Chronic Pain: A Debilitating Disease Affecting 100 Million American Adults

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Three Tips for Dealing with and Managing Chronic Pain
While everyone feels pain from time to time, such as pulling a muscle or having a backache, chronic pain is tremendously different from everyday pain. www.Medtronic.com

Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts longer than three months and can continue when the injury or illness has been treated. Chronic pain is a disabling condition that affects 100 million American adults every year, a number that keeps growing, which can negatively affect one’s wellbeing. Working, sleeping, or even seemingly simple tasks like walking up the stairs are activities that become harder if you’re living with chronic pain. In fact, chronic pain is one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care and costs the nation approximately $560-635 billion annually in direct medical treatment costs and lost productivity.

Michael Fishman, MD, MBA, double board-certified anesthesiologist and Interventional Pain Medicine specialist and his patient Genevieve Watycha, who suffered for more than 30 years with chronic pain, will be available to discuss the journey of chronic back pain management, including how Genevieve finally managed her chronic back pain, which had previously prevented her from sleeping properly, walking long distances and going about her day-to-day activities.

Three tips that may be helpful in managing chronic pain:
• Mind-Body Therapies: Mind-body therapies are treatments that are meant to help the mind’s ability to affect the functions and symptoms of the body. Mind-body therapies use various approaches including relaxation techniques, exercise, meditation, guided imagery, and hypnosis. Relaxation techniques can help alleviate discomfort related to chronic pain.
• Manage your diet: Believe it or not, diet has an impact on a person’s ability to fight pain away. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in foods such as salmon or tuna, have been known to reduce inflammation. Yellow, orange, and red fruits/vegetables are from a group of phytochemicals known as carotenoids – which have also been known to help reduce inflammation.
• Talk to your doctor about treatment options: In the case that medication or lifestyle changes won’t fix or lessen your pain, it’s crucial to speak to your doctor about the latest treatment options. Your doctor may recommend a number of treatments, including pharmacological, relaxation and/or physical therapy, or DTM™ Spinal Cord Stimulation, to help alleviate the pain.
Interview is courtesy: Medtronic
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