Making Chronic Pain Less Scary

October 28, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Halloween is right around the corner, and we want to stay on theme with the spooky holiday by talking about ways to make your chronic pain condition less scary. So below, read up on some tips that can help you take more control over your chronic pain and prevent you from living in fear of your condition.

Making Pain Less Scary

One of the reasons why a chronic pain condition can be so frightening is because of our lack of control over the situation. Patients don’t know if today will be a good day or a bad day, and the anxiety with not having control over your pain condition can make physical symptoms worse. Below, we share some tips for regaining control over your chronic pain condition.

1. Stay Active – A pain condition can make it easier for a person to want to lie in bed and avoid participating in daily life, but that only serves to make your condition worse in the long run. Activity and exercise help to build muscle and release endorphins that act as a natural pain reliever. Being active also helps your mental mindset, which can go a long way in helping you calm fears or anxiety over your chronic pain condition. Force yourself to do some physical activity each day, even if it’s just walking around the block.

2. Get A Diagnosis – You might be hoping that chronic pain will just go away on its own, but that’s rarely the case. Passively treating the condition by looking for information online is limited in its ability to help you, and in many cases it can actually make a person more anxious over their pain due to over-diagnosing the issue. To get peace of mind over your condition, get a confirmed and individualized diagnosis from a pain management specialist.

3. Control What You Can Control – As we mentioned above, a lot of our fears over our condition stem from our inability to control the situation. And while you can’t control everything, you need to focus your attention and efforts on the things you can control, like your exercise levels, your diet and your willingness to actively treat your condition head-on each and every day. If you can say you’ve done all you can to help keep your condition at bay, then you shouldn’t lose sleep over your condition. You’re controlling what you can control, and sometimes that’s all you can do.

4. Improve Your Diet – Eating healthier won’t cause your back pain to vanish, but it does play a crucial role in being able to work towards less daily pain. A healthy diet will give you more energy to be active or to fight through the days when you just want to lay in bed. It can also help you keep off extra weight, which can sometimes exacerbate a pain condition. You don’t need to eat perfectly every meal, but keep your health in mind when meal planning.

5. Education – The more we learn about our pain condition, the less fear it holds over us. Never be afraid to turn to your pain specialist for answers to questions or concerns you might have. The internet can also be a helpful option if you make sure you’re finding information from reputable sources, but again, your care team will be able to provide the best advice for your specific situation, so lean on them for help along the way!

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

VR Headset Earns FDA Clearance For Chronic Pain Treatment

October 22, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Stepping into virtual reality may soon be a way for patients dealing with chronic back pain and fibromyalgia to find relief. Applied VR, a Los Angeles-based virtual reality company, recently announced that one of its headsets received Breakthrough Device Designation from the Food and Drug Administration for treating patients with certain pain conditions.

The EaseVRx is the first virtual reality device to earn this designation from the FDA for treating a chronic pain condition. This designation will make it easier for the development and review of virtual reality devices to help treat chronic pain conditions, and it could also make it more likely that VR therapy to treat chronic pain will soon be covered by insurance.

“AppliedVR is the most evidence-backed VR platform on the market, and today’s FDA designation demonstrates that health experts across the spectrum recognize the therapeutic potential of VR as a viable treatment for pain,” Matthew Stoudt, CEO and co-founder of AppliedVR, said in a statement. “Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupting Americans’ ability to get in-person care safely, we’re looking forward to getting EaseVRx into the hands of people suffering from pain. Providers believe in it, patients want it, and payers are coming around to it.”

How It Works

Patients in the recent clinical trial were asked to wear the headset and watch at least one virtual reality program each day for a period of 21 days. The programs were designed to immerse the user into a virtual environment where they could take in beautiful scenery or even swim with dolphins. The goal behind the program is to help train the brain to focus on what’s going on around a person instead of focusing on chronic pain signals.

At the end of the three-week study, 84 percent of patients reported that they were satisfied with their VR therapy, and on average, pain intensity decreased 30 percent. Patients also reported an improvement in mood, sleep and stress levels, which all play a role in the expression and interpretation of chronic pain.

“Virtual reality is a promising skills-based behavioral medicine that has been shown to have high patient engagement and satisfaction,” said Beth Darnall, PhD, AppliedVR’s chief science advisor. “However, chronic pain patients to date have had very limited access to it, so we’re excited to continue working with the FDA to develop our platform and get it into the market faster.”

We’ve written about virtual reality treatments for chronic pain in the past, but we’re especially excited about this news because it seems like a big step in the right direction. Hopefully they continue to have success with this treatment and more people can find ways to treat or relieve symptoms of their chronic pain.

How Is The Pandemic Is Affecting Pain Patients

September 30, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

pain Although it seems like we’re starting to come out the other side, we’re still dealing with the fallout of COVID-19 on a daily basis. And while the virus tends to have the most severe effects on older adults, another vulnerable group during this period are chronic pain patients. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at how chronic pain sufferers are being disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pain Patients and the Pandemic

Chronic pain can make getting out of bed a daily battle, and when you add a pandemic to the mix, it only gets worse. Here’s a look at some of the unique ways that the pandemic is affecting patients with chronic conditions.

Isolation – We’re supposed to be limiting our contact with others as much as possible to help cut down on potential transmission, and that can leave us feeling isolated. Those feelings can be amplified in patients with a chronic pain condition who may already feel isolated because of their individual pain condition. Make sure you are staying connected with others as best you can, be it by phone, Facetime or in person with distancing measures in mind.

Worsened Symptoms – If a chronic pain patient caught COVID-19, there’s a chance their symptoms would be worse than the average person’s symptoms. Research has found that genetic and autoimmune deficiencies could contribute to worsening symptoms, and those same issues could have an underlying role in your chronic pain condition. Everyone should make smart decisions when it comes to preventing potential exposure, but this is especially true for chronic pain patients.

Delayed Access To Care – Elective surgeries were delayed when COVID numbers were surging in Minnesota, and now medical centers are dealing with a backlog of patients. This can make it harder to see a doctor as soon as you would like. COVID-19 is delaying access to medical care for all individuals, but patients with chronic pain that may have more regular checkups and screenings now may face additional challenges staying on top of their condition.

Psychological Effects – As we’ve preached about on the blog in the past, chronic pain conditions are rarely only a physical issue. There is also a big psychological side to treating the condition. However, this could become harder to manage as the stress of COVID-19 is adding mental strain to our plate. Try to ensure that you are taking time for your mental health and your physical health each and every day.

If you are finding it even harder to manage your chronic pain during these turbulent times, know that we are here for you. We will do everything in our power to help you have more good days than bad. For more information on how we’ll do this, reach out to Dr. Cohn’s office today.

Preventing Chronic Pain From Having Consequences For Your Social Life

September 17, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Chronic pain can be a significant physical problem, but unfortunately it’s not just a physical issue. We’ve talked about how chronic physical pain can have an impact on your mental health on the blog in the past, but today we want to touch on another aspect of your life that chronic pain can affect – your social life. Below, we talk about how chronic pain can negatively affect your social life, and how to prevent this from happening.

Chronic Pain And Your Social Life

If you have a chronic pain condition, you can probably relate to at least one of the points below. Here are a number of ways chronic pain can affect your social life.

1. Withdrawing From Friends – Either because you’re dealing with a flare up or you’re afraid of a flare up when you’re out with friends, it’s easy to start using your pain condition as a reason to turn down invitations or to meet up with others. Never be afraid to say no, but at the same time, make sure you’re also offering and trying to make plans instead of always being the one cancelling or skipping. If you’re afraid of going to the movies with friends, offer to host a movie night. Find a way to stay close to your inner circle on your own terms if chronic pain sometimes gets in the way.

2. It Distracts You – Sometimes chronic pain is all we can think about, and that can take away from your enjoyment when you’re out with others. This can leave you feeling distant even when you’re out with friends. Really try to engage in the activity or the conversation, as this can help take your mind off your pain, and this speaks to the larger point of really working with a pain specialist to find treatment and coping mechanisms to prevent pain from making you mentally distracted.

3. Your Mood – Being in physical pain can have a significant affect on your mood, and nobody wants to hang out with someone whose always in a bad mood. Talk with your doctor about your cognitive treatment options to prevent physical pain from affecting your mood. And while it may not be easy, try to reflect on your mood and your attitudes when you’re with others to see if you believe your pain is making you a negative person.

4. Isolated – Chronic pain can leave you feeling isolated in a different way than described in point one where you’re not physically able to connect with friends. Chronic pain can leave patients feeling different from everyone else, and that can be extremely isolating. Don’t be afraid to talk with your friends and family about how your chronic pain makes you feel. Odds are they are going to be more accepting and welcoming than imagined, because you’d do the same for them if they opened up to you about their struggles.

By working with a specialist who understands the physical, mental, emotional and social effects of chronic pain, you can help ensure that your condition doesn’t spill over into other aspects of your life. Dr. Cohn has been doing that for patients for decades, and he can do the same for you. For more information, reach out to his clinic today.

How To Deal With Chronic Pain Without Medication

September 11, 2020 / Thomas Cohn, MD

Everybody’s battle against chronic pain is different, so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to treating chronic pain. However, one thing many patients have in common is a desire to avoid painkillers and opioids at all costs. That’s not to say that opioids can’t be a crucial part of a chronic pain treatment program, but for one reason or another, many patients want to avoid them if at all possible.

If you’re one of those people who wants to try and treat their chronic pain without the assistance of opioids, we want to help. Below, we look at some ways you can work to alleviate symptoms and treat the root cause of your chronic pain without painkillers.

Treating Pain Without Pills

Many chronic pain patients find relief with some form or a combination of the following treatment options.

1. Exercise – Sometimes your chronic pain is derived from instability or your body’s inability to provide ample support for stress that is being channeled through an area. Exercise can help to strengthen weakened areas of your body, but it also helps by pushing healthy blood throughout your body so that oxygenated blood and nutrients can aid in tissue development. If traditional exercises like running or walking are too painful, consider some limited weight-bearing exercises like swimming or an elliptical.

2. Yoga – Yoga can provide a number of the same benefits as exercise, but it can also help treat chronic pain that is causing limited mobility. Yoga can help to expand your range of motion and treat issues like chronic neck pain or frozen shoulder. Find a beginner class near you and drag a friend a long to join in the fun.

3. Meditation and Mindfulness – Sometimes, it’s not about treating just the physical condition, you also need to be cognizant of your mindset and how chronic pain is affecting your mental health. Improving your mental health has been shown to have a positive affect on your physical health, so understand that these two factors are related. Make sure you’re caring for your mental health throughout your battle with a physical pain condition, because that can help spur recovery. Meditation and similar mental health-based activities can help with this.

4. Physical Therapy – Physical therapy is arguably the most commonly recommended form of non-operative treatment for chronic pain conditions, and that’s because it’s often so effective. By working with a physical medicine specialist or a physical therapist, you can develop a therapy routine that targets the underlying cause of pain. Whether it’s chronic joint pain, a muscle issue or loose ligaments that are leading to chronic ankle sprains, a physical therapy program that strengthens specific areas of your body can work wonders.

5. Hot/Cold Therapy – Hot or cold therapy can be beneficial for your chronic pain condition depending on the underlying cause. For example, heat therapy can boost blood flow to an area with limited blood flow due to inflammation, and heat can also help relax painful muscle spasms. Cold therapy can be used to help limit swelling in an area, making joint movement less painful. Consider using this option in combination with other techniques listed on this page.

For help getting control over your pain condition, without or without painkillers, reach out to Dr. Cohn’s office today.