Author: Thomas Cohn, MD

Will My Chronic Pain Get Worse Over Time?

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

post-traumatic painA chronic pain condition can make life uncomfortable, and oftentimes it leaves patients wondering if things will ever get better. A recent study out of Europe found that patients who had chronic pain in their forties were more likely to have chronic pain and other health issues later in life, which leads many to assume that chronic pain conditions will get worse over time.

But is that the truth? Are you really stuck with pain for the rest of your life, or is there something you can do about it? Below we explain why your chronic pain doesn’t have to get worse as time goes on.

Will My Pain Condition Improve?

As we’ve said numerous times on this blog, the following is just general advice. Chronic pain is both complex and highly individualized, so we can’t sit here and say that your condition will certainly get better or get worse depending on the treatment route you pursue. That being said, many patients don’t realize how much control they have when it comes to managing their chronic pain condition on a long-term basis. While chronic pain can oftentimes feel out of control, there are steps you can take each day to help you find more control over your condition down the road.

So we’ll start by saying that chronic pain is typically a health issue that will continue to worsen as you get older if you do nothing to treat the problem. While sometimes rest or activity avoidance can help you overcome small issues like a muscle strain or a headache, you’re not going to be able to do nothing and watch your chronic pain condition disappear. Chronic pain suggests that there is an underlying issue, and if you keep doing the same things that led to your condition in the first place, things won’t get better, and oftentimes they will only get worse.

That said, the opposite is also typically true, and that’s wonderful news for chronic pain sufferers. Targeted active treatments can oftentimes alleviate symptoms, calm inflammation, slow natural degeneration and improve your overall physical function. It’s not always easy, and you’re not always going to enjoy doing your physical therapy exercises or watching what foods and drinks you put in your body, but it’s these little daily wins that will make you stronger in the long run.

Another way to greatly improve your likelihood of overcoming your chronic pain condition is to connect with a specialist who can give you the individualized attention and advice that you’d benefit from. Chronic pain can be a very isolating health condition, and that can lead a person to withdraw from their friends, family and even their healthcare professionals. You need to know that you are not a burden and there are plenty of people out there who want to see you overcome your chronic pain issue. We rely on professionals for a number of different aspects of life, whether that’s to change a faulty piston on our vehicle or to install a new garage door, so don’t feel like you need to take on your complex medical challenges by yourself. Connect with a specialist and let them put their expertise to work for you.

And finally, many patients find it helpful if they acknowledge the fact that recovery is going to take some work. You’re not going to be able to take a magic pill or lay in bed for two weeks and all of a sudden you’re feel better. You’re going to have to put in the work with active interventions, like daily exercise, regular physical therapy, posture improvements, weight loss and more. As we mentioned above, it won’t always be fun, but working towards these goals is way more fun than living each day with chronic pain.

Know that your pain doesn’t have to remain consistent or worsen as you get older. You have a say in your chronic pain story, and we’re here to help in any way we can. For more information, or to get started on your journey to become free from chronic pain, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today at (952) 738-4580.

Walking Can Significantly Reduce Chronic Knee Pain Risk

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

knee painJoint issues are a common source of pain for millions of Americans, and oftentimes it’s the knee joints where this degeneration and discomfort is most obvious. Knee pain can make every step a burden, which is why preventing knee joint deterioration is key. According to a new study, you may be able to do just that by taking a few more steps each day.

According to a new study by researchers at the Baylor College of Medicine, walking may be a powerful way to prevent and treat osteoarthritis of the knee. For the study, researchers tracked more than 1,200 individuals aged 50 or older with knee osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis. Participants self-reported their walking habits and frequency, which helped researchers classify 73 percent of the group as walkers and 27 percent as non-walkers.

Walking And The Impact On Your Knees

After looking closer at the medical data between the two groups, researchers found that those who walked for exercise had a 40 percent decrease in the likelihood of experiencing frequent knee pain. X-rays were also used to assess for the progression and severity of osteoarthritis in the knees, and these images showed that walkers were less likely to experience medial joint space narrowing, which is one way to measure arthritis progression. Researchers concluded that going for regular walks could help to both control knee pain and slow to further osteoarthritis degeneration.

“These findings are particularly useful for people who have radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis but don’t have pain every day in their knees,” said first author of the paper Dr. Grace Hsiao-Wei Lo. “This study supports the possibility that walking for exercise can help to prevent the onset of daily knee pain. It might also slow down the worsening of damage inside the joint from osteoarthritis.”

Walking is such a simple act that can be performed almost anywhere, and it’s not overly stressful on the body. While it may not be able to cure you of your arthritis, it can help to maintain function in your knee, aid in pain control and slow continued arthritis progression, all of which are important for your quality of life.

So if you’re dealing with chronic knee pain, know that you don’t need to pursue an intense workout at the gym to help combat your symptoms and make your knee healthier for tomorrow. Simply lace up your walking shoes and walk for 30-45 minutes a day! And if you’re still looking for help overcoming a chronic pain issue, make sure you reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team. For more information, or for help with a different pain management issue, give our team a call today at (952) 738-4580.

Painkillers May Not Be Necessary After Some Knee And Shoulder Surgeries

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

painkillersMedical researchers are always looking for more information about how they can help patients recover following a surgical procedure. The prevailing wisdom is that opioids and painkillers are needed to help patients manage discomfort following arthroscopic surgery, but new research found that these strong medications may not be necessary.

For the most recent study, researchers wanted to get a better understanding of how necessary opioid pain relievers were after arthroscopic knee or shoulder surgery compared to non-opioid pain relievers. To do this, they looked at 193 patients who underwent outpatient surgery on their shoulders or knees at three different participating hospitals. Roughly half of the patients received opioids for postoperative pain, while the other half received naproxen and acetaminophen for pain, as well as pantoprazole, a medication normally used to treat heartburn and acid reflux. Both groups had access to emergency opioids if needed to aid in pain relief.

Post-Op Pain Control

After six weeks, patients in the opioid group had used an average of 72.6 mg of opioids, compared to 8.4 mg in the opioid-sparing group. Two patients in the opioid-sparing group asked for opioid medication after their discharge. Researchers noted that there was no significant differences in patient satisfaction, pain levels or adverse events when comparing the two groups.

“This study clearly shows that many of these surgical patients can be treated safely without opioid medications in a select population,” said lead author Olufemi Ayeni, MD, a professor of surgery at McMaster and an orthopedic surgeon at Hamilton Health Sciences. “Furthermore, by reducing the number of opioids prescribed, we can collectively reduce the development of a reservoir of unused medications that can cause harm to many in society.”

More than one million arthroscopic surgeries are performed in the United States every year, and if it turns out that many of these patients can manage post-op discomfort without the need for potentially addictive and dangerous opioids, that’s a huge win. In fact, doctors have already started to make this shift. Data shows that since 2017, the number of opioid pills prescribed to patients undergoing minimally invasive surgeries has fallen by 50 percent, although that may be driven by a number of factors.

As we’ve always said on the blog, opioids can absolutely play a crucial role in a pain management program, but we have to be careful about becoming over-reliant on them. Opioids are never intended to be a long-term option, but they can certainly make it easier to participate in a rehab program after injury or surgery. Make sure that you take full advantage of the benefits of opioids when you need them most, and odds are you’ll find that you need them less and less.

For more information about appropriately managing pain after an injury or surgery, or for help overcoming a chronic condition, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today at (952) 738-4580.

Common Misconceptions About Chronic Pain And Treatment

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

misconceptionsWhether it’s because we read some bad information online or received some less-than-stellar advice from a relative, it’s easy to accidentally form some misconceptions about chronic pain or your pain condition. Unfortunately, these misconceptions can make it harder for patients to find relief because they are pursuing ineffective methods or don’t understand the best way to treat their condition.

In today’s blog, we take a closer look at some of the common misconceptions about chronic pain care, and we shed a light on some helpful truths.

Chronic Pain Misconceptions

Here’s a closer look at some of the common misconceptions we hear about pain and the pain care process, and why these statements simply don’t hold water.

There’s Nothing That Can Be Done For Me – We understand that chronic pain can be extremely frustrating to deal with on a daily or regular basis, but don’t let pain allow you to think that there’s nothing that can be done to help. We’re not saying that there is always a solution to completely rid you of your pain, but we are confident that we can help you find a treatment that makes things at least a little better. Whether that’s through symptom control or teaching patients how to alleviate stress and other chronic pain triggers, we know that we’ll be able to help you. Don’t assume that there’s nothing that can be done for your pain, because that’s simply not true.

Activity Makes Things Worse – We don’t want to paint with too broad a brush, but activity almost always helps to treat a chronic pain condition when performed in the right manner. We’re not saying you should get off the couch and run a marathon tomorrow if you have chronic knee pain, but getting active will serve to make structures stronger and better able to handle stress. This can help to calm inflammatory responses that are trigger chronic pain sensations. We understand that movement might be painful, but controlled activity that is matched to your current abilities and goals will almost always be best for you in the long run. Don’t become sedentary simply because movement is uncomfortable, because that can make problems worse.

Opioids Are My Best Treatment Option – As we’ve said countless times on this blog in the past, opioids can absolutely play an integral role in your treatment plan, but they are never meant to be a best option or a stand-alone option. Opioids can help to treat some of the most painful symptoms, but while pain is at bay you need to be pursuing actions like physical therapy and exercise that help to treat the underlying problem. Don’t assume that opioids are your only option or that they’ll be a long-term option, because they work best as a short-term compliment to a comprehensive treatment plan.

It’s All In Your Head – An unfortunate reality for many chronic pain sufferers is having to deal with people who think they are making their pain up or that it’s “all in your head.” We know that this isn’t true. Don’t let uninformed individuals guide your actions or cause you to doubt yourself. Pain is real to you, and that’s what matters.

Pain Is One-Dimensional – Finally, much of the focus of chronic pain and even chronic pain treatment is on the physical. However, chronic pain is much more complex than that. Chronic pain affects us physically, mentally and emotionally, and it needs to be treated as such. You need to connect with a provider who understands the total impact that chronic pain has on a person so that they can move forward with a multi-dimensional approach to treat the mental and physical aspects of the condition. Chronic pain is so much more than just physical pain.

To connect with a provider who understands how chronic pain conditions and care can get misconstrued, reach out to Dr. Cohn. He knows the obstacles that chronic pain patients face when searching for the right treatment, and he can help guide you to the right solution. For more information, or for help with a different pain problem, contact his office today at (952) 738-4580.

The Benefits Of Talk Therapy If You Have Chronic Pain

/ Thomas Cohn, MD

talk therapyPain is more than just a physical concept. There are also significant mental and emotional aspects of chronic pain that need to be managed correctly if you’re going to treat the totality of the problem. One such way to address the mental and emotional strife that your chronic pain condition is causing is through what’s known as “talk therapy.”

There are a few different types of talk therapy techniques, but the most common technique used in a chronic pain setting is known as cognitive behavioral therapy. In cognitive behavioral therapy, a trained therapist works with a patient to explore some psychological adaptations to help them overcome some of the obstacles created by their chronic pain condition. Some of the mental conditions that CBT can help to address include:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Insomnia
  • PTSD
  • Stress

All of these factors can intensify your physical chronic pain symptoms and make the condition harder to control if you aren’t also focused on managing these mental aspects.

How Talk Therapy Works

Many people are a little reluctant to jump right into a talk therapy technique when their chronic pain specialist recommends meeting with a psychologist. In fact, some people think that this recommendation means that their physician believes that the patient’s pain is all in their head and not actually real. This couldn’t be further from the truth. A referral to a psychologist doesn’t mean that we don’t believe your pain is real, it means that your pain is multi-faceted and you’ll get the greatest benefit by effectively managing the physical and mental aspects of the condition.

Cognitive behavior therapy gives the patient a chance to talk about a variety of aspects related to their chronic pain condition, and the process is very goal-orientated in nature. Oftentimes throughout a session, patients and providers will work to develop small attainable goals or productive lifestyle tweaks to help treat some of the different aspects of your chronic pain condition. For some patients these goals may be as simple as exercising more throughout the week, while for others a goal may be to stop and perform some breathing exercises when you notice that stress is building up. This process helps to change your mindset, and that can go a long way in overcoming pain.

For example, much of talk therapy focuses on reframing how you think about chronic pain. You may not be able to control all aspects of your chronic pain condition, but if you focus on managing the controllable aspects and find new ways to problem solve along the way, you can greatly offload some of the burden of chronic pain.

Talk therapy not only helps patients undercover some of the not-so-obvious ways that chronic pain is affecting their mental and emotional health, but it also helps them develop some helpful treatment strategies that a physical pain specialist may not be as versed in treating. Pain management is oftentimes involves a community approach in order to treat all sides of the issue, so don’t be afraid to lean on multiple specialists in order to help address your chronic pain problem

For more information about talk therapy or finding a trustworthy CBT specialist near you, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today at (952) 738-4580.