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Colleagues,
Most of us are familiar with the notion that pain management needs to start with exercise or movement, if at all possible. A recent interview with Vijay Vad, M.D., is a reminder of the thinking behind this philosophy. Excerpts of the longer interview are below. To read the full article, click here.
As a non-surgeon practicing at the busiest orthopedic surgery hospital in the country, Vijay Vad, M.D. stands out. Instead of sending his patients to surgery, his goal is to keep them out of it. A sports medicine specialist at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery who regularly works with professional golfers and tennis players, Dr. Vad is a believer in the power of the mind-body connection and regularly prescribes yoga exercises and other alternative strategies for his patients. He is also the author of the new book, Stop Pain: Inflammation Relief for an Active Life, which includes practical advice and self-care options to help chronic pain patients reduce their dependence on narcotics and avoid additional medical procedures.
Q. Why did you think there needed to be a book about pain?
A. I have seen a big explosion in chronic back pain and arthritis, and what I realized is that people have very limited self-help options. In the medical system, unfortunately, many health care providers do what they are trained to do. They push you into prescription medications which have side effects or suggest tons of medical procedures. Medical procedures like joint replacements and lumbar fusions have skyrocketed. I felt there was a need for people whose main focus is self help, giving them clinically proven options that will really help them improve their quality of life and minimize their dependence on narcotics and medical procedures as soon as possible.
Q. For people treating pain with exercise, do you have to be willing to get worse in order to get rid of pain eventually?
A. In the case of exercises, that's true. If the pain goes up four-fold, you're doing something wrong, but proper exercise will make you a little worse for a while before it makes you better. It's a pain desensitization period. Think about if you have raw skin on your knuckle and you tap it. At first it hurts, but if you tap it more and more it will get desensitized. You're doing the same to your chronic pain structure when you exercise. There is so much data on this with rehabilitation for back pain, for instance. You become pain desensitized by proper exercise with gradual increases in stress. The overall consensus for exercise therapy is that it has a positive impact. It can be something simple - it doesn't have to be fancy machines or stretches.
Again, many of us preach this approach to managing pain yet it's always heart warming to know that there are highly regarded medical professionals committed to making it happen.
Neil Beresin
COLLAGE, The Art & Science of Healthy Aging
An Intregrated Assessment Tool and Person-centered Process for Improving Healthy Aging Outcomes
610.335.1283
P.S. A few other books worth noting: The Mindbody Prescription and others by Dr. John Sarno; They Can't Find Anything Wrong With Me by Dr. David Clarke; Unlearn Your Pain by Dr. Howard Schubiner; and, The MindBody Workbook by Dr. David Schechter. |
