The Truth About Chronic Pain

September 8, 2017 / Thomas Cohn, MD

When it comes to chronic pain, one thing is clear – You are not alone. In fact, chronic pain affects roughly one in three people in the world. Whether it’s a sore back, neck pain or complex regional pain syndrome, we all deal with different kinds of pain. But just because our pain is different, doesn’t mean we’re not all going through something similar.

To help illustrate this point, we turn to our friends at WallMassagers.com. They specialize in pain management tools and they’ve created this wonderful infographic to help explain just how widespread chronic pain is in the United States. Check out the infographic below!

Updating The Daith Piercing Survey

August 23, 2017 / Thomas Cohn, MD

We wanted to give you another quick update on the Daith piercing survey that a colleague of mine is running in order to help us better understand how the Daith piercing may help individuals with chronic headaches. This update won’t have a lot of information, but that’s a good thing. Medical journals are pretty picky when it comes to publishing studies that have already been published in another source, so in order to ensure the findings get shared in a major medical journal, this update can only speak in generalities.

Daith Piercing Update

That being said, this update is also encouraging. Over 1,000 people have taken part in the survey so far, and you still have time to do so if you haven’t taken it yet. You can participate in the survey by following this link and answering the questions on that page.

The results show very promising results when it comes to successful management of certain headaches with the Daith piercing. To be safe, that’s all we can really say right now, but we still need your help. My colleague Dr. Chris Blatchley, who is running the study, has created a second version of the Daith piercing survey to address some areas that he felt the first version did not adequately cover. If you are willing, please click here to take the second version of the survey. Regardless of whether you completed version one or not, it would be wonderful if you could take a couple of minutes to fill out the new version of the survey. The first version of the survey is no longer available, to the two links we’ve posted in this blog will take you to the same place.

Thank you so much for taking the time to help us get a better understanding of the Daith piercing and how it may be able to help certain patients. We promise to keep you updated about future studies, this study’s results, as well as when and where the full data analysis will be published. Thank you for your continued support, and please reach out to Dr. Blatchley if you have any questions. You can visit his website by clicking here.

Thanks!

Dr. Cohn

Doctor Killed For Not Prescribing Pain Pills To Patient

August 7, 2017 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Last week one of my colleagues in the Pain Medicine community was shot and killed for not writing an opioid prescription to a patient. I was sent an email from a manager who came across the information in passing, and I was shocked at the incident.

The worst part of this incident was that the victim and colleague was once a medical student and then a medical resident with me while I was in training. I have not kept in touch with him but he was an excellent doctor and a caring individual. Unfortunately, that did not matter to the person who killed him. The only thing they understood was he did not feel it was indicated to prescribe opioids, which in retrospect was clearly the right choice.

Addictions and Opioid Dependence

Pain management and treating pain has always been more than prescribing medications like opioids. Anyone who has read this blog knows my field is all about how complex treating pain has become. If you as a patient believe that the only thing you can do for your pain is taking opioids, you likely have an issue with addiction that is far beyond just managing pain.

Addiction is a psychological problem and one does irrational things to obtain whatever substance you want for the dopamine support. The things one would do are beyond societal norms and are often illegal. The problem is not only about pain; it is about how to manage the addiction. There are countless ways to manage pain and unfortunately there often is not a cure. Pain management clinics are faced with the problems of opioid use every day and one of the most important jobs we have is to find other options beyond these medications to help patients. There is a shortage of professionals who have the training and ability to work in this challenging area, and it is tragic that someone has lost their life doing the right thing.

Alternatives To Opioids

Having pain is a common occurrence in this world. Worldwide about 30 percent of the population has problems with pain on a regular basis. The use of opioids to solve pain problems has become an American solution. The United States uses 95 percent of the narcotics produced in the world, yet we are only 5 percent of the world’s population. If your doctor is saying no to opioids, there usually is a good reason, and working with a specialist to find a better solution is indicated. Most people, once they develop significant neck or back issues, will not be pain free, but one needs to make some life changes to control the symptoms. Pain is a tough medical issue and the United States does have an opioid epidemic.

If it is upsetting that there are not better treatments for pain, become vocal about this problem. Start with your insurance company and with your legislators and make it known you want money to be spent on paying for more treatments for pain. Money is being spent on addiction but one of the more important issues is spending money on treating the pain problem before it becomes an addiction. Pain is a grueling and depressing part of life. There are hundreds of pain professionals trying to make life better for those suffering with pain, please do not let your anger out on them.

The Benefits Of Being An “Old School” Doctor

August 1, 2017 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Since I have been in practice, medicine has changed drastically over the years. Technology and improved practice standards have given way to great changes in the care of patients. When I first started in medicine, there were no electronic charts, most notes were handwritten, and computers were not a standard part of practice. CT scans were relatively new and the MRI scan was not yet invented. Medical students were trained to do a comprehensive history and then a physical exam. Part of the history had to include a detailed account of how the condition the patient has had developed over time. Another part was a detailed exam, including looking at the patient, often with minimal clothes obscuring the body. These are very simple things – listening to a story and looking at the patient.

Unfortunately, many doctors have lost the skill to be able to evaluate a patient. Oftentimes the patient has a classic story to tell and it fits exactly to a particular medical problem. Just spending a couple of minutes listening and asking some questions will lead you to the solution, and it probably matches a common or uncommon medical problem. After many years in practice, looking and listening to a patient tells most of the story of what is wrong. Adding a physical exam will fill in the missing parts most of the time. The fancy diagnostic studies usually are a confirmation of the problem.

Relying On Technology

Many doctors are now trained using technology. The patient history is on the computer and the first thoughts are what do the studies indicate. If the picture (imaging) shows problems, then that must be what is wrong. Treating a test or picture can be okay, but the body has a remarkable way to adapt to changes, and the true problem is usually more complex then the picture and the way to navigate to a solution is to stop and ask the patient what is wrong, then correlate to an exam and picture.

Last week being old school paid off. A new patient showed up at my office frustrated that she had years of pain and no explanation. The patient had been everywhere, including the Holy Grail –The Mayo Clinic – and still no answer on what was wrong. The patient did have a confusing history, but it was important and the details gave the clues. Watching the patient walk and looking at her legs and arms was truly remarkable. The patient was in her 20’s and was significantly weak with loss of muscle bulk.

She had a significantly abnormal exam and likely had a serious muscle and nerve disorder. If the previous physicians only took the time, they would have figured out there was a problem and could have guided the patient towards better solutions years ago. Now, hopefully the patient can get the right diagnosis and help. It may take time and a few more tests, but an answer can be found. One of the best skills a doctor can have is the ability to listen and look at a patient. It is simple, but medicine has changed and doctors are rarely paid to take the time to do the basics.

Cutting Back On Opioids Could Reduce Pain

July 18, 2017 / Thomas Cohn, MD

It may sound counterintuitive, but new research suggests that reducing long-term opioid intake could actually lead to lower pain levels in patients with chronic pain.

More than 10 million Americans are currently prescribed a long-term opioid to deal with a chronic pain condition. The number of people who get these prescriptions continues to grow, and not surprisingly so too do opioid overdose deaths. Used correctly, opioids can work wonders for individuals who have been struggling to find a way to take control of their chronic pain, but far too often they are overprescribed and knowingly or unknowingly abused.

Long-term opioids should only continue to be used if you’re still seeking active treatment options to address the painful condition. Since opioids are a passive treatment option, they are only masking the pain, and they aren’t actively working to correct the problem. They can work wonders when paired with active solutions like physical therapy or exercise because it can lessen pain during these crucial strengthening times, but if you’re not actively working towards a solution, long-term opioids are just dulling the pain while your body begins to crave larger doses of the drug to be effective, which can lead patients down the path of addiction.

Reducing Long-Term Opioid Intake

Researchers conducted a systematic review of 67 published studies in order to determine the effects of discontinuing long-term opioid therapy for patients with chronic pain conditions. Although they admit that the overall quality of evidence was not superb, they found an association between long-term opioid dose reduction and improvements in pain, function and quality of life.

“It’s counterintuitive that pain and well-being could be improved when you decrease pain medication…but patients felt better when dosages were reduced,” said Dr. Erin Krebs, medical director of the Women Veterans Comprehensive Health Center, part of the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System, and an author of the study.

However, study authors echoed what we’ve been saying in this blog, that long-term opioid reduction shouldn’t be done by itself. It should be reduced with the oversight of a licensed physician and paired with other multidisciplinary approaches and behavioral interventions to continue actively pursuing pain reduction and function improvement. Hopefully future studies can take a closer look at this idea and provide some clearer solutions with stronger evidence so we can continue doing everything in our power to help patients fight back against their chronic pain conditions.