For more than 25 years, Dr. Thunder has studied chronic pain and how it is treated by the mainstream medical community. As a former emergency physician, he has witnessed the devastation that chronic pain can cause and the many impediments within our medical system which make it difficult for patients to receive optimum care. In response to his prior experiences, Dr. Thunder has worked tirelessly to develop a better way of helping people manage their pain and improve their quality of life. Dr. Thunder is well known for his kindness, compassion, attention to detail, and ability to see the big picture. After their first visits, his patients often say they feel like they’ve finally been heard. Nothing makes Dr. Thunder happier than hearing one of his patients say, “That made it better.” Dr. Thunder has almost 30 years of experience treating patients from every walk of life. He received his M.D. from the University of Nevada and did his residency in Modesto, California. He’s board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine and is a member of the Academy of Integrative Pain Management and the American Pain Society. Dr. Thunder lives in Reno with his wife, son, daughter, dogs, and cat. His favorite activities include spending time with his family, walking his dogs in the woods, and thinking outside the box.
Pearla McDonald has been taking care of patients for two decades. As a nurse practitioner, she’s been especially proud to serve our brave men and women in uniform at veterans hospitals in Saginaw, Michigan, and Reno, Nevada. Pearla earned her Bachelor's and Master of Science in Nursing from Saginaw Valley State University. Her empathy, thoroughness, and interest in learning have made her a perfect addition to the Thunder Pain Management team. When she isn’t taking care of the patients and families at Thunder Pain Management, you can usually find her hanging out with her two adorable children and extremely nice husband (who we all like because he brings her lunch on the regular).
Dr. Thunder and Sandy worked together at the Reno VA Hospital, so we knew just who to call when we needed another nurse. Sandy approaches her patients and everyone around her with a tremendous amount of respect, tenderness, and care (except when she’s treating one of us to a dose of her wickedly sly sense of humor). As a native Canadian, Sandy loves exploring the lakes, forests, and other areas of natural beauty that we have all around us — especially within motorcycle-riding distance. She’s happy to have her family close by and even manages to have dinner every Sunday with her grown-up “kids.”
Trina Spaulding is a Manual Athletic Therapist who founded Thunder Pain Management with Dr. Thunder in 2014. For 30 years, she’s been helping her patients live more active, productive, and fulfilling lives. Trina has 25 years of continuing education through the Ursa Foundation, which teaches scientifically-based, effective manual techniques. She spent 14 years working with Peter Barbieri at Barbieri Manual Therapy and more than 5 years as an Assistant Athletic Trainer at the University of Nevada, Reno. Trina has called Reno home since 1993 and takes full advantage of everything it has to offer. She loves skiing, kayaking, biking, and just being outside with her husband, son, daughter, and three dogs.
We understand that most people with chronic pain don’t have a simple, underlying condition that can be fixed or cured. The injury or condition that initially caused your pain may have resolved, but the pain continues because of changes to your nervous system. With this in mind, we focus most of our efforts on helping people calm and heal their nervous systems instead of simply masking their pain. Our approach has been very effective in decreasing our patients’ pain and improving the quality of their lives.
