What Women Want – A Pain Care Provider Who Believes Them

September 2, 2021 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Chronic pain can be an extremely challenging to overcome, and that sentiment rings even truer when patients don’t feel like they are being heard by their treating physician. And according to recent statistics, oftentimes it is women that feel like their voices aren’t being heard in their quest to effectively treat their chronic pain.

Several studies have used a mechanism called GREP, which stands for Gender Role Expectation of Pain measure, to better understand some of the discrepancies that women face when attempting to have their pain treated. Some of the studies on GREP have found that women are viewed as being more likely to report pain, faster to report pain and more sensitive to report pain, and that can have a negative effect in how they are treated by their physician and the healthcare community in general.

Some other common complaints about how men and women are viewed when it comes to pain care include:

Women complain more than men
Women are not accurate reporters of their pain
Men are more stoic than women, so when they complain of pain, “it’s real”
Women are better able to tolerate pain than men
Women are seen as more sensitive or dramatic, so their pain is more likely to be viewed as an overreaction than a debilitating reality

All of these ideas work against women in their quest to treat their chronic pain condition, and these implicit biases can be present in pain care providers who generalize chronic pain.

Being Heard By Your Pain Care Specialist

That’s why it’s so important to find a pain care specialist who will really take the time to get to the bottom of your pain, to listen to your concerns and to work with you to develop an individualized care plan and see it through. We do that with every patient that comes into our office, and while it takes a little more time and effort, we know that part of the battle when it comes to chronic pain is simply being listened to.

Pain is so complex and unique that it requires an individualized approach for every patient. Any doctor that simply rushes to prescribe opioids may only be putting a Band-Aid on the problem. That may provide some short-term relief, but it won’t do anything to cure the issue on a larger scale. We know that this process is time consuming and may require us to adapt and overcome new challenges, but we’ve seen it work firsthand, and that’s what we want to offer all of our patients.

So if you feel like your concerns aren’t being heard, or if you feel like your doctor isn’t really taking your input to heart, maybe it’s time that you find a specialist who puts you first. Dr. Cohn and his team have been doing that for patients for decades, and we’d love to add your name to the growing list of patients who have found chronic pain relief with our assistance. For more information, contact our clinic today.

Western Diet May Be Making Chronic Pain Symptoms Worse

June 24, 2021 / Thomas Cohn, MD

More than one in five adults in the US is living with chronic pain, and a new study suggests that our diet may play a big role in the expression of this pain. Conversely, making improvements in what we eat could help to lessen the impact that chronic pain has on our daily lives.

According to a recent study published in Nature Metabolism, Western-style diets, which are typically rich in omega-6 polyunstaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), may be linked to an increased risk of chronic pain. PUFAs, are common in foods like cured meats, processed snacks and fast food, which are oftentimes far too common in a Western diet. Moreover, the effects they have may be amplified in patients with comorbidities, like diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

Western Diet and Chronic Pain

Researchers looked at the effects of the Western-style diet on both mice and humans, and they found a connection between an increased presence of PUFAs and a higher likelihood of chronic pain symptom expression. For example, in patients with type 2 diabetes, researchers found that those with the greatest pain and those who were most likely to take pain medication to help calm symptoms had the highest levels of omega-6 fatty acids in their skin.

However, researchers were also encouraged by what these findings may mean for the average chronic pain sufferer. They found that both inflammation- and neuropathy-related pain may be improved through dietary modifications and healthy lifestyle changes. Additionally, certain medications could help to block the release of PUFAs into the bloodstream, further helping to relieve symptoms.

The good news is that we’re gaining more information each and every day on how different lifestyle factors can treat or exacerbate our chronic pain condition, and this study shows just how important it is to be cognizant of what we put in our bodies, especially if we’re overweight or dealing with diabetes. Diet and exercise are two controllable aspects of everyday life that have a major impact on how our body processes and expresses pain. Changing your diet likely won’t completely solve your chronic pain issue on its own, but if you pair it with exercise and you take care of your mental and emotional health, all signs point to you being able to better control or even cure your chronic pain condition.

It’s not going to be easy, which is why we’re here to help. If you want to get more information about your chronic pain condition, or if you want assistance altering your diet so that it helps relieve instead of contribute to your chronic pain condition, reach out to Dr. Cohn and his team of chronic pain specialists today. No two chronic pain conditions are the same, and we’ll give you the individualized attention to help solve your chronic pain problem. For more information or to get started on your chronic pain treatment journey, click here to learn how to get in contact with Dr. Cohn’s office.

Combat Chronic Pain By Improving Your “Zest” For Life

February 10, 2021 / Thomas Cohn, MD

zest A new study focusing on the psychology of chronic pain recently revealed that intentionally training certain character strengths could possibly help patients reduce or overcome their chronic pain condition.

The desire to learn more about this possible connection was driven by the idea that chronic pain can suck the joy and satisfaction out of many of life’s pursuits. Researchers posited that if chronic pain can influence our quality of life and some of our daily character traits, the reverse may also be true, in that focusing on developing character traits that define us could in fact help a person gain more control over their chronic pain.

While that may sound a bit far fetched, when you break it down with some examples, the theory seems to hold some water. For example, someone who heavily relies on humor or a very honest person may be better able to deal with the totality of their chronic pain condition than someone without those personality traits because of the psychology that drives these character traits.

Which Character Traits Help With Chronic Pain Control?

To get a better understanding of which character traits may have more influence on a person’s ability to control their chronic pain condition, researchers asked 491 chronic pain patients to complete a survey about their pain severity, how it impacts their physical function and their self-efficacy (their ability to engage in normal daily activities despite pain). Additionally, patients were asked to complete a self-assessment of their character strengths, which included 24 different character strengths as defined by a previous study. Those 24 different character strengths were:

Creativity
Curiosity
Judgment
Love of learning
Perspective
Bravery
Perseverance
Honest
Zest
Love
Kindness
Social Intelligence
Teamwork
Fairness
Leadership
Forgiveness
Humility
Prudence
Self-regulation
Appreciation
Gratitude
Hope
Humor
Spirituality

Interestingly, some character traits were associated with greater pain self-efficacy in the face of higher pain severity and functional loss than others. The three best traits for chronic pain self-efficacy were:

Zest
Perseverance
Hope

While the three lowest were:

Appreciation
Creativity
Leadership

So, on that note, researchers pondered if working to improve one’s “zest” could in turn help them better manage their chronic pain condition. Zest, as the researchers write, “is characterized by a sense of vitality and ‘aliveness’ in their own individual lives, as well as having the ability to invigorate and energize the people around them.”

During a two-week intervention, 81 participants were asked to either work on cultivating their zest for life or another neutral condition and given instructions on how they could improve these characteristics. Both groups had similar pain levels at the beginning of the two weeks, and both groups reported less pain and functional improvement by the end of the study. However, only the patients in the zest group reported an increase in pain self-efficacy.

While the research is small and limited, it certainly is interesting. If you’re working to combat a chronic pain condition, follow the traditional methods but also work on improving your zest for life. It’s easier said than done, but by trying to become more enthusiastic for life and using your energy to the fullest degree, you may notice an improvement in your self-efficacy as it relates to your pain condition!

For more information, or for help with your chronic pain condition, reach out to Dr. Cohn’s office today.

Exercise Your Way To A Better Memory

January 3, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

If you’re trying to exercise more in the new year, you may need to remind yourself to make time to exercise in the first few weeks before it becomes a habit, but according to new research, exercise may also help you remember daily tasks later in life.

According to research out of Norway, experts say that exercise and being physically fit may help sharpen our memory and reduce our dementia risk, even if we don’t really start exercising until later in life. There have been numerous studies on the link between being physically fit and staving off dementia risk, but no study has tackled the topic of when the participant begins their exercise regimen. For this study, researchers focused on whether getting physically fit at midlife or retirement age was too late to see any improvements.

Researchers used medical records of more than 30,000 individuals and tracked how their health changed over a 10-year period. They grouped individuals into three separate groups:

Those who remained in the lowest 20 percent of aerobic fitness for the entire study.
Those who moved into or out of that bottom 20 percent at any point during the 10-year period.
Those who remained outside of the bottom 20 percent for the entire 10-year period.

Memory and Exercise Results

After analyzing medical records, nursing home data and specialized memory clinics to determine which participants developed dementia during a 20-year follow up, researchers came to some interesting conclusions. They found that people who were fit throughout the entire study were almost 50 percent less likely to develop dementia than the least-fit men and women. Possibly more of note, those men and women who entered middle age out of shape but gained fitness showed a similar substantial reduction in their subsequent risk for dementia.

Researchers said that the study didn’t examine which types of exercise were being performed by those who gained fitness, so it appears that any physical exercise that helps to remain fit could be beneficial for your memory, even later in life. Another study on the topic found that individuals saw similar gains when they participated in exercise that raised their heart rate and boosted fitness, so while walking may be an okay form of exercise, walking with some interval training may provide more benefits.

“I tell people to add in some hills when they go for a walk,” said Jennifer Heisz, an associate professor at McMaster University who oversaw the second study, “or pick up the pace between streetlamps.”

So if you want to increase your chance of having a strong memory later in life, find some daily exercises that boost your physical fitness! And for help with any aspect of fitness or your health, don’t hesitate to reach out to Dr. Cohn’s office today.

Should You Eat Before Or After Exercise?

December 23, 2019 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Should you fuel up before hitting the gym, or is it best to burn calories on an empty stomach? That’s the question researchers at the University of Bath in England sought to answer with their latest study.

For their research, the team decided to look at the fat burning capabilities of exercise based on when the participant last ate. They were wondering if when a person ate influenced how much muscle fat was burned during activity, because muscle fat can be a key contributor to the eventual onset of insulin resistance and diabetes. For their study, the team divided 30 overweight men into three groups.

A control group that lived their normal lives.
A group that consumed a vanilla-flavored shake two hours before cycling exercise.
A group that consumed a placebo shake two hours before cycling exercise.

Participants wore monitors and masks that tracked a number of different factors, including their heart rate and the amount of fat and sugar they burned. After exercise, the participants drank the shake they had not yet consumed (placebo for the vanilla shake group, and a vanilla shake for those who consumed a placebo before exercise).

The study lasted for six weeks, and researchers drew some interesting conclusions after looking at the data. As expected, the control group’s insulin sensitivity remained unchanged, while the men in both exercise groups improved their fitness and narrowed their waistlines, although few actually lost weight. Notably, participants who pedaled on an empty stomach burned about twice as much fat during each ride as the men who consumed their shake prior to exercise. All riders burned about the same number of calories while pedaling, but more of those calories came from fat when the men did not eat first. Riders that consumed the shake afterwards also had greater improvements in insulin sensitivity and had developed higher levels of certain proteins in their muscles that influence how well muscle cells respond to insulin and use blood sugar than the other groups.

“You can probably get more out of your workout without increasing its intensity or duration by exercising before breakfast,” said Javier Gonzalez, a professor of physiology and nutrition at the University of Bath, who oversaw the study.

So if you’re wondering when the best time to exercise is, it might be first thing in the morning after you wake up. That being said, any exercise is better than no exercise, so just get it in when it works for you!