At least 50 million Americans adults suffer from chronic pain today. Chronic pain is defined as pain that persists for more than 3 months. The outcomes of pain management are dismal (these words are based on available evidence and opinions of pain management specialists). The cost of chronic pain in America is nearly $600 billion annually. This includes overall treatment costs as well as loss of productivity. The latter means, when you are in horrible pain, you cannot work, and as a result you have lost ability to earn an income and be a contributing member of society.
Anxiety, depression, insomnia and stress are some of the common symptoms that accompany chronic pain. Very often I will see chronic pain patients coming to me on various prescription medications. Several of these medications are for the pain which is not always controlled, or they want to get off the dependency of them. Other prescriptions are used to treat the accompanying symptoms, like anti-depressants, anti-anxiety medications and of course sleep medications.
My successful outcomes in managing pain from a holistic approach led me to write a book called “What your doctor didn’t tell you: How Complimentary-Alternative Medicine can help your pain”. The book explains in detail the modalities that I utilize to help my patients.
Diet change can bring about 25-30% improvement in pain when combined with exercise. I utilize the allergy elimination diet for those whom I suspect may have food allergies or intolerances. A 2019 study published in the journal of Pain Research & Management demonstrated that an elimination diet plus probiotics might be beneficial in both migraine and irritable bowel syndrome patients. The anti-inflammatory diet that addresses the gut-microbiome is gaining a lot of traction in pain management research. The heavily plant-based and low carb diet have also been studied and found to be helpful in pain management. Sadly, not too many pain patients know about this.
PEMF or pulsed electromagnetic field (for more information on this please go to that section on the website) is one of the first pain treatments that I offer to patients. Versions of it are FDA approved for non-union bone fractures and for depression. According to some sources, there are about 10,000 publications on this modality, and 2,000 of them are of the quality that would be found acceptable to make it approved as a typical pain management strategy (but unfortunately it is not approved for pain). It is safe, non-pharmacologic and non-invasive. Every pain patient deserves at least one treatment of PEMF. In addition, PEMF helps with anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia which are the common symptoms accompanying chronic pain. The PEMF unit used in my office is not FDA approved.
Neural-trigger point therapy utilizes very tiny amounts of Novocain (also known as Procaine) injected very superficially just beneath the surface of the skin. It is analogous to acupuncture, but even one small study comparing both treatments rendered Neural-trigger point therapy to be the stronger cousin of the two. First discovered in the early 1920’s in Germany, even President JFK was treated with it. There is available research that proves its safety and efficacy. Resetting of the nervous system is what researchers believe is happening when pain is relieved. Scars from previous surgeries and tattoos can be an interference field contributing to the pain. So simply injecting with a tiny needle and tiny amount of Novocain, I can see the pain sometimes disappear instantaneously. (for more information, please see this section on the website). Neural-trigger point therapy is not FDA approved.
Oxygen-ozone therapy also discovered in Germany in the late 1800’s has been a subject of study for many decades. More than 3000 articles have been published on it, especially in the area of low back pain and spinal disc disease. In Germany, it is estimated that ten million oxygen-ozone therapies have been performed on patients to date. Its safety and efficacy are undisputed. Ozone is a made up of 3 oxygen-atoms, so no one is allergic to it. Its mechanism of action is two-fold. It reacts with your own cells to produce a whole host of antioxidants to help reduce inflammation(systemically) and it react locally when used as injections to shut off the pain receptors. I call this the king of pain therapies as it succeeds when the other mentioned therapies fail for pain management. Oxygen-ozone therapy is not FDA approved (please see section on Oxygen-ozone therapy).
The Golden Trial of successful therapies I utilize in my office consist of the above-mentioned modalities: PEMF, Neural-trigger point and Oxygen-ozone. All 3 have been studied scientifically. They are safe and effective.