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

Not Every Pain Study Should Be Taken As The Truth

August 21, 2017 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Years ago when first entering into the world of medicine, I thought that if a study appeared in a leading scientific journal then it would have to have been a good scientific study. As an undergraduate and in my medical student years I was never really taught how to read a paper and analyze it for its quality. Over the years more articles stopped making sense, and as one would delve into the details, it often became clear that many studies that were published were just bad research.

Often if one knew something about the subject being studied, either the conclusions were obvious or they were not clearly defined such that the answer found may not really have a true correlation to the problem. Good medical studies are often very hard to perform. If you are not very careful, the answer will be junk, even if it is published in a good medical journal. Recently, this has occurred in a major medical journal.

Insurance Sponsored Studies

A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) was published with the finding that radiofrequency lesioning does not work in the lumbar region. Unfortunately, this again was a seriously flawed study and on top of everything from a research perspective, it was an insurance sponsored product. The pain societies across the world have been surprised and highly critical of the poor quality of the research and conclusions drawn in this paper.

If one has done their research, they would see that there are multiple excellent studies supporting the use of radiofrequency techniques for some specific uses. This technique has been around since the 1970’s and good equipment and understanding was established in the 1990’s. The technique is very successful for removing a nerve pathway for sensation feedback from facet joints. The science has been proven in detailed and has benefited thousands of pain sufferers. It is a common treatment for facet pain in both the neck and lumbar region and is highly successful when diagnostic blocks done first are indicative of pain relief.

This type of intervention has also been used for a number of other things including knee joint problems, sacro-iliac joint pain, and a variety of peripheral nerve problems and lumbar disc issues. All the other areas treated have had less success due to complex nerve locations. Lumping all radiofrequency treatments together and saying that they do not work is a true disservice to medicine and the patients. Further, since the JAMA is a highly regarded journal, the editors should have more closely scrutinized the study for its validity. Understanding the anatomy in the body also makes a huge difference; nerve location for most areas of the body can be highly variable from person to person and therefore it may be difficult to be successful in severing a nerve with limited ability to visualize its location.

Pain is a very complex sensation in the human body. The overall perception of the stimuli is based on the interpretation of signals in the brain. The brain may actually be receiving signals from multiple structures but interpreting them all as similar and from one location. Eliminating one piece of the signal may be sufficient to solve a pain problem. If the signals are coming from multiple locations, eliminating just one part of the signal may not change the brain’s perception of pain. The joints along the spine have very well defined sensory nerves and feedback; If the pain is from this structure it can be clearly determined and successfully treated. The discs and sacro-iliac joints have poorly defined sensory feedback, trying to eliminate the signals from these regions is still a matter of study. If the editor of JAMA used some critical thinking, the poor quality of the study would have been easily seen and the disservice of its publication could have been avoided.

Radiofrequency management of pain can be highly successful. It is definitely a science with some very technical variables that impact its success. To use this as a tool in pain management, understanding its science, capabilities, risks and benefits is necessary. It is well proven to work in certain situations. A good clinician can maximize radiofrequency effectiveness for a variety of problems but it does have limits. It is not experimental but it does have its inherent challenges in its ability to safely remove enough nerves to relieve pain. If you have pain, a good board certified pain physician can often help a patient find strategies that may lead to more successful management of your symptoms.

Chronic Pain After Surgery

August 15, 2017 / Thomas Cohn, MD

In the vast majority of cases, a surgical procedure helps to eliminate or reduce pain in the targeted area. However, in rare cases, complications or unforeseen circumstances can result in the onset of what’s known as chronic postsurgical pain.

Today, we’re going to take a closer look at CPSP, and how it is prevented and treated.

Treating Chronic Pain After Surgery

Medical experts define chronic postsurgical pain as pain that persists for at least two months after surgery and is not attributable to a preexisting condition. Oftentimes CPSP is considered neuropathic in nature, and patients describe the pain as shooting, burning, tingling or electrical in nature. Some procedures that have a higher rate of CPSP after surgery include:

Amputation
Coronary artery bypass surgery
Thoracotomy
Spine surgery
Breast surgery
Hip surgery
Hysterectomy
Inguinal hernia repair
Cesarean section

Doctors believe that CPSP develops because stress from the operation, inflammation or nerve damage results in neuronal hypersensitivity that results in the expression of chronic pain flare ups long after the surgical site has healed.

Risks and Prevention

There are a number of factors that increase a person’s risk of developing chronic postsurgical pain after an operation. Those factors include undergoing repeat surgeries, lengthy surgeries, open procedures instead of minimally invasive surgeries, and undergoing an operation in a previously injured area. On the doctor’s end, a surgeon can increase a person’s risk of developing CPSP if there is intraoperative nerve damage, which is more likely to occur in difficult operations, surgeries involving severe trauma, or surgeries near the spinal cord and central nervous system.

The main way surgical teams prevent CPSP is through surgical techniques and improved operative practices. If possible, the surgeon will opt for a laparoscopic procedure in lieu of an open procedure, because minimally invasive options have a decreased likelihood of CPSP. Another thing surgical teams will do is carefully administer analgesic agents with different mechanisms of actions during the pre-, intra- and post-operative periods. These approaches reduce peripheral and central sensitization and are associated with enhanced efficacy and fewer adverse reactions.

Should you develop CPSP after an operation, reach out to a chronic pain doctor in your area to see what solutions are available to you.

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.