I’ve lived with chronic pain for over 26 years now and I know how important it is for me to have a good team in place to help me; especially when I experience severe pain flare ups.  But having a team will accomplish very little if I weren’t willing to be the captain of my own team.  I really need to implement all the strategies that I help others develop and “practice what I preach.”

There is significant research evidence that a multidisciplinary team approach leads to the best treatment outcomes for chronic pain management.  Unfortunately, we live in a healthcare culture that sometimes can not, or will not, find a way to deliver this type treatment approach.  Sometimes lack of financial resources is cited as the reason and sometimes in certain communities it is lack of appropriate healthcare resources.

However, a more troubling scenario is when the treatment disciplines—medical, mental health, alternative, and addiction—start competing with each other instead of working together for the best interest of the patient.  I’ve spent most of my professional career trying to build collaborative teams that work together to provide the best possible treatment outcomes. 

Unfortunately, I have often run up against what I call a “Turf War” mentality where everyone is fighting over patients.  I like to remind all of my fellow healthcare providers that we don’t have to fight with each other because like it or not, there is enough pain and suffering out there for everyone.  In fact depending on which surveys you look at there are between 80 to over 100 million people with chronic pain management needs in the United States alone.  Of that number between 10 to 15 percent will also be experiencing prescription drug abuse or addiction problems.  This is where a team approach becomes even more crucial.

If you would like to read more on why teamwork is so important please read my article Collaboration NOT Competition that you can download for free on our Ariticles page.

If you want to learn more about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System please check out our website at www.addiction-free.com. To learn more about how to develop an effective chronic pain management plan please go to our Publications page and check out my book the Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide: Managing Pain and Medication in Recovery. To look for my upcoming trainings please go to our Calendar page.

To read our latest Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here. To sign up for Chronic Pain Solutions, please click here and input your name and email address. You will then recieve an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.

Most of the chronic pain research I have reviewed over the past two decades has been very clear about treatment outcomes. The best prognosis occurs when you are very proactive in your own treatment process. One way to do this is to learn as much as you can about your pain and effective pain management.

Knowledge is power. Once you know what is really going on with your body and mind, you can start taking action to effectively manage your pain. In fact, it is vital that you begin to see pain as your friend, instead of your enemy. I know this is much easier said than done.

Many of my patients have looked at me like I’m crazy when I tell them they must make peace with their pain and that pain can be their friend. Some even tell me—very strongly—that they can’t buy that, but nevertheless it is true.

So, how do you get this pain management information?  Of course I believe a great place to start is on our website at www.addiction-free.com.  Below are just a few of the pain management websites that we have posted on our Resources page.  You can also go to our Publications page and check out my book The Addiction-Free Pain Management Recovery Guide to learn how to develop an effective pain management plan.

Useful Websites

American Academy of Pain Management
http://www.aapainmanage.org
The American Academy of Pain Management is the largest multidisciplinary pain society and largest physician based pain society in the United States. The Academy is a nonprofit multidisciplinary credentialing society providing credentialing to practitioners in the area of pain management.

American Society of Pain Management Nursing
http://www.aspmn.org
The American Society for Pain Management Nursing is an organization of professional nurses dedicated to promoting and providing optimal care of individuals with pain, including the management of its sequelae. This is accomplished through education, standards, advocacy, and research.

Benson Henry Institute
http://www.mbmi.org/default.asp
The Benson Henry Institute is a world leader in the study, advancement, and clinical practice of mind/body medicine. At our newly updated site, you can find help if you’re experiencing the negative effects of stress; learn how to elicit the relaxation response; review courses for health professionals; and sample a new line of relaxation CDs. Breathe deeply…exhale…and make the mind/body connection.

Dancing With Pain
http://www.dancingwithpain.com
Dancing with Pain® offers educational seminars, movement workshops, and community forums that help individuals navigate through the world of chronic pain and discover natural pain relief.

If you would like to learn more about effective chronic pain management please read my article Serving People with Chronic Pain that you can download for free on our Ariticles page.

If you want to learn more about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System please check out our website at www.addiction-free.com. To look for my upcoming trainings please go to our Calendar page.

To read our latest Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here. To sign up for Chronic Pain Solutions, please click here and input your name and email address. You will then recieve an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.

I’ve been living with my own chronic pain for over 26 years and there were times in the first few years where I fell into a deep dark place of despair and hopelessness.  Over the past two decades I’ve been working with other people living with chronic pain who were in similar emotional pits.  For me the journey out of despair and into hope came as a result of going through a painful grieving process.

Today I can honestly say that my injury that led to my chronic pain condition was one of the best things that happened to me.  I have been blessed to help thousands of patient cope with their chronic pain condition and have now taught well over ten thousand healthcare professionals how to do Addiction-Free Pain Management® treatment. 

Many people living with chronic pain are also depressed, which further exacerbates the despair and hopelessness.  For some people the best treatment is a combination of appropriate antidepressant medication in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy.  In order to manage chronic pain effectively, I believe there needs to be four primary treatment approaches.  The first and most important is a thorough multidisciplinary assessment.  One of the major causes of mismanaged chronic pain is due to missed coexisting disorders or a misdiagnosis or treatment.

The next step is to develop an appropriate, and safe, medication management plan.  Then people need tools to deal with the psychological/emotional components of their pain and finally they need to learn as many nonpharmacological (non-medication based) treatment interventions as possible.  I covered this type of nonpharmacological planning in my past Blogs on July 23, and September 8, 2008.

If you would like to read how one of my patients—Jerry—moved from despair to hope please read my article From Despair to Hope that you can download for free on our Ariticles page.

If you want to learn more about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System please check out our website at www.addiction-free.com. To learn more about how to develop an effective chronic pain management plan please go to our Publications page and check out my book the Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide: Managing Pain and Medication in Recovery. To look for my upcoming trainings please go to our Calendar page.

To read our latest Chronic Pain Solutions Newsletter please click here. To sign up for Chronic Pain Solutions, please click here and input your name and email address. You will then recieve an autoresponse email that you need to reply to in order to finalize enrollment.