Aug 5, 2026 · 52 min · 23 segments
What is fibromyalgia, and why is it so difficult to diagnose? In this episode, chronic pain expert Dr. Sean Mackey explains the causes, symptoms, diagnosis, and most effective treatments for…
And thanks for all you're doing with helping the millions of people out there to keep moving and improve their quality of life.
So we are going to be focusing on fibromyalgia today.
But before we get into that, can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into treating chronic pain?
If you'd told me as a young anesthesiology resident at Stanford that I'd spend my career in pain medicine, have told you you're crazy and part of why i went into anesthesiology was actually to avoid those patients the ones where you pause outside the exam room you take a deep breath and you walk in like you're heading into battle because you don't feel like you have much to offer them but I did my pain medicine rotation while a resident, and it turned my world upside down.
I saw compassionate doctors in Stanford Pain Medicine who actually knew how to help these people, not always cure them, but hand them back their quality of life, their agency, their control.
And that combination, a huge unsolved problem and proof that there was a way forward is what pulled me into this.
I oversee a large academic, multidisciplinary clinical enterprise as well as a large research enterprise.
I co-chaired, on behalf of Health and Human Services and the NIH, the National Pain Strategy to set forward a national plan for our country.
pain.
And thanks for all you're doing with helping the millions of people out there to keep moving and improve their quality of life.
So we are going to be focusing on fibromyalgia today.
But before we get into that, can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into treating chronic pain?
If you'd told me as a young anesthesiology resident at Stanford that I'd spend my career in pain medicine, have told you you're crazy and part of why i went into anesthesiology was actually to avoid those patients the ones where you pause outside the exam room you take a deep breath and you walk in like you're heading into battle because you don't feel like you have much to offer them but I did my pain medicine rotation while a resident, and it turned my world upside down.
I saw compassionate doctors in Stanford Pain Medicine who actually knew how to help these people, not always cure them, but hand them back their quality of life, their agency, their control.
And that combination, a huge unsolved problem and proof that there was a way forward is what pulled me into this.
I oversee a large academic, multidisciplinary clinical enterprise as well as a large research enterprise.
I co-chaired, on behalf of Health and Human Services and the NIH, the National Pain Strategy to set forward a national plan for our country.
pain.
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