers to reframe their self-talk, recognize stressors and examine daily habits.
The Globe recently sat down with Dr. Furlan to chat about her work, her social media and why journalling can help ease pain.
You’re a doctor specializing in pain management. Why did you decide to study that topic?
During my high school years I had a lot of menstrual cramps. The pain was not chronic, but very debilitating. That’s why I chose medicine. I wanted to help people with pain. When I went to medical school, there was no pain specialty. But what brought me specifically to pain medicine was seeing patients who had pain issues and the way that impacted their lives.
I remember one patient who showed up in the emergency room because she had pain all over her body. We did not know what she had, so we called a consult from a physiatrist. He came and he did acupuncture on her. He stuck the needles and waited for 30 minutes. When we removed them, the patient was pain-free.
He told me what acupuncture does. It simulates her brain to release her own endorphins. She will be pain-free for about five to seven days. For me, that was the tipping point. If the brain has this power to abolish pain – and I had pain all my teenage years – why am I not using my own endorphins? Since then I’ve been in physiatry. I dedicate my work to rehabilitating people who have pain, especially chronic pain, because it is an invisible disability.
For those unfamiliar how would you define chronic pain?
I tell my patients who have chronic pain the analogy of an alarm system of a house. If there is a fire in the kitchen, the alarm goes off. We call the fire department, they put out the fire. The sound stops. That’s nociceptive pain. That’s the pain that protects us.
The second type of pain is neuropathic. It’s like there are short circuits in the house. You open the cupboard of your kitchen and the sound of the alarm goes off. You call the fire department but there’s no fire in the kitchen. You call an electrician to fix the wires. That’s the neuropathic pain. When we have neurological disorders like nerve compression, multiple sclerosis, or spinal cord injury. You know where the lesion is. There is a specific lesion in the nerve system and it causes neuropathic pain.
The third type of pain is nociplastic. There is no fire in the kitchen. There is no short circuit anywhere. The wires are perfect. The alarm system itself is malfunctioning. So you call the alarm company. I tell my patients, I am the expert in the alarm system of your body. You’re feeling pain. The pain is real, but it’s coming from an alarm system that doesn’t stop making that sound of danger when there’s no danger.
Your YouTube channel has blown up in the last couple years. Why did you start sharing information through that medium?
I didn’t have time in my clinic to talk about chronic pain. My consults are quite long. I spend at least 90 minutes with each patient. In that time, we’re trying to cover as much as possible in the patient’s history. By the time that I finish all these assessments, I don’t have much time to explain to them what I found. And at the end of the consult, the patients are tired.
This story of the alarm system is something that I always repeat to myself. I thought: I’m going to record myself telling it. I started showing patients. They loved it. So I started recording more. At patients’ request, I also began putting closed captions in different languages on the videos. And now I put subtitles in 56 languages for every video that I have.
This new book is a journal for people to better understand and reflect on their chronic pain. Why did you create this book and why might journalling be helpful?
So many people are isolated because of chronic pain. They have a list of things that they cannot do. They have very little joy in their life.
The book is a chance for them to reflect on what is happening and what’s going on inside of their mind. Are they angry at something? Did something change them as a person? Are they isolating themselves too much? Are they having fun? Are they trying something new? Where is the joy?
They’re also encouraged to write down a list of things to do when they have a flare up or potential triggers for their pain. The goal of the journal is for them to live a life that acknowledges their pain but doesn’t let it consume them. I know it’s possible.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
