First some background. I speak out of years of severe pain and pain treatment as a result of 3 different car accidents - one of which let to my retiring from teaching college years before I intended to retire. I still attend a pain clinic on regular basis for evaluation and treatments. ...........
Second, there are now medical pain specialists.....at least here on the East coast and that has made a huge difference. Yes, in the early days when opiods were it, I found I was becoming addicted and am grateful that the physician noticed it and simply stopped prescribing narcotics. That was hard...cold turkey and all that but it led me to research. ,,,,,,,
Third, The US is in a different place on the treatment of pain from where it was 20 years ago. There are currently 4,827 pain management specialists nationwide, according to the U.S News and World
Report. I sometimes think we owe a debt of gratitude to our military whose needs spurred much work in this area.
Fourth, one problem is that few in the medical world seem to be even aware of the multiple pain treatment clinics or refer their clients there. I think one thing that each of us can do is go online, find a dozen pain management specialists and clinics in our area and make the list known at least once a year.....even pass out references to friends and acquaintances. ...... Pain is hard, Pain can be debilitating but finding the right treatments - not always just pharmaceutical can make life not only endurable but also livable. Example "Petting a dog increase levels of oxytocin" ,some forms of meditation or chanting takes ones mind away from pain and so we do not notice it. It is not gone but WE do not notice or feel it. The gift is NOT to accept pharmaceutical as the only answer.....get to a good pain clinic and if the first one does not work, find another.
Thanks for your insights into such an important health issue! I lost a very dear friend who endured chronic pain for years. When her doctor discontinued her prescription for pain medication, she turned to non-prescription drugs and overdosed. Her suffering and anguish are indescribable.
I well remember this Era of medicine when opioids were suddenly being pushed with plenty of reassurance that patients with "real pain" would not become addicted. This turned out to be wrong. Pain is complicated and treatment takes careful, compassionate listening and lots of time. Busy physicians mostly don't have the training or the reimbursable time. In my case, acupuncture was key in making arthritis pain in my wrists manageable, but I paid out of pocket and it was not cheap. Occupational therapy (hand therapy) was incredibly helpful for hands and wrists, and I had about 6 courses of treatment over a period of 10 or so years, but I had to know about it and ask for the prescription. Due to the education that was part of the OT I had to change old habits of body use. I changed my whole kitchen, got rid of heavy dishes and pots and replaced them with lightweight alternatives. I gave away my garden tools and bought ergonomic tools, etc. All these interventions, plus regular massage (out of pocket) and OM were only possible for me because I was an informed patient who knew how to advocate for herself, navigate a complex health care system, seek and evaluate information and have the time and money to carry out plans. I am always so aware of how education and money enable me to have a healthier life, but more specifically my background working in medicine and psychology makes me a much more sophisticated consumer of medical services than even my equally educated and financially secure friends. I am so saddened by all the suffering out there that could be lessened. Pain comes with life. We all have more pain as we age, but we should not have to suffer.
A related problem is, I think, the silo-ing effect of specialization. Thus the surgeon prescribing opioids for post surgery pain is not responsible for the care needed to wean the person off the med. In the case of a friend of mine, the cardiac surgeon declared success after heart surgery, but the patient was discharged with a stomach feeding tube that was a result of the surgery, and no follow up care was provided. The whole person is the patient, not the disembodied heart or lungs etc.
Exactly right. A friend needed a special device for an MRI. Only by accident did she find out that it was available, from a conversation with a nurse in a related unit. There are stories after stories about this.
First some background. I speak out of years of severe pain and pain treatment as a result of 3 different car accidents - one of which let to my retiring from teaching college years before I intended to retire. I still attend a pain clinic on regular basis for evaluation and treatments. ...........
Second, there are now medical pain specialists.....at least here on the East coast and that has made a huge difference. Yes, in the early days when opiods were it, I found I was becoming addicted and am grateful that the physician noticed it and simply stopped prescribing narcotics. That was hard...cold turkey and all that but it led me to research. ,,,,,,,
Third, The US is in a different place on the treatment of pain from where it was 20 years ago. There are currently 4,827 pain management specialists nationwide, according to the U.S News and World
Report. I sometimes think we owe a debt of gratitude to our military whose needs spurred much work in this area.
Fourth, one problem is that few in the medical world seem to be even aware of the multiple pain treatment clinics or refer their clients there. I think one thing that each of us can do is go online, find a dozen pain management specialists and clinics in our area and make the list known at least once a year.....even pass out references to friends and acquaintances. ...... Pain is hard, Pain can be debilitating but finding the right treatments - not always just pharmaceutical can make life not only endurable but also livable. Example "Petting a dog increase levels of oxytocin" ,some forms of meditation or chanting takes ones mind away from pain and so we do not notice it. It is not gone but WE do not notice or feel it. The gift is NOT to accept pharmaceutical as the only answer.....get to a good pain clinic and if the first one does not work, find another.
Thank you, Kate.
Thanks for your insights into such an important health issue! I lost a very dear friend who endured chronic pain for years. When her doctor discontinued her prescription for pain medication, she turned to non-prescription drugs and overdosed. Her suffering and anguish are indescribable.
I am so sorry. And I appreciate your sharing this first-hand experience of the problem.
I well remember this Era of medicine when opioids were suddenly being pushed with plenty of reassurance that patients with "real pain" would not become addicted. This turned out to be wrong. Pain is complicated and treatment takes careful, compassionate listening and lots of time. Busy physicians mostly don't have the training or the reimbursable time. In my case, acupuncture was key in making arthritis pain in my wrists manageable, but I paid out of pocket and it was not cheap. Occupational therapy (hand therapy) was incredibly helpful for hands and wrists, and I had about 6 courses of treatment over a period of 10 or so years, but I had to know about it and ask for the prescription. Due to the education that was part of the OT I had to change old habits of body use. I changed my whole kitchen, got rid of heavy dishes and pots and replaced them with lightweight alternatives. I gave away my garden tools and bought ergonomic tools, etc. All these interventions, plus regular massage (out of pocket) and OM were only possible for me because I was an informed patient who knew how to advocate for herself, navigate a complex health care system, seek and evaluate information and have the time and money to carry out plans. I am always so aware of how education and money enable me to have a healthier life, but more specifically my background working in medicine and psychology makes me a much more sophisticated consumer of medical services than even my equally educated and financially secure friends. I am so saddened by all the suffering out there that could be lessened. Pain comes with life. We all have more pain as we age, but we should not have to suffer.
A related problem is, I think, the silo-ing effect of specialization. Thus the surgeon prescribing opioids for post surgery pain is not responsible for the care needed to wean the person off the med. In the case of a friend of mine, the cardiac surgeon declared success after heart surgery, but the patient was discharged with a stomach feeding tube that was a result of the surgery, and no follow up care was provided. The whole person is the patient, not the disembodied heart or lungs etc.
Exactly right. A friend needed a special device for an MRI. Only by accident did she find out that it was available, from a conversation with a nurse in a related unit. There are stories after stories about this.