PAIN Management Support newsletter
SPECIAL
POINTS OF
INTEREST:
V O L U M E

Active
Participant
in Pain
Management

Welcome to
Our First
Newsletter

The Physical
Component
in Pain
Management

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I S S U E
1
J A N U A R Y
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2 0 1 2
Being an
Pain
Management
Support
Group in
Quincy
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
Being an Active
Participant
1
The Physical
2
Component
Support Group
Being an Active Participant in Pain Management
Successful pain
management is largely
dependent upon the
patient taking an active and
responsible role in
determining their
treatment options.
Numerous options are now
available to individuals
seeking pain treatment.
These include chiropractic
care, nutrition supplementation, body work, yoga
and psychology counseling.
The path to pain reduction
lies in the power of
applying many different
healing therapies in such a
way that they complement
the individual's needs,
beliefs and personality.
While each of these therapies offers some degree of
healing, the individual will
remain the key component
to successful pain reduction.
Each individual must
believe that pain can be
reduced, which is why they
are seeking treatment, and
then select those therapies
or interventions which will
assist in doing so.
It is important to remember
health care professionals
are not mind readers.
Anyone suffering pain
must assume the responsibility for communicating
their feelings and experiences clearly with their
health care professionals.
They need to be able to
articulate such things as
their level of pain, the intensity of their pain, how
they are feeling, and what
daily tasks have become
difficult or impossible due
to the pain or discomfort.
Individuals must give important information openly
and responsibly so that effective treatment decisions
can be developed in partnership with their health
care professional.
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(continued on next page)
Ten Step
Program for Pain
3
Welcome to our First Newsletter
Beginning January 15,
2012, the Blessing Pain
Management began offering this newsletter to all its
patients.
The Pain Management staff
and providers understand
the frustration that comes
with treating pain.
We hope this newsletter
may serve as a valuable
tool for patients and the
entire community.
We welcome any and all
comments regarding this
and future newsletter. Feel
free to contact Blessing
Pain Management with
ideas or questions.
Thank you for allowing us
to work with you!
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Being an Active Participant (cont)
It is not productive for anyone
suffering pain to passively hand
to a healthcare provider the
responsibility for their pain for
several important reasons:
This creates the potential for
anger an unfulfilled expectations,
primarily because any individual
who does not accept responsibility for the role and meaning
which pain plays in their life
does not have sufficient incentive to change.
A single health care professional is unlikely to "fix the
pain problem" due to the complex interplay of emotions, culture, spirit, sensation and physiology involved in the experience of pain.
better choices they make
for themselves.
This makes it necessary for
individuals in pain to become a
self-advocates in trying to
break the cycle of pain.
The more informed an individual suffering pain becomes the
Article courtesy of
4myhealth.co.uk Nov 2,
2011, David Morris, The
Culture of Pain
Those who feel informed
feel in control despite their
pain or discomfort.
The Physical Component in Pain Management
Whether you are experiencing pain from
smacking your shin on the coffee table,
lifting a heavy object, returning a tennis
shot with too much enthusiasm or having
surgery, pain hurts. But the pain is over in
a short while, sometimes with the help of
medication. Right?
head or bend your body, it helps to get off the sofa or out
of bed and increase your physical activity.
Not so if you're among the estimated 50
million people in the U.S. who live with
chronic, or on-going, pain. Chronic pain
arises from a wide range of sources, including accidents, how you stand or sit,
conditions such as arthritis and fibromyalgia, or disease.
“With exercise, your body releases its own kind of endogenous (from within) opioids, or pain-fighting chemicals,” says Steven P. Stanos, Jr., DO, medical director of
the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Chronic Pain Care
Center. “There are a number of different pain pathways
in your body. The endogenous opioid system helps to
suppress the pain response.”
Unlike short-lived acute pain, chronic
pain persists beyond the normal three
months' healing time for most bodily tissue. For some people, that means buying
those gargantuan-sized bottles of pain
relievers at the warehouse club and risking the side effects of prolonged use in
order to get through daily activities.
Those natural pain-fighters lower your perception of pain
whether you have chronic pain or not, according to Martin D. Hoffman, MD, FACSM, CIME, chief of physical
medicine and rehabilitation, Veterans Affairs Northern
California Health Care System. Dr. Hoffman found that
aerobic exercise, when conducted at moderate intensity,
caused pain perception to go down markedly. That drop
was evident for both healthy participants and for those
who suffered from chronic back pain.
Producing your own medication
How can moving more contribute to less ongoing pain?
Physical activity triggers biological defenses against
what hurts.
There's a better way to cope with chronic
pain. As odd as it may seem, when it hurts That chemical response may boost your mood as well,
too much to walk, lift objects, turn your
which can contribute to pain control, although that result
might occur only if you exercise regularly, Dr. Hoffman
adds.
(continued on next page)
PAIN
MANAGEMENT
SUPPORT
VOLUME
1,
ISSUE
1
PAGE
The Physical Component in Pain Management (cont)
Getting started
For most people with chronic pain, Dr. Stanos emphasizes the importance of beginning with just a few
minutes of exercise at a time. “Then, each week, increase what you're doing incrementally, in some cases
one to two minutes at a time,” he says.
That snail's pace pays off. “If people start an exercise program and do a graded type of progression, they
are more likely to tolerate it. Unfortunately, most people with pain try to do too much and then increase
their pain and stop,” Dr. Stanos says. “This leads to more discouragement and feelings like, 'I can't exercise
at all.”
One activity Dr. Stanos recommends for most chronic pain conditions is water aerobics, also called aqua
therapy. Exercising in the water reduces the amount of force traveling through your joints, allows muscles
to move in many directions and increases blood flow to the heart, providing additional cardiac benefits.
“Aquatic exercises can really benefit most patients,” Dr. Stanos says.
Article courtesy of Chronic Pain : Move it or lose it— www.healthywomen.org
Pain Management Support Group in Quincy
The American Chronic Pain Association will be offering a support group for all individuals who
would benefit from education and support regarding pain management.
This will be offered the first Tuesday of every month from 5:30 pm to 6:30
pm at Blessing Hospital on 11th Street.
The support group meeting will begin March 6, 2012. Any individuals interested in additional information feel free to contact Blessing Pain Management, 217-223-8400, ext. 6370.
This support group will provide many opportunities for individuals and their
loved ones living with chronic pain.
The program’s structure will promote advocacy, education and skill development in pain management.
The program provides opportunities for individuals in the community affected by pain to join
together and support each other.
Evidence shows that individuals involved in pain support groups have an increased likelihood
of leading happy and productive lives in spite of the pain.
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The American Chronic Pain Support Group
PO Box 850
Rocklin CA 95677
The American Chronic Pain Association
(ACPA) was founded in 1980 by Penney Cowan
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After many years
916-632-0922 or 800-533-3231
of living with chronic pain, Penny took part in
Web site www.theacpa.org
the pain management program at the Cleve-
E-mail: [email protected]
land Clinic and was eager to maintain the skills
she had learned there when she returned to
her daily life. The ACPA’s unique materials are
You can begin to enjoy a better quality of life in
spite of pain, visit our website (www.theacpa.org)
or contact the ACPA at 1-800-533-3231.
primary resource for individuals seeking to
improve the quality of their lives and for the
professionals who help them.
10 Step Program for Pain - The American Chronic Pain Association
Making the journey from patient to person takes time.
The isolated fear that can overwhelm a person with
chronic pain grows over time. And the return to a
fuller more rewarding life also takes time. It is a journey with many phases. The ACPA describes these
phases as ten steps.
The ACPA’s Ten Steps For Moving Forward From
Patient To Person.
STEP 1: Accept the Pain - Learn all you can about
your physical condition. Understand there may be no
current cure and accept that you will need to deal with
the fact of pain in your life.
STEP 2: Get Involved - Take an active role in your
own recovery. Follow your doctor’s advise and ask
what you can do to move from a passive role into one
of partnership in your own health care.
Step 3: Learn to Set Priorities - Look beyond your
pain to the things that are important in your life. List
the things you would like to do. Setting priorities can
help you find a starting point to lead you back into a
more active life.
STEP 4: Set Realistic Goals - We all walk before we
run. Set goals that are within your power to accomplish or break down a larger goal into manageable
steps. Take time to enjoy your success.
STEP 5: Know your Basic Rights - We all have basic
rights. Among these are the right to be treated with
respect, to say no without guilt, to do less than humanly possible, to make mistakes and to not need to justify
your decisions with words or pain.
STEP 6: Recognize Emotions - Emotions directly
affect physical well being. By acknowledging and
dealing with your feelings, you can reduce stress and
decrease the pain you feel.
STEP 7: Learn to Relax- Pain increases in times of
stress. Relaxation exercises are one way of reclaiming
control of your body. Deep breathing visualization,
and other relaxation techniques can help you to better
manage the pain you live with.
STEP 8: Exercise- Most people with chronic pain
fear exercise. But unused muscles feel more pain
than toned flexible ones. With your doctor, identify a
modest exercise program that you can do safely. As
you build your strength your pain can decrease.
You’ll feel better about yourself too.
STEP 9: See the total picture - As you learn to set
priorities, reach goals, assert your basic rights, deal
with your feelings, relax and regain control of your
body, you will see that pain does not need to be the
center of your life. You can choose to focus on your
abilities, not your disabilities. You will grow stronger
in your belief that you can live a normal life in spite
of chronic pain.
STEP 10: Reach Out- It is estimated that one person
in three suffers with some form of chronic pain.
Once you have begun to find ways to manage your
chronic pain problem, reach out and share what you
know. Living with chronic pain is an ongoing learning experience. We all support and learn from each
other.