Halloween, Sugar And Chronic Pain

October 28, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Halloween is only a few days away, and that means soon you’ll be handing out candy or sifting through your child’s basket when they leave it on the counter. Indulging your sweet tooth every once in a while typically won’t leave you any worse for the wear, but overeating sugary sweets can certainly cause problems, especially if you’re dealing with a chronic pain condition. Below, with the Halloween holiday in mind, we take a closer look at how sugar can make your chronic pain worse.

Chronic Pain And Sugar

Sugar can complicate a number of different chronic pain issues, and here’s how:

Pro-Inflammatory – Sugar is a pro-inflammatory within the body. When we eat sugar, our bodies release insulin and stress hormones. These stress hormones can then elicit an inflammatory response from our body. During an inflammatory response, white blood cells can accumulate in our joints, leading to swelling, redness, tenderness and loss of flexibility. This swelling can also end up compressing nerves that could be the source of your chronic pain.

Chronic Inflammation – Not only can sugar cause an inflammatory response within your body that can lead to chronic pain, but excess sugar consumption can also lead to chronic inflammation throughout your body. Acute inflammation can cause discomfort in the moment, but if your body starts to crave sugar and you regularly give into these urges, inflammation can start to become chronic as sugar becomes a normal part of your diet. Controlling your sugar intake is key to combating chronic inflammation.

Impacted Immune Response – Research has shown that excess sugar consumption can lead to a suppressed immune system response as yeast and bacteria feed off this sugar. An overactive immune response can cause a number of issues, but so too can a suppressed immune system. If your body can’t fight off infections and bacteria, you can become sick more often, which can lead to inflammation and joint pain.

Increased Stress – Sugar can end up raising your blood pressure level, which causes the body to pump out adrenaline and epinephrine. These hormones can be helpful during physical activity, but they can also make you feel more irritable and anxious. Anxiety and mental anguish can increase pain sensations, making your chronic pain feel worse.

The good news is that if you’re mindful about your sugar consumption, you can prevent the compound from complicating your chronic pain issues. That can be particularly challenging around Halloween, but do what you can to limit your intake and remove sweet treats from the home once the holiday is in the rearview mirror! The longer that candy sits on the kitchen counter, the easier it is to grab a piece or two every time you walk by. Limit your sugar intake, get regular exercise and drink plenty of water, and we’re confident that you can keep sugar from causing problems for your chronic pain condition.

And for more hands-on help with a chronic pain issue, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today at 952-738-4580.

The Benefits Of Talk Therapy If You Have Chronic Pain

September 29, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Pain 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.

Music Can Help Ease Chronic Pain, So Long As We Can Pick The Song

August 17, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

As we’ve talked about on the blog in the past, previous studies have found that the arts can help certain patients better manage their chronic pain condition. Recently, a group of researchers took things one step further when the tested how music could impact someone’s perception of pain. They found that music can help to drown out pain signals, especially when the listener believed they had control over what song they were listening to.

Music And Pain Management

To improve our understanding of how pain levels can being affected by music, researchers asked 286 adults experiencing real-world chronic pain to rate their pain both before and after listening to a music track. The music was specially designed in two different versions with varying complexities, and participants were randomly assigned to hear either the low- or high-complexity versions. Some participants were also randomly selected to be given the impression that they had control over the music qualities in the song, although the same version was played regardless of their selection.

After tracking reported pain levels before and after listening to the musical track, researchers found that participants who felt that they had control over the music experienced greater relief in the intensity of their pain compared to participants who were not given such an impression. Moreover, participants who stated that they actively engage with music in their everyday life experienced even greater pain-relief benefits from having a perceived sense of control over the song they heard. No connection between music complexity and pain relief was found.

The findings suggest that the ability to control what we listen to – or at least the appearance of such control – is important for optimizing music’s pain-reveling potential.

“Now we know that the act of choosing music is an important part of the wellbeing benefits that we see from music listening,” the study authors concluded. “It’s likely that people listen more closely, or more carefully when they choose the music themselves.”

So while it’s unlikely that your pain specialist will prescribe a healthy dose of time with your iPod at your next appointment, there does seem to be some merit to helping to drown out pain sensations by connecting with music of your choice. Consider pairing other active pain management treatments like physical therapy or exercise with some of your favorite songs, and you may notice an even bigger reduction in your pain perception.

And as always, if you want help with a new or ongoing pain problem, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today at (952) 738-4580.

In Pain, Stigmatized and Unsupported – What It’s Like To Have Chronic Pain in 2022

August 4, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

As technology advances and we get a better understanding of the underlying causes of chronic pain, you’d think we’d be able to put up a better fight against the debilitating condition. However, a recent survey from the U.S. Pain Foundation uncovered the true landscape of what it’s like to have chronic pain in 2022. Needless to say, we have a lot of work to do in addressing the problem.

The Current Chronic Pain Landscape

For their survey, the U.S. Pain Foundation interviewed 2,275 patients with chronic pain, 72 caregivers and 31 health care professionals to better understand the health care crisis that is chronic pain. The results revealed that for many people, pain is significant, and they don’t know where to turn for support. Here’s a look at a number of the findings from the survey.

On a scale of 1-10, more than half of respondents (52%) rated their average pain level a 7 or higher.
99% said that their chronic pain condition restricted their ability to engage in routine activities.
Only 18% were employed full-time.
79% said they felt stigmatized because of their pain, and 63% said they felt stigmatized by their provider.
1 in 4 patients said they rarely or never had their feelings validated or listened to by their provider.
79% of respondents currently take prescription medications, and 77% felt that it was the most helpful treatment for their pain.
49% of respondents said cost of services was their leading barrier to treatment.
41% of people with pain said they felt their insurance coverage decisions were driven by cost, not what was in their best interest medically.

There’s a lot to sift through in this report, but it provides a pretty rough outlook on chronic pain in 2022. A couple of the biggest takeaways that we want to touch on are in regards to:

Pain – Chronic pain is a condition that affects millions of Americans, but it seems unlikely that people realize just how painful these conditions can be. With more than half of people rating their pain at a 7 or higher, it’s clear that pain isn’t just bothersome or uncomfortable, it’s downright painful. We need to work on lessening pain scores.

Stigma – Fighting the stigma of chronic pain has been one of our top priorities. We pride ourselves in giving each patient the full time and attention they deserve to really understand their pain and how it’s affecting them. By doing this, we believe we’re better able to match patients to active treatments like physical therapy, exercise, breathing techniques or mindfulness training to help overcome their individual issue.

Treatment – As we’e said countless times on the blog in the past, medications can absolutely play a pivotal role in helping you overcome a chronic pain condition, but they shouldn’t be a standalone option. While the report did mention that multidisciplinary approaches were common, it’s a bit concerning to see that 77% felt that it was the best treatment for their pain. It’s possibly the best treatment for their symptoms, but it’s unlikely to be the best treatment for their underlying issue. Hopefully patients are taking advantage of the symptom relief provided by medications to pursue other endeavors like exercise or physical therapy to also attack the root issue of their pain disorder.

If you want someone who won’t make you feel stigmatized and will be a resource for you on your road to recovery from chronic pain, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team today at (952) 738-4580.

Why Does Acute Pain Become Chronic?

April 29, 2022 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Acute pain is oftentimes the result of direct trauma to an area, but in most cases the injury can eventually resolve with the help of active treatment. However, for a small percentage of people, their acute pain turns into a chronic condition, and this can make it much harder for pain to eventually subside. But why does acute pain turn into a chronic condition, and what can you do to prevent this from happening? We answer those questions and more in today’s blog.

Acute Pain Turns Chronic

If you’re not careful, an acute injury can turn into chronic pain. Here’s a look at some of the more common reasons why acute pain eventually becomes a chronic condition.

Left Untreated – The most common reason that an acute injury turns into chronic pain is because you don’t actively treat the underlying issue. A lot of people just try to grit their teeth and push through any discomfort caused by an acute injury, but that can lead to additional stress on an area and prolonged pain. For example, if you sprain your ankle, you’ll make the best recovery with a little bit of rest, physical therapy and a slow reintroduction to physical activities. If you try to keep playing sports or working manual labor on an injured ankles, those damaged ankle ligaments may never truly heal, leading to chronic instability or similar long-term issues. Don’t leave a problem, no matter how small, untreated.

Treating The Wrong Underlying Condition – An acute injury can also lead to a chronic condition if you end up treating the wrong underlying issue. If you think you’re dealing with one injury with a specific treatment regimen, but you are actually dealing with something else that is best treated by a different set of remedies, the underlying issue may never be corrected, leading to long-term discomfort and chronic pain. This speaks to the importance of syncing up with a specialist to ensure you receive an accurate diagnosis.

Nerve Damage – If certain nerves are damaged, that can throw off off how sensory signals are sent and interpreted in the brain. You may no longer be in true physical pain, but a damaged nervous pathway could be relaying signals that the brain interprets as pain, leading to chronic discomfort. Chronic pain can be just as much psychological as it is physical.

Psychological Factors Associated With A Physical Injury – As we noted above, psychological factors can play a role in your expression and interpretation of pain signals, and sometimes our emotions can be thrown into flux following an acute injury. For example, if you were involved in a severe car accident, you may be dealing with more emotions like fear, anxiety or stress, and research has shown that these feelings can negatively affect your pain perception.

Acute pain can turn chronic for both physical and psychological reasons, so it’s imperative that you sync up with a pain specialist, get to the bottom of your issue and begin a targeted treatment problem to rid you from your acute or chronic pain. For more information, or for help with a chronic pain issue, reach out to Dr. Cohn’s office today.