A two-minute bedtime exercise from neuroscientist Dr. Izzy Justice that helps your brain wake up tomorrow at a calmer, better baseline.

Dr. Derrick Hines shares the 411, a nightly routine he learned from neuroscientist Dr. Izzy Justice, an upcoming guest on the Pain & Performance Podcast who, as Derrick describes it, has scanned about 20,000 brains of people dealing with pain, trauma and high performance. During stressful periods the brain runs at a higher frequency, with more noise, and sleep does not always reset it. The 411 is a simple way to help: as you lie down, think through four good things from today, one challenging thing, and one positive thing you can do tomorrow.

Key Takeaways
-- Under stress the brain runs at a higher frequency with more noise, and a night of sleep does not always reset it on its own.
-- The 411 is done lying in bed: four good things that happened today, one challenging thing, and one positive thing you will do tomorrow.
-- Do not just list the four good things. Try to see them and feel them.
-- The routine draws on research around gratitude, happiness and stress. Derrick says he felt better after one quick round.
-- It is especially useful when you are going through a difficult period.

Questions Answered
-- What is the 411 bedtime routine?
-- How can I calm my brain before sleep?
-- Does thinking about good things before bed help with stress?
-- Who is Dr. Izzy Justice?

The Book
Dr. Justice's book is Life Explained: Chasing 10 Hertz. His full conversation with Derrick is coming soon on the Pain & Performance Podcast.

DERRICK
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/derrickbhines/
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@DrDerrick

#Sleep #BrainHealth #StressRelief

In Derrick's office, a 90-day plan of fasting-mimicking, cryotherapy and the peptide KPV has regularly brought high systemic inflammation back to normal.

Dr. Derrick Hines shares the 90-day protocol his office uses for patients with high systemic inflammation, measured by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). It combines a five-day fasting-mimicking round once a month for three months, whole-body cryotherapy or cold plunges two to three times a week, and the peptide KPV. He explains the results he has seen, including in patients whose levels started very high, and why lowering inflammation matters for the whole body.

Key Takeaways
-- Systemic inflammation is commonly measured with a blood test for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).
-- The 90-day protocol: one five-day fasting-mimicking round a month for three months, two to three cryotherapy or cold plunge sessions a week, and the peptide KPV.
-- In Derrick's office, this protocol has regularly brought elevated hs-CRP down to within normal limits.
-- In a few patients whose hs-CRP started above 8, levels did not reach normal but dropped by about 50 percent.
-- High inflammation makes everything in the body work worse, so it is worth getting ahead of.
-- If a blood test shows high systemic inflammation, also change your diet and look for the cause. The protocol is a starting point, not the whole answer.

Questions Answered
-- How is systemic inflammation measured?
-- How can I lower a high CRP?
-- How long does it take to bring inflammation down?
-- How often is a fasting-mimicking round done?
-- Can cryotherapy or cold plunges help with inflammation?

Before You Start
Derrick's office runs and tracks this protocol with its patients. Talk to your own practitioner before starting fasting, cold exposure or peptides.

DERRICK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/derrickbhines/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrDerrick

#Inflammation #Peptides #ColdTherapy

If you keep getting injured even though you train, the missing piece may be your no-show muscles: the small stabilizers nobody sees but your body depends on.

Dr. Derrick Hines explains what his office calls "no-show muscles", the ones that never show in a mirror but make the body stable and resilient. He covers the small muscles of the feet, the transverse abdominis, the deep hip stabilizers, the neck muscles and the small stabilizers of the spine, and why training them can prevent more injuries than lifting heavier. He also shares "Weird Workout Saturdays", the weekly session his family used to do in his office.

Key Takeaways
-- No-show muscles are the deep stabilizers you cannot see. Training them reduces injuries in a way that training the big muscles alone does not.
-- Strong intrinsic foot muscles give the body a stable base, which helps injury prevention, mobility, power, strength and speed. Derrick's office trains them with a footboard.
-- The transverse abdominis draws the stomach in and stabilizes the whole core, back and abdomen. It is not the six-pack, but it changes your stability a lot.
-- The small hip muscles that rotate and stabilize you with every step and turn can protect you from injury more than being able to squat 500 pounds.
-- Strengthening the neck, for example with an Iron Neck device, supports the structures around the spine. Derrick points to studies showing neck strengthening reduces pain and headaches and improves posture.
-- Set aside one day a week for no-show muscles: neck, feet and ankles, wrists, transverse abdominis activation, hip rotations and spine rotations.

Questions Answered
-- Why do I keep getting injured even though I work out?
-- What are stabilizer muscles and why do they matter?
-- How do I strengthen the muscles in my feet?
-- What is the transverse abdominis?
-- Can neck strengthening help with headaches and posture?

Weird Workout Saturday
Add one session a week for your no-show muscles: neck, feet and ankles, wrists, core activation, hip rotations and spine rotations. Keep training your big muscles too.

DERRICK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/derrickbhines/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrDerrick

#InjuryPrevention #CoreStrength #FootHealth

New aches after you start running or lifting again usually do not mean you are injured. Your body is not broken. It is unprepared, and you can prepare it.

Dr. Derrick Hines explains why pain after jumping back into an activity, like a friend's knee pain after he started running again, is usually a sign the body was not ready rather than damaged. He walks through progressive loading: building up over weeks, starting with the smallest piece of a movement, and moving on only when each stage feels easy. He shares how his patients over 60 have run 200-mile races and how grandmothers now do kettlebell swings daily, and gives a simple exercise for training today for the life you want in ten years.

Key Takeaways
-- Pain when you start a new activity often means your body was not prepared for it, not that it is broken or injured.
-- As we get older, the body needs more preparation and more warning before a new activity than it did when we were young.
-- To get back to running, progress from walking to jogging to short runs to longer runs over several weeks, so muscles, tendons, joints and ligaments have time to adapt.
-- Start with the smallest piece of a movement. For a kettlebell swing, Derrick starts with mini squats for a week or two, then holds the weight while squatting, then does small swings, and moves on only when each stage gets easy.
-- Given enough time and a progressive load, the body is resilient enough to get ready for almost anything. Derrick's patients include people over 60 who have run 200-mile races.
-- Decide what you want to be doing a decade from now and train for it today. Hiking and travel, for example, need strength and a good cardiovascular system.

Questions Answered
-- Why does my knee hurt after I started running again?
-- How do I start exercising again without getting injured?
-- How should I build back up to running?
-- How do I learn a new exercise like a kettlebell swing safely?
-- How should I train now for the activities I want to do in ten years?

A Thought Exercise
Write down what you want to be doing ten years from now. Then ask how you can start preparing your body for it this week. If you get stuck, share your goal with Derrick.

DERRICK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/derrickbhines/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrDerrick

#InjuryPrevention #ExerciseTips #HealthyAging

In this episode of the Pain and Performance Podcast, Dr. Derrick Hines sits down with Dr. Jaquel Patterson to explore neuroinflammation and the connection between inflammation, brain health, mental health, and chronic illness.

They discuss how inflammation may influence brain fog, mood, and cognitive function, along with the potential roles of infections, gut health, hormones, environmenhttp://fairfieldfamilyhealth.com/tal exposures, and chronic stress. Dr. Patterson also explains her approach to testing complex health problems, Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections, and why understanding what is driving inflammation can be just as important as addressing the symptoms.

In This Episode

-- What neuroinflammation is and how it can affect the brain
-- The connection between inflammation, depression, anxiety, and brain fog
-- How gut health, hormones, infections, and stress may influence inflammation
-- Why chronic and complex illnesses can be difficult to diagnose
-- Lyme disease, co-infections, and persistent symptoms
-- Testing and identifying potential drivers of chronic inflammation
-- Why lifestyle foundations should come before more advanced interventions

Links:
DERRICK
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/derrickbhines/
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@DrDerrick

JAQUEL
Website:
http://fairfieldfamilyhealth.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/drjaquel/
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/naturopathic.physician/

The Pain & Performance Podcast is changing: short, actionable health episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, plus long-form expert interviews.

Dr. Derrick Hines opens a new chapter of the Pain & Performance Podcast, built on his definition of learning: making a better decision or taking a better action in the same situation. Knowledge on its own isn't power; knowledge that informs your action is what gives you power over your health. So the show now brings actionable episodes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, about 5 to 15 minutes each, on new research you can act on and the beliefs and daily activities that help. Long-form interviews with doctors, researchers and scientists continue in between. It all ties back to one mission: help everyone find hope, experience healing and live healthy.

Key Takeaways
-- Learning means making a better decision or taking a better action the next time you face the same situation.
-- Knowledge isn't power by itself; knowledge that informs your action gives you power over your health.
-- Health is out of sight, out of mind: without a little regular focus it gets away from you, so short frequent episodes help you stay ahead of problems.
-- New actionable episodes come out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, about 5 to 15 minutes each, with long-form expert interviews in between.
-- Hope comes first, healing is the bridge, and a healthy life means having the energy to do what you want and have the impact you want.
-- One tiny better decision or action at a time still moves you in the right direction.

Questions Answered
-- What is the Pain & Performance Podcast about?
-- How often do new Pain & Performance Podcast episodes come out?
-- Will the podcast still have long-form expert interviews?
-- Why isn't knowing more about health enough to get healthier?

Today's Challenge
Find one thing you can do to get a little healthier today.

DERRICK
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/derrickbhines/
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@DrDerrick

#painandperformancepodcast #health #healthyhabits

In this episode of the Pain and Performance Podcast, Dr. Derrick Hines sits down with Brian Trzaskos to explore how beliefs, emotions, and the nervous system influence healing, chronic pain, and overall well-being.

Together, they discuss the mind-body connection, the role of perception in shaping physiology, and practical tools for improving body awareness, reducing pain, and creating lasting change. The conversation also explores relationships, manifestation, and why healing often begins by changing the way we interpret and respond to our experiences.

In This Episode
-- How beliefs and perceptions influence healing
-- The connection between chronic pain and the nervous system
-- Why body awareness is essential for lasting change
-- The role of relationships and emotional safety in recovery
-- Practical strategies for improving mind-body health
-- How daily habits can shape long-term well-being

Links:
DERRICK
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/derrickbhines/
Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@DrDerrick

BRIAN
Website: https://somaticcoachingacademy.com/

A physician who wrote a book on health insurance still could not get his own cancer treatment approved. Dr. Ben Proctor explains why care gets denied and who profits.

Dr. Derrick Hines sits down with Dr. Ben Proctor, a physician and the author of Inefficient on Purpose, to talk about how for-profit health insurance shapes the care patients actually receive. They cover how insurers use prior authorization to deny tests and treatment while keeping the premium, why tying insurance to your job makes it so hard to switch, how pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and rebates push drug prices up, and why doctors cannot push back the way other workers can. Ben shares patient stories, his own experience as a leukemia (CML) patient whose treatment was delayed by a denial, and the changes he believes would actually fix the system.

Key Takeaways
-- The US spends far more on health care per person than peer countries, about $14,775 against a peer average of around $7,800, yet ranks last of ten wealthy nations on access, outcomes and administrative efficiency, according to the figures Derrick shares.
-- Ben explains that health insurers profit by denying care through prior authorization: a requested MRI or CT scan is refused and the insurer keeps the premium.
-- Because most Americans get insurance through their employer, switching plans after repeated denials often means changing jobs. With premiums rising and deductibles of $5,000 to $10,000, more people are cancelling coverage or paying cash. In Derrick's clinic, cash-pay patients grew from 3 to 5 percent when he opened 13 years ago to 20 to 25 percent today.
-- The three biggest pharmacy benefit managers are owned by the three biggest health insurers, and Ben describes the rebates drug makers pay them as paying to play.
-- A denial delayed Ben's own leukemia treatment by six weeks in 2025, and his cancer came back. He cites surveys finding that about one in three doctors has seen a denial lead to a worse outcome for a patient.
-- His central question is whether health insurance should be run for profit at all. In his words, "the goal of healthcare is not to make profit, it's to make people better." He favors realistic reforms such as capping insurer profits, limiting premium increases and letting doctors practice medicine.

Questions Answered
-- Why does health insurance deny tests like MRIs?
-- What is prior authorization and how does it affect patients?
-- What are pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs)?
-- Why does the US pay more for health care and get worse outcomes?
-- What can patients do when their insurance keeps denying care?

What You Can Do
If a test or medication you need keeps getting denied, Ben suggests looking for a different insurance plan the following year, and telling your representatives and lawmakers that you want change. His book Inefficient on Purpose is available on Amazon, with an audiobook planned for November.

DERRICK
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/derrickbhines/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrDerrick

BEN
Website: https://www.inefficientonpurposebook.com/
Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HJGBBTRC

#HealthInsurance #Healthcare #PriorAuthorization