Diagnose/Treat Chronic Pain
The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago www.ric.org has put together
some helpful suggestions to raise awareness around diagnosing and
treating chronic pain.
Chronic pain affects nearly 90 million Americans and costs an estimated
$50 billion annually. It is difficult for medical personnel to detect,
is associated with several other conditions, can be elusive to modern
medical treatments, and, has only recently been classified as a disorder
by healthcare organizations. Many people who suffer from chronic
pain do not even know they have it. Most think the pain they are
suffering is acute or short-term pain, and do not seek the proper
treatment for chronic pain management.
According to Dr. Steven
Stanos, medical director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago
(RIC) Chronic Pain Care Center, “Chronic
pain is long standing pain that persists beyond the usual recovery
period after sustaining an injury or occurs along with a chronic
health condition, such as arthritis.” Stanos added, “In
many cases chronic pain may be confusing because it can be either
intermittent or continuous. It has been known to affect people to
the point that they cannot work, eat properly, participate in physical
activity, or enjoy life. This is a serious condition, and one that
rehabilitation medicine has been working to deal with for years.”
To help address this issue and raise the awareness of chronic pain,
Dr. Stanos and the RIC Chronic Pain Care Center have developed a
set of key indicators for people who are suffering pain symptoms
to let them know if what they have may be chronic vs. acute pain.
You may be suffering from chronic pain if:
• Pain symptoms
no longer respond to analgesic medications such as aspirin, acetaminophen
or ibuprofen;
• Pain symptoms lead to decreased function at home or work and
loss of interest in leisure and social activities;
• Pain symptoms contribute to feelings of depression, anxiety
and irritability;
• Pain interrupts normal sleep patterns including difficulty in
falling asleep, frequent awakenings and daytime sleepiness;
“Given the current issues with pharmacological treatments
for pain management, such as the recall of cox-2 pain inhibitors,
finding an effective rehabilitation regime has never been more important
for treating chronic pain,” Dr. Stanos stated. “The Rehabilitation
Institute of Chicago’s physicians and therapists know that
for most chronic pain conditions, physical medicine and rehabilitation,
in conjunction with some approved drugs, and even non-traditional
therapies greatly improves the condition of many chronic pain sufferers.”
Among those non-traditional therapies Dr. Stanos recommends to help
treat chronic pain are:
• Daily aerobic exercise;
• Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, imagery, self-hypnosis
and distraction;
• Psychological counseling;
• Stretching and strengthening exercises;
• Mind/body therapies such as yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi and Feldenkrais;
• Optimizing posture, assessing and adjusting worksite ergonomics;
To learn more about RIC visit www.ric.org.
