| Podcast
Virtual reality (VR) has been used as a pain treatment technique in some settings for decades. However, the cost of the technology has traditionally been out of reach for almost all practitioners. This has changed in the last year as the hardware has become affordable and the possibility of using VR...
| Podcast
A common practice for treating chronic back pain includes core stabilization. There is strongly held belief in health care and fitness that back pain is related to the strength of core muscles. Where did this belief originate? Why is it so popular? What is the evidence supporting widespread use of...
| Podcast
Controversies continue to exist regarding safe and appropriate management of people with chronic pain. The "pendulum has swung in the other direction" with respect to the utility, safety, and efficacy of the use of opioids as a key component of chronic pain treatment. It seems to be unclear to many...
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This presentation will outline 3 sustainable stepwise approaches for providing chronic pain care within the patient centered medical home (PMH). Treatment of chronic pain is going through a systemic transformation (see 2016 National Pain Strategy from HHS and the 2009 VHA Stepped Care Model). The...
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Managing risk is an essential part of medical practice, particularly in light of the reported increase in morbidity and mortality associated with the use of opioids. Recent anecdotal data indicate that as a result of the "opioid crisis," patients are being told by their prescribers that they can no...
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During this 2-hour Master Class, participants will learn the pathoetiology of central pain syndromes (CPS). Six specific CPS will be described and clinical aspects will be discussed: multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, phantom limb pain, spinal cord injury, poststroke pain syndrome, and...
| Podcast
Opioids are the most powerful tool we have in our arsenal for the management of moderate to severe pain, yet great care and attention to detail in dosing is necessary to prevent patient suffering and death. This presentation is a "boots on the ground" approach to selecting, dosing, titrating, and...
| Podcast
Historically, pain has been viewed as a symptom of perturbations in the tissues of the body, such that effective treatments would address the damage to the affected body region and pain relief would ensue. However, both clinical experience and the scientific literature are replete with examples of...
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Several studies from both pain clinics and primary care have found that regional myofascial pain is the most common presenting pain condition. Yet the lack of awareness of it is surprising. Everyone, at some point in their lives, has experienced acute muscle pain associated with overuse or...
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Pain science education has gained international praise as an underutilized clinical intervention for treating pain. Research supports teaching patients about pain using a neurophysiology framework, rather than explaining pain in biomedical or biomechanical terms. To "explain pain, not anatomy" is...