Where To Turn For Support If You Have Chronic Pain

June 17, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

A chronic pain condition can leave you feeling isolated from the rest of the world. Not only is pain incredibly specific to the individual, but it can be hard for others to truly understand what you’re going through, and that can lead to feelings of loneliness. Being isolated can also negatively impact your mental health, which can leave you feeling both mentally and physically exhausted from your illness. This makes the totality of your pain condition harder to treat.

That’s why it is so important to have a support system that you can lean on as you’re treating your chronic pain condition. They can provide an outlet for stress, they can listen to your issues or they can just help take your mind off your pain, all of which can help in the grand scheme of chronic condition treatment. But where should you turn for support? We talk about some support systems for chronic pain patients in today’s blog.

Chronic Pain Support Systems

Here’s a look at some places you can lean on for support if you’re dealing with a debilitating pain condition.

1. Friends and Family – The first place many people turn to for support is friends and family, and rightfully so. These groups tend to have your back no matter what, so this is a great place to turn to for support. However, not everyone is close to their family, and as we said above, it’s not always easy for others to empathize with your pain, so your friends might not “get it” so to speak. When that happens, you’ll have to look for other areas of support.

2. Your Medical Care Team – One group of individuals who will always have your back is your medical team. You can always lean on us if you have questions or concerns about your condition, and we’re an expert source of trustworthy information. We may not know exactly what you’re going through, but odds are we’ve helped patients who are dealing with the same condition in the past, so we have expert insight into the best things you can do for your health. Between your doctor, their staff and your physical therapy team, you have plenty of medical team members you can reach out to for help.

3. Online Support Groups – If you’re dealing with a highly unique condition, you may not know anyone in your area that is dealing with the same condition, and that can leave you feeling alone and misunderstood. However, odds are you’re not the only one in the word who is battling CRPS or Raynaud’s Disease. If you do a simple google search, you can find online communities or Facebook groups of people who are battling the same chronic condition. This can allow you to connect with others who are dealing with some of the same things you go through on a daily basis. Online support groups can do wonders for you mental health by showing you that you aren’t alone.

If you keep these three groups in mind, we’re confident that you’ll find a healthy support system to help you combat your chronic condition. And if you’re looking for a medical team to be part of your support system, look no further than Dr. Cohn and his experienced team. Reach out to them today.

New Study Shines Light On Vagus Nerve Stimulation – This Time For Chronic Pain Care

June 10, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

ear icon on light background

If you’ve been following this blog for a while now, you know that we’re very interested in how vagus nerve stimulation can be used to help treat certain health conditions. Our focus has mainly been on how vagus nerve stimulation can help with migraine headaches, and we’ve always paid attention to see what new studies are saying about the potential treatment. A new study suggests vagus nerve stimulation may be helpful in treating some forms of chronic pain.

For the study, researchers at the Medical University of Veinna, the Vienna University of Technology and other institutions used what’s known as high-resolution episcopic imaging (HREM) to generate histologic volume data from donated homan cadaver ears. They then used the data to reconstruct anatomical vascular and nerve structures, and a 3D model was used to calculate an optimal stimulation pattern of the vagal nerve branches.

Vagus Nerve Stimulation

It’s a little complicated, but essentially, researchers were able to find three points along the nerve that were within a close radial distance to a good portion of other nerves and vessels. By delivering a series of oscillating electrical pulses to these three areas, researchers believed they could help drown out pain signals.

“The blood vessels can be made clearly visible in patients by shining light through the ear. The nerves, however, cannot be seen,” said study co-author Professor Wolfgang Weninger, MD, of the MedUni Vienna division of anatomy. “Our microanatomical measurements on donated human bodies now tell us exactly where the nerves run in relation to blood vessels, as well as the average distance between blood vessels and nerves at certain important positions of the ear. This helps us to find the correct spot for placing the stimulation electrodes.”

Researchers then took the next step and tested their hypothesis on volunteers with chronic pain. The team said their understanding of pain was proven correct when the triphasic stimulation pattern was tested on real patients.

“In our computer simulation, it was shown for the first time that from a biophysical point of view, a triphasic signal pattern should be helpful, similar to what is known from power engineering, only with much lower magnitude,” said senior author Professor Eugenijus Kaniusas, PhD, of the Institute of Electrodynamics. “Vagus nerve stimulation is often a lifesaving option, especially for people with chronic pain who have already been treated with other methods and do not respond to medication anymore.”

Hopefully we can build on this understanding and really hammer out which types of chronic pain conditions could benefit from this triphasic stimulation of the vagus nerve. It certainly won’t be easy, especially considering that pain is unique to the individual, but it’s another step in the right direction for providing chronic pain patients with the right treatment options.

Five Daily Ways You Can Prevent And Treat Arthritis

June 4, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Arthritis is one of if most common health conditions that affects individuals over the age of 50. In fact, roughly 1 in 4 Americans over the age of 54 have been diagnosed with arthritis, so odds are you know someone in your life who is battling the condition.

The tricky part about arthritis is that there’s not a lot that can be done to turn back the clock on your joints once the problem has developed. We can help reduce symptoms and make daily life more bearable, but given that it is a degenerative condition, it’s difficult to restore your joints to a younger, healthier version of itself. Instead, we always preach that prevention is preferred to treatment. Below, we take a closer look at five things you should strive to do each day to help ward off arthritis in your knees, hips, shoulders and wrists.

Daily Arthritis Prevention Activities

Here’s a look at five things you can do each day to reduce your risk of arthritis.

1. Exercise – Exercise may seem like it’s hard on your joints, but regular, moderate-intensity exercise is one of the best things you can do to keep your joints healthy. Exercise helps to prevent joint stiffness and muscle atrophy that can contribute to joint dysfunction. Protect your joints by working to strengthen them through daily exercise.

2. Weight Management – Exercise can also help you keep this factor in mind. Weight management is key for preventing arthritis. If you’re carrying extra weight, your joints are going to be the ones feeling this stress. Losing just a few pounds can take a lot of stress off your joints. Considering that we take roughly 8,000-10,000 steps a day on average, that’s a lot of stress on your knees that can be avoided if you just strive to maintain a healthy weight.

3. Eat Healthy – Now, every meal doesn’t need to be perfect, but if you can have more bad days than good when it comes to your diet, you’ll be putting yourself in a good position to stave off arthritis. A poor diet can lead to excess weight, which as we talked about above will challenge your joints. It can also contribute to joint inflammation, making certain movements painful and contributing to a reduced likelihood to exercise and strengthen your joints.

4. Prevent Joint Injuries – Not all acute injuries are preventable, but you can reduce your risk of an injury by taking time to stretch before activity and avoiding overstressing joints with too much activity in too short a time period. Know your limits when it comes to certain physical activities. Overexerting yourself can put excess stress on your joints, which can lead them to break down and become arthritic.

5. Avoid Smoking – Finally, ditch the tobacco products if you want to get serious about reducing your arthritis risk. Studies show that smoking increases your risk of rheumatoid arthritis, among other health issues. Give up smoking or stay away from the habit if you want to reduce your arthritis risk.

And if you believe you’re in the beginning stages of arthritis, talk to a pain specialist like Dr. Cohn. Early intervention can prevent symptoms from getting worse, so reach out to his clinic today for more information.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Chronic Pain Management

May 28, 2020May 28, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

eds Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) is a genetic disorder that affects the connective tissues in your body. It comes in different forms and can cause a variety of symptoms for those battling the condition, but the most common symptom is pain. Because pain is oftentimes in the spotlight for patients with EDS, it’s not uncommon for them to seek out a pain management specialist to help reduce and eliminate symptoms. Below, we explain why many patients with EDS notice improvements with their condition after they connect with a pain management specialist.

Pain Management For EDS

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome affects the connective tissues in your body, making it harder for structures to stay in a stable position as they normally would. Overly flexible joints or hyper-mobile soft tissues can put extra pressure on the area and lead to pain when an area is overstretched. It’s also not uncommon for patients with EDS to develop nerve pain, early-onset arthritis, or symptoms in numerous areas of the body. In all, it’s a highly complex condition.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The best thing you have going for you right now is that unlike a number of patients with chronic pain, you know exactly what’s causing your pain. You may not know if it’s a nerve or joint issue, but a diagnosis of EDS allows the doctor to conduct simple tests to determine the specific issue caused by EDS and how it can be best managed.

Each case of EDS needs to be managed on an individual basis, but again, now that we know what we’re working against, we can move forward with a treatment plan that has a higher likelihood of success. Some of the most common treatment options your pain management specialist may recommend include a combination of:

Medications to help lessen pain sensations.
Physical and occupational therapy to strengthen flexible and unstable structures so they can safely handle more stress.
Splinting, bracing or other compression techniques.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Yoga, Tai Chi or similar mindfulness-based gentle exercise routines.

Another key area that your pain management specialist will focus on is your understanding of the condition. Many people get frustrated by their EDS diagnosis because it can be so challenging to treat, and these feelings can actually be detrimental to successful treatment. By ensuring you understand the condition, what you can control, what can make symptoms better and worse, and what resources to lean on if you have a flare up can all make EDS more manageable.

EDS encompasses a lot of general themes we see in our clinic. It’s an uphill battle and it can be frustrating at times, but there are successful treatment options available if you’re willing to put in the work and stay committed to a care plan. To get started on your journey to less pain caused by your EDS, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his skilled medical team today.

What Weather Makes Chronic Pain Worse?

May 20, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

The weather can affect your mood, but can it also affect how pain is expressed and felt in your body? According to new research out of the United Kingdom, certain whether patterns may make your chronic pain condition worse. Below, we take a closer look at what the study uncovered, and we explain why certain weather patterns may lead to a chronic pain flareup.

Chronic Pain and The Weather

To better understand how weather systems affected individuals with pain, researchers from the University of Manchester conducted a 15-month study involving more than 13,000 people living with chronic pain. Patients were asked to record their pain intensity each day with the help of a smartphone app. GPS location data was also used to record the weather data for the individual’s location. Researchers ranked all tracked days, and the most painful days saw 23 percent of participants report an increase in pain, whereas only 10 percent said the same on the days ranked as the least painful days.

Researchers took the 45 highest ranking days for pain and averaged the weather conditions to determine the weather patterns that were present on the days when the most amount of people were in pain. The same was done for the 45 lowest ranking days. Here’s what they found:

On the most painful days, the jet stream was aimed right at the UK, with below-normal pressure over the UK.
On the most painful days, the humidity and precipitation rate were both above-normal.
On the least painful days, there was above-normal pressure over the UK.
On the least painful days, the humidity and precipitation rate were both below-normal, and winds were weaker.

Co-lead researchers Professor David Schultz, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Manchester, and Professor Will Dixon, had this to say about the study:

“Over 2400 years ago, Hippocrates wrote that different wind directions could bring better or worse health to individuals,” said Professor Dixon. “The belief by people living with long-term pain conditions, such as arthritis, that their pain is affected by the weather remains prevalent today, with about 75% of people with chronic pain believing this to be true. Yet, there is disagreement over what weather condition makes their pain worse.”

“Part of the reason for this lack of consensus is that previous researchers have treated the different measures of the weather such as pressure, temperature, humidity separately, which assumes that one could vary the temperature while holding all of the other weather measures fixed,” said Professor Schultz. “Of course, the real atmosphere does not behave like this, as all the variables are changing simultaneously. A simple analysis clearly won’t do to get at understanding how weather affects pain.”

The leading theory is that when low pressure systems arrives, the pressure against your joints drops as well, which can make swelling and inflammation worse. Our bodies then react to this inflammation, which can lead to an increase in pain sensations. It’s far from a concrete science, but this study seems to provide more proof that there is at least a correlation between certain weather conditions and an increase or decrease in chronic pain.