When patients and their doctors talk about pain relief strategies, one area often gets overlooked: weight management. While working on a weight management plan likely won’t offer instant relief, research seems to indicate there is a strong connection between carrying extra pounds and how much we hurt – and even modest weight loss can help turn things around. If your doctor has never mentioned this to you, it may be because doctors often feel uncomfortable talking about weight in the exam room, especially when the visit is focused on a pain problem. Talking about body weight is often a delicate ..read more

Step into any hospital or healthcare institution in the U.S., and there’s a good chance you will find some kind of nod to the arts. It could be an exhibit of paintings, photography, or sculpture, a pianist chiming away in the waiting room, or just a thoughtful and inspiring poem hung on a wall. Many experts believe the arts have the power to promote healing and a better sense of well-being, and when used in this context, it is often referred to as the healing arts. The healing arts encompasses a wide range of artistic expression including visual art, music, dance, writing, and even drama. Embr ..read more

A lot has changed lately in how I work with my patients. The need for social distancing and sheltering at home has forced me to rethink the way I do just about everything. I run two pain management centers that are interdisciplinary, meaning that there’s a team of different complementary specialties like physical therapy, psychology, and acupuncture, under one roof to serve our patients in a more integrated way. That also includes a special day program, where patients come in every day for several weeks and participate in a variety of classes that cover everything from exercise, to emotional w ..read more

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, patients with chronic diseases can find that stay-at-home orders pose added challenges. In many areas, medical care has been pared down to mostly urgent doctor visits, procedures, surgeries, and diagnostic tests. Many pain patients may find access to medical care or treatment more limited than ever. And stay-at-home orders can also mean spending more time around spouses, family members, or roommates, which can add even more stress to what is already a very high-anxiety situation. If you are finding that being sequestered at home seems to be making your pain ..read more

With so many questions right now about the dangers of the coronavirus (COVID-19), you might be wondering how chronic pain might affect the immune system’s ability to fight off disease. Since COVID-19 surfaced a few months ago, we’ve learned that certain people are more susceptible to it than others. Some of the factors that seem to increase severity of the illness include age, smoking, gender, co-existing chronic medical problems, heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and underlying lung problems from diseases like COPD. This has led to a general view that those with more compromised immunes ..read more

Have a pain problem and wondering if yoga can help? I understand – not just as a doctor, but also as a patient. I took up yoga when I was struggling with a knee problem, well over a decade ago now. While I initially experimented with yoga with the hope that it would improve how my knee felt, I soon discovered that it could help me in much bigger ways, including bettering my mood, teaching me to better manage stress, and just plain helping me smile after a rough day. Frankly, I have found yoga to be so impactful that I can’t imagine going without it – and yes, it did seem to reduce the pain in ..read more

As my patients can tell you, I’m a big fan of positive thinking. But there are times when an overly optimistic attitude or misguided belief about what’s possible can actually get in the way of healing. One example of this, which I see often, is the notion that there is a cure or fix for everything that hurts. Quite understandably, many patients go to their doctors with the goal of getting fixed. They want to find out what the problem is, get it fixed, make the pain go away, and then move on with their lives. But humans are not machines – you can’t just replace or repair a broken part and then ..read more

The holiday season can be an intense time for many of my patients, with plenty of highs and lows. The pressure of participating in family get-togethers, shopping for gifts, and hosting gatherings can easily turn up stress levels. And more stress often leads to worse pain. In addition to the extra activities and running around, the holidays can also be a highly emotional time. This can be a time of deeper depression, greater loneliness, and even feelings of loss or guilt. For some, mood changes at this time of year are a result of seasonal affective disorder, a form of depression associated wit ..read more

Our approach to pain management largely depends on what’s causing the pain. When it’s a byproduct of an ongoing health condition, our focus is finding a good pain management strategy to keep discomfort at a minimum. But when it’s rooted in an isolated event or injury, we can focus not only on treatment, but also the prevention of chronic pain. In situations like this, it’s worth asking – can we keep acute pain from becoming chronic? The answer isn’t simple – pain is complex and unique to each individual – but there are some things that you can do to prevent pain from taking hold in the long-te ..read more

Do you find that you’re more forgetful or fuzzy-headed when you are in pain? Is it harder to concentrate? Like many with chronic pain, you may be experiencing signs of brain fog, also known as cognitive dysfunction. If this is happening to you, rest assured you are not alone. When we say “cognitive function” we’re talking about a variety of mental activities including memory, learning, problem solving, decision making, and attention. Over the past decade, we have come to learn that the experience of pain can play a big role in how well we perform these mental activities, and the more intense t ..read more