The Veteran’s Association and Chronic Pain

August 15, 2016 / Thomas Cohn, MD

This week there was another article on the pain management problems at the Veteran’s Association. As with all practices, the VA has had a long history of pushing opioids/narcotics as a main treatment strategy. Then suddenly a year ago, the VA decided these were not great management options and everyone had to be weaned to low dose or off these medications.

Options of management were not really given to anyone; it was just going to be the policy. This week, it was announced that one of their lead physicians has been awarded a grant to study options in weaning. Two options seem to be available, either with help of physical therapy and psychology, or possibly a slow wean by the pharmacist or with your physician.

Weaning Off Opioids

Pain is extremely complex. When a cause of the pain can be identified and treated, it is the best of all cases. Unfortunately, about a third of the population in general does suffer from chronic pain, and in many cases there is no reversible cause. Options to manage pain then become the course. Sometimes it is simple to manage and very successful. However there are oftentimes multiple generators of pain signals and it becomes difficult to develop a successful management routine. Treating pain does take a degree of compassion and it also often requires multiple strategies. Just saying no to drugs, especially to opioids, is a bit short sighted.

Addiction and abuse of opioid medications is extremely well documented. Overdose deaths are becoming rampant. Those who have pain are not resistant to having problems with opioid addiction. Furthermore, combining some medications, like those for anxiety or sleep with opioids significantly increases the risk of overdoses. Patients who have had problems with addiction to drugs, smoking or alcohol also have higher risks for addiction.

There are many ways to treat painful conditions. One of the most important aspects of treatment of pain is working with a skilled, experienced, board certified expert in pain management. These are medical experts who hopefully have extensive ability to identify the causes of pain and develop multiple treatments to help manage the combination of problems causing the pain. They can help coordinate a variety of disciplines covering psychological needs, physical therapy, interventions and all the way through a variety of medications. As noted, there is not a single magic cure, especially not medication alone.

Unfortunately, the VA has seen a problem with opioid abuse and decided that this should be the focus of pain management. The goal appears to be to kill the devil, and get rid of this class of medications for most patients. Pain is much more complex than treatment with a single medication. Some people are dependent upon this as part of their overall management. At this time, there are not a lot of effective medications to treat pain. Research is making strides at better understanding the mechanisms involved in pain and the cells in the body that perpetuate the problems. Still we are definitely lacking solutions.

Instead of making opioids the enemy, maybe there is a better strategy. At this time we need to work on better treatments for pain instead of just eliminating medication options. Using pain management experts who can employ multiple strategies to properly diagnose and treat pain problems is what is needed. The recognition is needed that decisions on treatment options of pain should be made by pain experts, not by addiction experts administering a budget policy. Pain is truly complex and not simple to fully diagnose, manage, or treat.

Will Doctors be Replaced by Computers?

June 20, 2016 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Technology and computers are taking over many tasks in society. For instance, in the past in grocery stores, a clerk typed in the price of an item into a cash register to sum up the total of items. Now, a scale is built into a barcode scanner and cashiers are not really needed. In law offices, smart scan machines are reading legal documents and checking for errors, a job that used to be reserved for new lawyers. So if computers are invading the world, will doctors be necessary to see patients and determine the right treatment? The answer is complex.

The Future of Telemedicine

Computers are currently used for a multitude of tasks in the medical field. There are robots that assist in surgery, and in some hospitals, robots are the carriers of medications and supplies throughout the premises. Specialized computers are now scanning X-rays and looking for abnormalities, as sometimes subtle changes are better spotted by computers than humans. In intensive care wards, computers often monitor the extensive data of each patient and can spot trends and suggest treatment options based on extensive data analysis. With increasing data in medicine, computers can often analyze any number of problems and help determine solutions based on the probabilities suggested by the information.

Telemedicine is also a burgeoning field. This can be a variety of medical activities from providing long distance consults with video chats through a remote clinic and provider or specialist, to a visit that is with a nurse, patient or a long distance provider. Remote monitoring of data by a specialist for an intensive care unit and remote reading of radiology imaging is also being done.

Computers can analyze information and find patterns in data if programmed well, however, they cannot yet substitute for the personal interactions of a patient and doctor. A computer still is unable to do a complete physical exam and understand subtle abnormalities portrayed by a patient. Assembling the information from a history, exam and studies, as well as interpreting responses to treatment performed to determine what may be beneficial next in management is also currently beyond the ability of a computer without extensive interaction with a physician.

Computers can be a great assistant in medicine. The human factor of personal interaction with a patient and performing a physical exam is essential in the ability to treat any patient. Many times I have reviewed a patient’s history and studies prior to a visit in order to form a tentative plan, and after the visit found a totally different problem with a need for a different treatment plan. The human factor is often essential in patient treatment, the compassion and the individualized management coordinating a plan. At this time computers may be an assistant but they are not ready to replace the doctor.

Exercise Accountability and Pain

September 2, 2015 / Thomas Cohn, MD

A recent study in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise points out whether we are reliable in reporting our exercise. The answer is that most of us tend to over report our activity level. When using an objective measure of activity, such as a monitoring device of steps and pulse, the record is much more accurate. The best way to keep healthy and reduce pain is to stick to a regular exercise routine. If you are not being accountable, the activity is usually not being done. Very few people have the self-discipline to be consistent with exercise on their own.

Up until recently, the best way to be accountable is to have an exercise partner. Whether it be a yoga classmate or a running partner, if you had to meet someone else, it was much harder to skip the exercise.

Currently, the electronic age can become out partner, as most people now own a smartphone. Both the Android and the Apple phones have fitness apps built into the phone and have electronics that can monitor motion. As long as one has the phone in hand (or pocket), the phone will record your steps. Most people should be aiming at obtaining at least 10,000 steps a day to maintain general cardiac aerobic fitness.

Fitness Trackers and Exercise

A fitness tracker, such as a Fitbit, Vivofit (by Garmin) or Jawbone can be of great benefit. There are now multiple brands of trackers, those at about $100 dollars tend to monitor:

Steps

Distance

Calories burned

Steps climbed

Sleep patterns

The more expensive ones will add in heart rate monitoring, sometimes blood oxygen levels, and may connect to smartphone notifications. All the fitness trackers have apps that chart your daily, weekly and monthly statistics. Keeping a record of your activity tends to make one more responsible toward meeting fitness goals.

The importance of maintaining physical activity is very evident in the pain patient. My patients who are the most active have the best control of their symptoms and tend to use the least amount of drugs and other interventions. For myself, the fitness tracker keeps me more active, maintaining my aerobic conditioning goals. The more intense aerobic exercise, even for just 15 minutes every day, definitely increases my endorphins (the body’s own pain killers) and decreases my back and leg pain. Without the tracker, I know I would be lazy, and definitely would think I am doing more activity than I actually perform.

Aerobic activity does need to be combined with strengthening and stretching for most pain patients. The areas that are causing pain often need more physical muscle support to prevent symptoms, and strengthening and keeping these muscles healthy is another priority.

The Importance of Regular Summer Exercise

May 26, 2015 / Thomas Cohn, MD

The unofficial start of summer has come and gone as the Memorial Day weekend is in the rearview mirror, and that means we are in full swing of the outdoor season. Spring cleaning and all the summer chores also have come. It is now the time to become a weekend warrior, and using a bit of wisdom is necessary to prevent injuries. None of us are immune to injury, but using some common sense may go a long way to prevent injury.

One way to prevent injuries during the summer is to stay fit. Fitness involves two aspects – cardiovascular aerobic strength and muscle power strength. Both parts of conditioning are equally important, but many people want to do just one of the two. Without both aspects, injury is more likely.

Aerobic and Muscle Training

Aerobic conditioning is exercise that stresses the endurance strength of the body. It allows us to continue activities for a prolonged time. The classic aerobic exercise is running. It increases the heart rate and promotes the efficient use of energy. Any activity that increases the heart rate qualifies for aerobic conditioning. This can be fast walking, swimming, bicycling, tennis, or any sport that requires continuous movement. The goal is for most people is at least 30 minutes of day, and this should be outside of “work” so that the brain gets the benefit of relaxation. To further promote this, obtain a fitness tracker, such as a Fitbit and log 10,000 steps a day. Hitting an aerobic goal of 30 minutes of exercise and 10,000 steps will help maintain overall fitness and help with other things such as weight control.

As a pain specialist, strength conditioning has two parts. The first is overall muscle strength throughout the body. The second part is core strength, the muscles that stabilize the spine. Working out at a gym or lifting weights generally works on the large muscles in the body, the arms and legs. Good general strength allows us to do many activities and not hurt later. Core strength is much harder and targets more specific muscles. To strengthen these muscles, one needs to concentrate on working these specific muscles with very targeted exercises. The workout for the core does not require much equipment, often just gravity and body positioning is sufficient to work these muscles. Good resources for core strengthening are available on the web, use the Google search term, “lumbar core strengthening”. A good starter site is available via Princeton. Additionally, many smartphones have good apps for general muscle strengthening exercises.

A good exercise program will help prevent injury. It will give a person more ability to do the jobs around the house and not be to sore afterward. It is okay to be sore for a day or two, but if one is sore longer than that, then one is likely doing too much repetitive work on a single occasion. It is time to become more active, work on both strength and endurance, and spend some time having fun.

Visculosupplements for Knee Pain

April 28, 2014December 11, 2015 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Degeneration of the knee is a common condition that occurs as we age. Early problems are often minor injuries to the ligaments and meniscus, and they usually heal with conservative or surgical care. Over the age of forty, we start getting deterioration of the joint space and cartilage. Pain then becomes more consistent, and the knee moves less well and becomes swollen and stiff. Ignoring the knees becomes difficult and walking hurts, so many individuals seek medical attention.

When the simple treatments for degeneration/osteoarthritis do not work, one of the next levels of management is injectable medication. At this point in treatment, a Physical Medicine Pain expert can guide you through the best comprehensive program with the least additional pain. Usually the first level of injection is a cortisone type of injection, best done either with ultrasound or fluoroscopy. Long-acting cortisones include methylprednisolone and triamenacelone, which help control inflammation in the knee for three to six months.

The Benefits of Visculosupplements

Visculosupplements may be beneficial if steroids are not helping. These are injections of buffered hyaluronic acid that promote normal joint fluid production and lubrication. The first compound approved by the FDA was about 20 years ago – Synvisc – and is still used but has significant problems with allergic reactions. Now there are many three-dose regimens that work very well and are very purified without any issues with allergic reactions. The three-dose process may be the best to actually stimulate joint fluid production. In February a single dose regimen, Monovisc, was approved. Whether this will work well remains to be seen. Previous single dose regimens have not been quite as effective.

With all osteoarthritis and degeneration of the knee treatments, conservative measures with injections are necessary. Lifestyle changes including weight loss, exercise, and sometimes using adaptive equipment like braces or canes can be helpful. Using anti-inflammatory medications including creams may also help.

In the United States these visculosupplements are only approved for the use in the knee. In other countries they are used successfully in many different joints. They can be used safely in other joints, but the medication cost would be the responsibility of the patient. They have been used in the hip, pelvis, elbows, and hands. As a safe conservative treatment especially for the knee, these injections are a time-tested success.