Horseman Manages Pain Without Pills

Chris Wightman is a cowboy at heart, but chronic pain in his knees, spine and shoulders was making it difficult for Chris to do the job took pride in --- working with horses.

“I’m an orthopedic shoer, I did a lot with the vet clinics; I filled a lot of prescription shoeing jobs for injured horses, or helped enhance a horse’s quality of movement to make him a higher level show horse. I also judged world championship horse shows.”

Due to a host of health issues, Chris was not able to take traditional pain medications, and the pain left him unable to work.

“I had a lot of pain that I dealt with on a daily basis,” says Chris, who fell into a deep depression.

After extensive searching, Chris learned of an integrative program at Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute that de-emphasizes pain medications and emphasizes healthy lifestyle changes.

“The goal of the program is to give participants a plethora of tools to manage their own sensations in their body and help them understand that they are in control,” says Kellie Kirksey, PhD, holistic psychotherapist.

Participants meet as a group and practice gentle yoga, acupuncture and massage. There is also a strong focus on state of mind.

“There’s an old Carly Simon song that says, ‘I haven’t got time for the pain...’ It’s about the pain that plagued me in my life. I don’t have time for it.”

“We do a lot with emotional health and talking about the emotional impact that pain has had on their lives, so we use hypnotherapy as part of that,” says Josie Znidarsic, DO, Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.

Chris has been drug and alcohol free for more than a year. He’s learned how to manage anger and pain, changed his diet, and changed his mindset.

“Gratitude is probably one of the strongest tools that you can have,” says Chris. “It’s better to focus on the good stuff. If you count your blessings you’re looking at the good --- not the bad --- and more good comes your way.”

Chris says he still has pain, but he now knows how to manage it in a healthy way. Since joining the program, Chris has been able to go back to work shoeing horses and judging horse shows.

“There’s an old Carly Simon song that says, ‘I haven’t got time for the pain’ and that was about a break up, but I don’t go there. It’s about the pain that plagued me in my life. I don’t have time for it,” says Chris.