Today we’re digging into a topic that touches nearly all of us at some point in life -- pain and the myths we often subscribe to that can keep us hurting longer than necessary. Pain isn’t just something you “have to live with,” and chronic discomfort doesn’t always mean you’re worn-out or out of options.

Here to help us separate fact from fiction is Dr. Kent Cochran, an anesthesiology and pain medicine specialist with Novant Health. Dr. Cochran has spent more than a decade helping patients manage everything from back and nerve pain to diabetic neuropathy, using evidence-based strategies that challenge some of the most persistent misconceptions about pain. Whether you’ve heard that pain is just part of aging, that medication is the only solution, or that nothing can be done when pain lingers - today we’ll unpack it all with an expert who sees the real science - and the real patients - every day.