Filed under: Internal Systems, Pain Sciences | Tags: chronic pain, differential diagnosis, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain syndrome, pain
Most all people have experienced some form of pain in their lifetime. Feelings of pain can present from skinning your knee on your first fall off of a bicycle to the tiniest of papercuts or rehabilitating a surgical procedure. Each person can feel and interpret pain in many different ways in the many different circumstances it may present. Generally, pain is thought of as a symptom or result of an incident, such as those mentioned above, or a disease, like the aches commonly felt with the flu. In these cases, most healthcare practitioners focus on treating the cause of the pain, knowing that eventually the pain should subside as your body heals.
However, in cases in which pain persists outside of its expected time frame of body healing, other ideas must be considered. Commonly in these instances, patients are sent from doctor to doctor in search of a diagnosis or cause of their unrelenting pain, often undergoing many different tests and treatments often only left with a vague diagnosis of “fibromyalgia” or “myofascial pain syndrome.” For these individuals, pain takes over many aspects of their life and become functionally limited or even disabled. Pain then becomes less of a symptom of a disease and, rather, becomes a primary disease in itself. Patients may even experience other non-pain-related symptoms as a result of the pain process, such as sweating, redness, sensitivity to touch, changes in hair or nail growth, changes in bathroom habits and feelings of depression. It is necessary at this stage to change the treatment approach to stop the pain cycle to best allow the patient to return to normal daily function. Understanding the many factors which may affect pain is imperative to best treat patients with such presentation, including nutrition, exercise, internal organ system function, and psychosocial situations.
The physical therapists at Motion Stability have collaborated with a network of physicians around the Atlanta area to establish a strong approach to the treatment of patients with chronic pain. Utilizing a biopsychosocial treatment model, it is our goal to spend time with patients who may have undergone failed treatments in the past to understand their unique individual situations and to outline the best possible plan of care. For more information patients or physicians may directly contact our therapists at Motion Stability at www.motionstability.com
- Beth Collier PT, DPT, OCS
*Reference: Cousins, Sidall. Persistent Pain as a Disease Entity: Implications for
Clinical Management. Anesth Analg 2004;99:510 –20.
