The Three Components To Successfully Conquering Chronic Pain

January 26, 2021 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Conquering chronic pain is a daily battle, and it’s not something that is always easy to handle. In fact, if you don’t have the right support systems or partners by your side, it can be very difficult to overcome a chronic pain condition. In our experience, we’ve found that people who have three specific components during their chronic pain treatment have a higher likelihood of success. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at the three components to successfully conquering a chronic pain condition.

Three Pillars To Conquering Chronic Pain

The triangle is the strongest shape in nature, so if you view these three key components as parts of a triangle, it can help you visual how they can help make up the foundation for chronic pain treatment. Here are the three key components for successfully conquering chronic pain.

Yourself – Successfully managing a chronic pain condition begins with yourself. Not only do you need to want to get better, you have to actively work towards achieving it. Wanting it without taking tangible steps to reach this goal isn’t going to be effective. There’s no magic pill you can take to solve your chronic pain, it’s going to take active modalities like exercise, physical therapy and stretching techniques. Understanding this, and taking ownership of your role in managing your chronic pain condition will help you move the needle in the right direction each day. Educate yourself, commit to treatment and lean on others when you find yourself struggling in order to do your part to overcome chronic pain.

Your Doctor – Finding a pain management specialist who understands your condition, who really listens to your concerns and who won’t stop until they’ve helped solve your pain is another key component to chronic pain management. There are plenty of doctors who will prescribe pain medications and help treat the symptoms of your condition, but those won’t help you on a long-term basis. You need to find a doctor who works hard to diagnose the root problem and develop a treatment plan suited to your individual needs. They also need to be willing to reevaluate the patient and update their treatment recommendations as things change, because chronic pain is a complex issue that can change over time. If you’re not satisfied with your professional pain care, reach out to Dr. Cohn’s office and see what it’s like to work with a pain specialist who is committed to seeing the problem through.

Your Support System – Finally, it’s important to have a support system in place when things get difficult. This could be in the form of family, friends or an online support group. Some people enjoy confiding in those who are close to them, while others feel like they don’t want to be a burden and don’t want to lay their problems on people who can’t relate. Find what works for you and really work to find a support system that can help you when things aren’t going great. You’ll have bad days, but having a good support system in place can make it easier to bounce back and string together more good days than bad. If you need help developing a support system, talk to your pain specialist about online or in-person support groups, or open up to family members. And don’t be afraid to be a support system for others in your life who are going through their own issues, be it divorce, a health issue or some other problem. Lean on others, and be a rock for others who need support, and you’ll find it easier to manage your chronic pain condition.

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

5 Non-Physical Factors That Influence Chronic Pain Perception

December 28, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Chronic pain is oftentimes treated as a physical problem, but there’s much more to it than that. There are a number of other factors that play a role in the onset or alleviation of chronic pain symptoms, so being aware of these factors and doing your best to control the modifiable aspects can really help you in your quest to manage your chronic pain condition. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at those factors and explain how to use them to help control your pain symptoms.

Non-Physical Factors That Affect Chronic Pain

Here’s a look at some non-physical factors that influence how you interpret or perceive chronic pain:

1. Psychological – We tell all of our patients that chronic pain is oftentimes just as much of a mental battle as it is physical. Learning about your chronic condition and working to improve your mental health can be just as important in helping control symptoms as treatments like physical therapy. Make sure you don’t ignore your mental health when it comes to dealing with the fallout of a physical condition.

2. Emotional – Physical pain can also throw our emotions out of whack, and that can hinder our ability to successfully treat our physical ailment. A physical ailment can leave a person feeling annoyed, angry or short-tempered, none of which will help with getting control over your pain condition. It’s easier said than done, but find healthy ways to control your emotions and reach out to your doctor if you’re feeling depressed or angry about your physical condition.

3. Stress – Stress is also a huge component of how chronic pain develops and is perceived. Stress from daily life or your work environment has been shown to trigger tension headaches or inflammatory responses from the body, both of which can serve to make your pain condition worse. Don’t let stress bottle up inside of you, find healthy outlets like exercise or yoga to help you relieve stress.

4. Educational – The fear of the unknown can leave patients overstressing about certain aspects of their health, which can serve to make pain worse. Conversely, many patients who take the time to learn more about their specific chronic pain condition end up in a better position to make healthy choices to help manage symptoms. Turn to your doctor or trusted medical resources online for more information about your condition and treatment strategies for alleviating symptoms.

5. Our Bad Habits – Finally, there are vices in life that can make your chronic pain condition worse. Smoking, for example, can restrict healthy blood flow and contribute to degenerative spinal disc disease. Similarly, heavy alcohol use can lead to nerve damage, which can affect how pain signals are sent or interpreted by the brain. Getting control of your chronic pain condition includes making positive changes on your daily habits that could be having a negative affect on your health. Do some self-reflection and assess whether certain lifestyle choices are making your pain condition worse.

If you keep these tips in mind and do what you can to help control them, we’re confident that you’ll be putting yourself in a good position to beat your chronic pain condition. For more information or for help with any aspect of your pain care, reach out to Dr. Cohn’s office today.

How Does Chronic Pain Affect A Marriage?

August 19, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Chronic pain affects many aspects of a person’s life, but it’s not just the individual dealing with the pain condition that has to bear the burden. According to new research, chronic pain can also significantly affect the relationship between a patient and their spouse.

The study published in the European Journal of Pain decided to take a closer look at the impact chronic pain had on households, spousal relationships and marital satisfaction. As you can probably guess, chronic pain can really put some stress on a relationship.

For the study, researchers questioned 114 couples where one spouse was a chronic pain patient at a clinic in Spain. Nearly 60% of participants were female, and the average age was 55 years old. The most frequent locations for chronic pain were the lower back (79.8%), neck (46.5%) and the knee (15.8%).

What Spouses Are Saying

After being asked about their lifestyle and martial satisfaction, here’s what patients and spouses had to say about how chronic pain was impacting their life.

Spouses reported an average of just over 90 minutes of caregiving duties each day.
65.8% of patients reported an occupational change because of their chronic pain, with some going on permanent disability and others quitting without compensation.
Of 24 listed chores, patients said they performed an average of 18 before chronic pain began but were limited to an average of 12 tasks after pain.
On the flip side, spouses said on average that they took on two more chores after their spouse developed chronic pain.
52% of spouses reported a high to severe degree of burden, and roughly 1 in 4 patients and spouses reported having a troubled relationship.

There’s a lot to sort through with these findings, but the main takeaway is that chronic pain can really stress a marriage. Not only can it financially affect the relationship in the form or lost or reduced income, but it can also require the spouse to take on a much bigger caretaker role. Being both a caretaker and a spouse can be stressful and can lead to relationship dissatisfaction, but it doesn’t have to.

There are a number of ways to help mitigate the stress brought on by chronic pain, and we don’t have all the answers here because chronic pain is so unique to the individual. However, one of the best things you can do is talk about your concerns, your fears, your wishes and your goals. Speak up and communicate with your doctor, your care team and your spouse about what concerns you and what you can do to help improve your relationships.

Relationships take work, and relationships involving chronic pain can take even more work, but they are far from doomed. Work to correct your pain issues and to foster an open dialogue between you, your partner and your doctor, and we’re confident your relationship will move in the right direction. And for help with any aspect of your pain care, reach out to Dr. Cohn’s office today.

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.

COVID-19 and Chronic Pain

April 20, 2020April 20, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Covid-19 has become a deadly pandemic across the world, and it is likely that almost no place on earth will go untouched. It is not a hoax, and for many the threat is very real. Projections suggest that somewhere around 60 percent or more of the population will become infected over the next several months, and 80 percent of these infections will be mild. However, if one has another significant medical problem, than they may be at risk for a complication and become seriously ill or require hospitalization. Those who have one of many medical problems that cause pain often have conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, lung disease or are elderly and at a high risk for Covid-19, however pain itself does not increase risks of the virus. Currently, becoming ill with Covid-19 is like playing Russian Roulette, as there is between 1-4 percent chance if you get become sick it will kill you.

If you have a pain condition, in general one needs to continue working on safe management and try to avoid anything that would increase your risk for infection. First and most importantly, chronic pain does not kill you and is not an emergency problem. Chronic pain is a management problem and there are usually multiple options in treatment. Sometimes a temporary solution is safer than a more definitive option. Sometimes the best treatment may be unavailable due to medical restrictions on procedures like injections or surgery. Fortunately, usually an adequate and temporary plan can be implemented until a better solution is available. There also is a fair likelihood that your pain still may feel intense and that you wish control would be better, but it’s something we have to deal with amid the pandemic.

Managing Chronic Pain During The Pandemic

There are things that one can do to make the pain better. First, it is important to realize that pain is a cognitive/emotional experience and a response to sensory inputs to the brain. Pain is the perception of the sensory signals from various nerves. A soldier in the heat of battle often will not feel a serious injury while someone sitting at home with nothing to do will feel horrible sensations since the brain is not occupied by other thoughts. Therefore, the busier the mind is, the less it can think about distressing thoughts. Distract the brain and keep it busy with positive thoughts, work or even television.

The second thing that helps pain is keeping physically active and healthy. Most activities will not make chronic symptoms worse. Continue to exercise, as it is important to maintain a good stretching, strengthening and general conditioning program. Stretching keeps muscles from tightening up, feeling like bands and spasming. Strengthening keeps muscle able to have the power to perform activities. Aerobic conditioning allows muscle to have the endurance to perform activities, increases your own endorphins that reduce pain and overall helps to relax the body and mind. Activity fights off deterioration of the body.

The third thing to do is maintain an overall healthy lifestyle. Try to improve your diet such that you are not gaining weight and stressing the body. If possible, improve your diet, consider healthy choices like fruits, vegetables, diary and meats and learn to cook while staying away from highly-processed foods and excess carbohydrates. Keep your diet sustainable and something that you can afford and enjoy. If you are ambitious, try an inflammatory diet or a Mediterranean diet. On top of diet, sleeping an adequate amount is necessary. Turn off your electronic devices an hour before bed and relax the brain. Try clearing your thoughts with mindfulness, meditation or relaxation. There are many phone and computer applications that can help with relaxation. Sometimes, having professional psychological help is even beneficial. Good sleep and less stress help maintain or boost the immune system.

If you have pain, there are many ways to treat it. Now with the Covid-19 virus and the medical and social precautions being taken to prevent spread, some of the options for treatment are not available. The coronavirus may not be affecting you at the moment, but the risk of infections at this time and the possible risk of even death due to your actions is very real. One can be a spreader of the disease without symptoms, and medical workers have a very high incidence of the disease. Further, many medical procedures such as injections use up valuable protective equipment that really is needed for hospitals and senior living centers where there are not adequate supplies. At this time, pain can be treated for the short term with other options besides injections and elective surgery in most cases. If the procedure is not essential to prevent loss of life or limb, currently it can be postponed until the medical system is past the critical time of Covid-19 spread.