Dr. Adler’s 5 Tips for Discussing Behavioral Treatment with Chronic Pain Patients
Read time: 2 minutes
Alexandra Adler, MD,
Anesthesiologist, Pain Medicine Physician, and Assistant Professor Lowell Pain Center/Tufts Medicine
How do you explain how a novel, nervous system-first approach can help patients with their very real chronic pain symptoms? Dr. Alexandra Adler shares her proven tips to deliver empathetic care, while educating patients on their options:
#1 Ask your Patients
Do they ever notice pain is worse when they are in a certain place, with a specific person, or at a specific time of the year? Did they notice anything about when the pain started or flared up?
Environmental causes indicate chronic pain is driven by the nervous system rather than a physical cause, which is great news as it’s highly treatable!
#2 Share your own Relevant Experience with Chronic Pain
This can help someone who is suffering feel they’re not alone.
Empathetic physician-patient communication - particularly in the first consultation - helps patients address uncertainties, ease fears and anxieties, and boosts confidence in managing their condition.
#3 Discuss Phantom Limb Pain
This is a well-known condition in which the brain has “learned” pain symptoms.
The feeling of pain or discomfort in a limb that has been amputated or was never there can help explain how the brain sends pain signals to help warn the body of danger, yet sometimes those signals are no longer helpful.
Even if a patient suffers from a different kind of chronic pain, a cognitive approach can help the brain “unlearn” that pain to offer lasting relief.
#4 Advise Patients
Treatment plans can’t be formed based on MRI results alone.
Findings on an MRI, like disc degeneration, can be normal, age-related changes and may not explain pain.
Steer patients away from fear by reinforcing that MRIs are a piece of the picture, not the whole thing.
#5 Help Patients Weigh their Options
This includes considering a non-pharmacological, non-invasive, brain-based approach. Particularly compared to the side effects and risks of medication and other therapies, the key question is: why not try this?
Lin Health offers care with little to no risk and zero side effects, accessible within days, broadly covered by insurers with an affordable self-pay option as well. WIN-WIN!
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