The Dr. Carrasco Pain Show is about Pain, Reality and Healing
Photos by Ramón Hernández
Dr. Arnulfo Tarin Carrasco was born to take people out of their misery, that is to find a cure to rid people of their pain; and the proof is in the dual subject of each of his weekly television programs.
His show airs each Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m. on the Fox-TV network and if you like reality programs, you can’t more be real than the Dr. Carrasco Pain Show because it is based on actual true real-life cases where the subjects of his Emmy award winning program are one, the patient and two, the source of the pain.
In fact the Kermit, Texas-native won his first television Emmy award for the appropriately titled episode, “Gatter (Changing how You Perceive Pain).” In addition, other episodes have received a total of seven Emmy nominations in other categories.
One can also view all previous episodes online at www.drcarrascoshow.com.
Television programs are filled with hundreds of fictional doctors and dozens of shows with a hospital setting. Then there are genuine doctors such as Mehmet Oz, Sanjay Grupta and Travis Lane Stork that are media personalities and they touch the surface of many medical subjects. But compared to them, it is this writer’s opinion that Dr. Carrasco is the real thing. He is the Latin Hemisphere’s answer to Doctor’s Kildare, Ben Casey, Quincy, Trapper John, Doogie Howser and Marcus Welby, to name a few, all rolled into one. He is el doctor del dolor.
The show follows each patient from the initial consultation to the ultimate result being the elimination of his, or her, pain – proof that anyone can be healed.
Remember when David Robinson hurt his back? The press never mentioned where he was treated, but for the record, it was Dr. Carrasco that put an end to his pain.
Dr. Carrasco says of his rare specialty, “People come to me after they have seen doctors that do a quick fix and are still in severe pain. Too many people talk about solutions while I believe in problem-based work so I can achieve maximum pain relief. Pain is a people’s problem and the main thing is that I give people hope.”
The standard routine he follows is obtaining his patient’s detailed medical history followed by a complete physical description of how it happened, when it happened and where it is plus find out what medicines they are taking.
“There are three kinds of pain, but the way to treat each one is different,” the acclaimed pain management specialist said. “So I compare all the results and review the lab work for a diagnostic study of x-rays and MRI’s to arrive at a differential diagnosis in order to determine the cause of the pain and the most logical solution.
“Pain and the suffering can destroy families, but it can be relieved and families can be restored,” Dr. Carrasco said during an interview at the 15,000 square-foot La Hacienda de Salud, a place of comfort, not just injections, which is also home for his medical spa and the Carrasco (multi-disciplinary) Pain (management) Institute where patients get the feeling of healthcare with dignity and respect.
“The problem with feeling pain is that people wait until it become unbearable and requires medical care. Years go by and the body begins to swell, the joints began to hurt and it gets harder to regain the independence that was once taken for granted. It’s at this point in life that new sacrifices must be made. Where you accept the reality that your parents are no longer here and it’s time to receive the love you once gave without hesitation. It’s about faith in the face of time.
“My show is also about the human element, about people, about love and caring for each other. We’ve all had things that happened. You know, I didn’t expect my father (Leonardo) to die at the age of 49, but it happened,’ he continued.
The most unique feature of Dr. Carrasco’s show is that it is formatted and shot in such a unique way that he presents the viewer with the problem. Then the viewer’s began to see the patient and procedures thorough his eyes and thus the audience becomes him. He also inserts a cliff-hanging statement before each commercial so that the viewer will not want to change the channel, but watch the program from the beginning to the end. And they’re all true stories.
“I want people to know that they too have hope; and that it is not about needles, injections and therapy, it’s about compassion. Sure, we have to make a living, but do it from the heart first. If you don’t, then you’ve failed yourself.”
We cannot say that he is the foremost pain control specialist in the world, but billionaires who went to the Mayo Clinic or saw who were considered to be the best pain doctors in France and Spain, ended up flying here in their private jet to finally get healed.
“Yes, I’ve treated people that drove here in a Ferrari, but I have also treated people that took a bus or walked to my office,” the expert in pain said of his patients.
“I specialize in those suffering from pain and it does not matter what your financial or social status may be, no one is immune from ever-suffering pain.”
Giving a hint as to why he may have entered this field, the anesthesiologist, television personality, producer and director said, “I remember coming home from school each day and seeing my grandmother (Liberada Ponce Tarin) in pain and I would rub her knees with Vicks mentholatum and there’s a lot of grandmothers in the world, or other people’s grandparents, parents, sister or other sibling suffering like that; and no one should have to suffer like that. So in a way, my family taught me how to care for people.”
Flashing back to his humble beginning, Dr. Carrasco is the second of ten children born to Leonardo and Evangelina Carrasco. As a kid he loaded hay from the fields to barns in the Texas Panhandle for one dollar a day, later worked at a grocery store, at a gas station, did some plumbing and all phases of construction work.
His education after high school continued at Midland Junior College, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso and a four year residency at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, a multispecialty academic medical center regarded as one of the top hospital in the United States and one of the largest private medical centers in the world where kings, princes and other world leaders have gone for treatment.
It was at the clinic’s world’s most renowned residency program, where Dr. Carrasco saw patients as he trained for his rare specialty in the school known for its long list of medical “firsts,” cutting–edge technology, outstanding patient care and leadership in Graduate Medical education, hence, coupled with his intense passion, why some of his patients consider him a savior.
“Now I’m a damn good doctor, but we are doctors, not God,” the very spiritual Dr. Carrasco said as he acknowledged the ultimate healer in the universe.
“When all is done, I tell the patient, ‘You came to me for an opinion. You have this and we have a plan to cure your pain because I can do these things, but you don’t have to do anything’ because the ultimate decision is yours.”
Case by case, his thought process can be witness with amazement, fascination and awe in each Dr. Carrasco Pain Show and that is what is so appealing, so intriguing, so entrancing and what pulls the viewer in and glues he, or her, to their television set.
Afterwards, one cannot help but think of a family member, friend or co-worker who is in pain and they tell themselves, “I’m going to recommend they see this doctor.”
“I am so passionate about each project that my technical state-of-the-art studio becomes my home, so I’m at home when I’m shooting because I live in a world of creativity.”
Dr. Carrasco’s caring attitude and down-to-earth charisma coupled with the intimate setting of his studio set makes audiences feel as though they were at home.
“My thing is giving back to the people.”
When one attends a Dr. Carrasco Pain Show taping, everyone receives a pin to wear. “The pin is an iconic symbol in which the green swash
represents ‘health,’ the deep purple, hope and the gold with a sliver of red represents healing.’
“Whether you or someone special is undergoing physical, emotional, or other challenges in their lives, this pin is a reminder that you are not alone, and you can truly overcome all obstacles.”
At the end of the taping, Dr. Carrasco ends with a question-and-answer session during which the audience addresses their own ailments, or those of a friend or someone else in their family. In answering their questions in great detail, the audience as a whole learns something new and one can see the excitement in Dr. Carrasco’s face as he brings medical enlightenment into their lives.
“I want to set an example. I want to be the person they come to for answers. I want to be a teacher and serve people less (medically) educated of what is important in their lives.
“I hope to impact people through my advocacy of medical education and I wish to live a long, long life being a servant and caring for people.”
Plan to be a part of the audience and perhaps be a part of his Medical Challenge with Dr. Carrasco game show and win a massage, a $400 Botox treatment or perhaps a 32-inch flat-screen television set. There’s also a drawing at the end of the tapes and prizes include tee-shirts, massages and Botox treatments all you have to do is call his office for the next taping date.
Then you can see yourself as a part of the studio audience at a later date, during one of his Sunday Fox 29 shows at 8:30 a.m. This article is strictly on his show, however, there is also his Pain Project, “Mind Dance,” his upcoming full-length movie, his facilities and of course an archives of previous past shows at www.carrascopaininstitute.com. Once there, click on episodes, scroll down the page, pick a program, click on it and voila – you’ll become a Dr. Carrasco fan.
Start out with “In Sickness & Health,” “Sincere Gratitude” or “The Life I Chose” and you’ll be hooked to his Emmy Award winning program.
Best of all makes plans to personally meet Dr. Carrasco after the taping of his next show on Saturday, December 1 at 1 p.m., so mark it down on your calendar. For more information call (210) 614-4825.
