 | Robb Rose is Director of Marketing Operations at Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital of Wichita. Robb is also a Respiratory Therapist, Boarded Disability Analyst and Adjunct Faculty for Wichita Sate University. He holds a Masters in Human Resources from Webster University. Robb serves on the American Lung Association Regional Council and the American Heart Association Board of Directors. Robb is married and has 2 children. He can be reached at (316) 729-9999 |
Health & Rehabilitation
2009-05-01 11:45:00
Other options for pain relief
Answer: Depending on your husband’s specific and individual situation, the answer could very well be yes, there are other options for pain relief.
Pain is being looked at as not just a symptom, but an actual disease process. By doing this, the focus for pain relief is very different from years ago. Unfortunately, this progress comes from military physicians treating our injured soldiers. They are often treated very quickly with morphine, epidural pain blockers and a mix of other medications to ease the associated pain, and the forthcoming surgeries with more related pain.
Virtually every soldier injured gets some type of pain management. The assortment of medications ranges from ibuprofen (Motrin, Advil, etc.) and epidural blocks to low dose infusions of an anesthetic known as ketamine and another product used since the Civil War: morphine. Morphine can be a miracle drug on the battlefield, but can lead to what has been called “soldiers disease,” due to the high addiction levels with its use. Until the war in the Middle East, pain treatment stopped at morphine.
Military physicians have realized that the nervous system becomes overwhelmed with associated pain and maladaptive pathways develop in our nervous systems leading to chronic pain. Military physicians are now using a mix of narcotics, anti-seizure medications, non steroidal anti-inflammatory products and nerve-blocking products.
Also used are peripheral nerve stimulators, along with the insertion of pumps that deliver anesthesia at the injury or site of the pain. The peripheral nerve blocks have had great success in Iraq since 2003. Anesthesia can be delivered directly to the injury site with greatly decreased side effects such as drowsiness, because less anesthesia circulates in the body.
It’s interesting that pain is the body’s natural indicator of an injury and also can interfere with a quality healing process. This is why pain is being looked at more intensely as a disease process with specific treatment needs, rather than just a side effect from an injury.
Pain specialists outside of the military are adopting this focused treatment of pain. In the February 2007 issue of The Journal of Pain, researchers tested the benefits of psychological interventions, cognitive behavioral therapies, hypnosis and neural feedback in dealing with pain. We know that pain is processed by sending nervous system feedback from the injury to the brain. Primary information is sent through the spinal cord to an area of the brain called the thalamus. From the thalamus the nervous system impulses branch out, and the brain lets us know where the pain is coming from, the severity, and even how we should respond physically and emotionally. This information goes to the frontal cortex of the brain and brings it all together for us in context of the situation.
The multidisciplinary approach - and as soon as possible, by a knowledgeable medical team - is generally the best way to deal with pain.
Untreated pain can be a huge barrier to healing.
