Pain is personal, and so is pain treatment.
When it comes to chronic pain, over-the-counter medications, prescription medications, and a variety of treatments can help. But if they don’t provide enough relief or don’t help at all, what else can you try?
W. Michael Hooten, M.D., a pain specialist, anesthesiologist, and psychiatrist at the Mayo Clinic and medical director for the City of Mayo, says there are a wide range of non-drug approaches to managing chronic pain, including multiple types. He says it’s often best to use therapy. Clinic Pain Rehabilitation Center in Rochester.
“Whether it’s acupuncture, exercise therapy such as yoga, chiropractic, or physical therapy, we seek to find the best combination of treatments that lead to long-term improvements in quality of life and functionality. ” he says.
Ultimately, Dr. Hooten says, medical teams need to consider which treatment an individual patient prefers, as long as that treatment is safe and effective.
“An important part of my job is taking the time to listen to my patients, identify their preferred treatments, and help them set reasonable and achievable treatment goals,” he says. say.
complementary therapy
Here are some complementary therapies that are being studied to alleviate some types of chronic pain.
acupuncture. This treatment involves inserting very thin needles into strategic points in the body. Often used to treat pain. This treatment originates from traditional Chinese medicine, and many acupuncturists believe that acupuncture is a way to restore balance to the flow of energy within the body. Some people think of this therapy as a way to stimulate nerves, tissues, and muscles. Research supports its potential to help reduce certain types of pain, such as post-surgical pain and back pain, and many people find it useful as a way to control a variety of painful conditions. However, some types of simulated acupuncture appear to be just as effective as real acupuncture, according to some studies.
chiropractic care. This treatment focuses on the spine, where a specialist manipulates the spine by applying pressure to specific spinal joints. Rare complications include herniated discs, stroke after neck adjustment, and spinal nerve compression. This treatment may have some effect on lower back pain and even other types of pain, such as neck pain and headaches. Some people do not respond to chiropractic adjustments.
Massage. There are many different types of massage that aim to reduce pain by moving and manipulating the body’s muscles and soft tissues. Massage can help relieve certain types of pain, such as neck and shoulder pain, and sometimes knee osteoarthritis pain.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). This is a common type of talk therapy, also known as psychotherapy. Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most effective ways to help people learn how to reduce chronic pain and improve function and quality of life.
Chronic pain can lead to the idea that you can’t do the things you want to do because your lower back hurts all the time. It is also typical for people to develop habits in response to chronic pain, such as talking about it, moaning, limping, or limiting their activities.
However, these thoughts, feelings, and actions can actually make your pain worse. Changing those thoughts and behaviors can also change your perception and experience of pain.
“Cognitive behavioral therapy helps individuals recognize how maladaptive thoughts and behaviors related to chronic pain impact their lives,” says Dr. Hooten. “This type of treatment helps most people regardless of their underlying chronic pain diagnosis.”
Advanced interventions for chronic pain
Treatments like massage and acupuncture aren’t the only options for relieving chronic pain without swallowing pills.
Advanced interventions are another way to alleviate and treat chronic pain. Dr. Hooten says this type of treatment is often overlooked by people, but depending on the diagnosis of the pain, it can be very effective.
One approach targets the messages or signals the body sends about pain. We constantly receive information from all our senses, which the nerves and spinal cord send to the brain for processing. Some of the messages the brain receives are signals related to chronic pain. Various implantable devices can target back, neck, and head pain by sending electrical pulses that can scramble or interrupt pain signals going to and from the brain.
Dr. Hooten says chronic low back pain, where the spinal nerve roots have become pinched or irreversibly damaged, is a good case to consider. An intervention called spinal cord stimulation can help with this. In this procedure, small electrodes are placed in the epidural space of the spinal canal, and then a battery generator, which resembles a small computer, is implanted under the skin. You can then turn the stimulator on or off using the remote control or your mobile phone.
“This device directs an electric field into the spinal cord to help ‘turn off’ or reduce the intensity of pain signals that travel through the spinal cord and ultimately to the brain,” says Dr. Hooten. “This is a very sophisticated and specialized intervention.”
X-ray-guided injections, such as epidural injections, offer another type of advanced intervention. Other types of injections use ultrasound technology to guide the needle to target specific nerves or other painful areas in the body. X-ray- and ultrasound-guided injections are typically performed with a combination of steroids, local anesthetics, and other drugs, Dr. Hooten says.
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