Informative Article About Pain.

[barbc56]

I just got a referral to my hospital's pain clinic and the appointment is week after next.

I found this article which has a lot of information and even some neat graphs. While it does mention therapy and physical therapy which may or may not apply to some of us per se, the article discusses how depression is often a result of chronic pain. I think it is worth the read even though it was written in 2000 and the certainly apt with the CDC wanting to limit pain medications.

]Zenz and colleagues evaluated 100 patients with chronic pain who were using chronic opioids.26Good pain relief was reported in 51 percent of patients, partial pain relief in 28 percent and improved function in all patients. Long-acting opioids include methadone, morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl. Chronic use of opioid-only medication is generally not associated with significant organ toxicity or cognitive impairment. Hendler evaluated 106 pain patients with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Memory Quotient, Bender Gestalt and electroencephalography. Sedation and impaired cognitive skills were seen in patients using chronic benzodiazepines.27 Those patients receiving long-acting opioids scored the same as patients on no medications.

As for the support we need which is often neglected.

. Patients and their family and friends need to understand the pathology of chronic pain, the rationale for rehabilitation and the expected goals of treatment. They need to know that pain has a physiologic basis, that improved function is essential to decreased pain, and that chronic pain may not entirely resolve. Significant others need to assist in the rehabilitation by learning how to avoid placing excessive restrictions or demands on the patient with chronic pain.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0301/p1331.html