Daniel spent years in pain. Six orthopedists. Chiropractic care that helped for a day or two and then wore off. Trigger point injections. Acupuncture. An MRI and X-ray that both came back negative. A nerve ablation on the table as the next option.

He found Saint Bartholomew as what he called a Hail Mary.

In this episode of Medicine, Sean sits down with Daniel Wieber, the first client ever to appear on the podcast, to tell the full story. What every stop on the traditional medicine path looked like, what happened when the physical work stopped producing results, and what changed when they stopped chasing the symptom and started looking at the brain.

The answer was a book. A diagnosis called TMS. And a moment where Sean told Daniel he could not contact him again until the pain was behind him.

Three to four months later, a text came through.

What's covered:

• What idiopathic pain is and why a negative MRI can be more disorienting than a positive one
• Why chiropractic care kept providing two days of relief and nothing more
• How the nervous system creates a chronic pain loop that has nothing to do with structural damage
• The neurological emergency brake - why the brain holds the body back when it perceives threat
• John Sarno's TMS framework and why Sean was hesitant to introduce it
• Why symptoms were worse at work and almost gone on weekends
• The faith over fear principle and what it actually requires to work
• Sean's own ocular migraine story and what happened when he chose to go through it anyway
• Why coming back for sessions was itself part of the problem
• How the same pattern is now showing up in Daniel's knee

This episode is for anyone who has exhausted the traditional pathways, gotten clearance from multiple doctors, and still cannot find a reason for the pain they are living with every day.

From Medicine, presented by Saint Bartholomew - a conversation series on the truth of pain, performance, and optimal health.

Saint Bartholomew
The Patron Saint of Chronic Pain
New York City
www.SaintBartholomew.com

Medicine | Episode 4 — From Chronic Pain to Clarity: A Conversation with Neal Hallinan

Neal Hallinan spent fourteen years having three to four SI joint blowouts a year. He had tinnitus at thirteen, plantar fasciitis in both feet, a shoulder that fell apart while pitching, and a body that could not shift to its left side. He had no idea they were all the same problem.

In this episode of Medicine, Sean and Neal trace the full arc - from a teenager with ringing ears and a ruined pitching career, to a guy getting drunk on weekends just to survive the foot pain, to discovering the Postural Restoration Institute on a dial up modem, to the moment a mouth guard was placed over his teeth and he almost fell over standing still.

What follows is one of the most honest and clinically rich conversations this show has had. Neal does not oversimplify. He does not sell anything. He just tells you what happened and what he has come to understand about why.

Topics covered:
- The anatomy of asymmetry - why the right diaphragm, the liver, and the brain all push the body to the same side
What the left AIC pattern actually is and what it looks like in a body over time
- How a crossbite locked Neal's entire movement system into a dysfunctional pattern for decades
- Why the jaw and the teeth are not a dental issue - they are a neurological one
- How the visual system and the sphenoid bone change the shape of the eye and alter what the brain can perceive
- Why flat floors are threatening to the nervous system and what to do about it
- The three things a brain needs that modern life has almost entirely removed
- Why rhythmic music is a legitimate clinical tool, not a theory

And at the end, why chronic pain is not a structural problem. It is a brain that has lost its map.

Neal Hallinan is a trainer, educator, and one of the most talented professionals of postural restoration and neuroscience working in the field today.

Find Neal Hallinan:
YouTube: @NealHallinan
Instagram: @neal_hallinan
Website: www.PRITrainer.com

Saint Bartholomew
The Patron Saint of Chronic Pain.
New York City
www.SaintBartholomew.com

Medicine | Episode 3 — The Foot as a Foundation: A Conversation with Dr. Maddy Walkner

Most chronic pain doesn't begin where it hurts. In this episode of Medicine, Sean sits down with Dr. Maddy Walkner — foot and ankle surgeon, sports medicine specialist, and partner at Silverstone Podiatry on Manhattan's Upper East Side — for one of the more clinically surprising conversations we've had yet.

What starts as a discussion about heel cups turns into a deep exploration of how the foot influences everything above it — hamstring activation, pelvic alignment, proprioception, anxiety, and even teeth grinding at night.

Topics covered:
— Why a heel cup can create a full-body neurological response
— The tripod of the foot and what happens when the heel loses its position
— Flat feet as a proprioceptive problem, not just a structural one
— Gait analysis: what to look for, how long to watch, and why shoes can lie to you
— Orthotics — custom vs. over-the-counter, and when each is right
— Bunions and hammer toes: what they actually are, and why early intervention matters
— The connection between foot instability, anxiety, and sensory upregulation

Dr. Walkner graduated salutatorian from the New York College of Podiatric Medicine, completed a concurrent Master of Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and served as chief resident at Lenox Hill Hospital — where she continues to teach the next generation of foot and ankle surgeons.

This is episode three of Medicine — a conversation series dedicated to the truth of pain, performance, and what it means to move well.

Find Dr. Maddy Walkner:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drmaddy_walkner
Silverstone Podiatry: https://silverstonepodiatry.com/about-dr-madeline-walkner/

Saint Bartholomew
The Patron Saint of Chronic Pain.
New York City
www.SaintBartholomew.com