Health News
Once considered nothing more than a symptom of a larger problem, pain today is acknowledged to be the so-called fifth vital sign. Doctors now believe pain is not only an indicator of a patient's health, but also a real impediment to full recovery. They'll stop at nothing to treat it.
New quality standards now demand hospitals treat patients? pain aggressively and thoroughly, and advances in pain treatment are helping doctors treat even chronic pain problems.
Although Scott Brown, M.D., Robert Tsuji, M.D., and Ross Sugar, M.D., agree the practice of pain management has come a long way in the past few decades, all three LifeBridge Health doctors are quick to point out one thing has never changed.
Pain management, they say, always starts with the basics.
?The key is to do a full evaluation,? says Dr. Brown, chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, a program of the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute. ?It has to start with a full evaluation, because you have to identify as best you can where the pain generator is.?
?The most important thing about pain management is finding a diagnosis,? agrees Dr. Tsuji, director of Pain Medicine at Northwest Hospital. ?And if you can?t find out that direct cause, you want to find out at least how to manage it.?
Drs. Brown, Tsuji, Ross and LifeBridge Health?s other pain experts treat patients suffering from any number of pain problems: spine, back and neck problems; pinched nerves; muscle pain; carpel tunnel syndrome; diabetes; post-traumatic syndrome; Fibromyalgia; Lyme disease; and many, many others. ?But,? Dr. Brown notes, ?the basic concepts apply to everyone.?
?I feel that one of the most important services we can offer any patient, and especially pain patients, is listening. All patients have a story to tell, and if the physician is willing to listen carefully to the patient, not only will the physician gain critical insight into the patient's problem, but also an important bond of trust will be established,? says Dr. Sugar, director of Pain Medicine at Sinai Hospital.
Once the problem is targeted, there are a number of pain management techniques doctors can use to help patients overcome their pain and live a normal life. And patients are happier because of it.
In the years to come, Dr. Brown says doctors are likely to have even more effective, wide-ranging treatments for pain problems. Together the team stays abreast of developments in pain management - new drugs, more sophisticated tests and techniques, and a better overall understanding of how pain works.
But the basics, Dr. Tsuji says, will still apply.
?Pain management really is an art. And it's not going to change all that much.?
To schedule an appointment with a LifeBridge Health pain management specialist, call 410-601-WELL.
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- Berman Brain & Spine Neurosurgeon Receives Honor
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Health News
Easing Pain Requires Science and Art
Once considered nothing more than a symptom of a larger problem, pain today is acknowledged to be the so-called fifth vital sign. Doctors now believe pain is not only an indicator of a patient's health, but also a real impediment to full recovery. They'll stop at nothing to treat it.
New quality standards now demand hospitals treat patients? pain aggressively and thoroughly, and advances in pain treatment are helping doctors treat even chronic pain problems.
Although Scott Brown, M.D., Robert Tsuji, M.D., and Ross Sugar, M.D., agree the practice of pain management has come a long way in the past few decades, all three LifeBridge Health doctors are quick to point out one thing has never changed.
Pain management, they say, always starts with the basics.
?The key is to do a full evaluation,? says Dr. Brown, chief of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, a program of the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute. ?It has to start with a full evaluation, because you have to identify as best you can where the pain generator is.?
?The most important thing about pain management is finding a diagnosis,? agrees Dr. Tsuji, director of Pain Medicine at Northwest Hospital. ?And if you can?t find out that direct cause, you want to find out at least how to manage it.?
Drs. Brown, Tsuji, Ross and LifeBridge Health?s other pain experts treat patients suffering from any number of pain problems: spine, back and neck problems; pinched nerves; muscle pain; carpel tunnel syndrome; diabetes; post-traumatic syndrome; Fibromyalgia; Lyme disease; and many, many others. ?But,? Dr. Brown notes, ?the basic concepts apply to everyone.?
?I feel that one of the most important services we can offer any patient, and especially pain patients, is listening. All patients have a story to tell, and if the physician is willing to listen carefully to the patient, not only will the physician gain critical insight into the patient's problem, but also an important bond of trust will be established,? says Dr. Sugar, director of Pain Medicine at Sinai Hospital.
Once the problem is targeted, there are a number of pain management techniques doctors can use to help patients overcome their pain and live a normal life. And patients are happier because of it.
In the years to come, Dr. Brown says doctors are likely to have even more effective, wide-ranging treatments for pain problems. Together the team stays abreast of developments in pain management - new drugs, more sophisticated tests and techniques, and a better overall understanding of how pain works.
But the basics, Dr. Tsuji says, will still apply.
?Pain management really is an art. And it's not going to change all that much.?
To schedule an appointment with a LifeBridge Health pain management specialist, call 410-601-WELL.
- Uk Headache Clinic Among Top 20, And Affiliated Orofacial Pain Program Is Only One In Midwest Or South; They Give Relief
Headache sufferers often struggle with finding the right treatment, and some even find themselves on medications that don't work and become completely unable to function. One of those found relief at the headache clinic at the University of Kentucky....
- Prescription-painkiller Epidemic Is Spurred By Societal Shift, Experts Say: People Think Every Problem Has A Pill For An Answer
By Molly Burchett Kentucky Health News The prescription-painkiller epidemic stems partly from an evolution of society's views toward pain and how to deal with it, said experts at "The Different Faces of Substance Abuse" conference in Lexington Jan....
- Alternative Medicine Can Help Patients Manage Chronic Pain
Patients can turn to health practices like meditation, massage, yoga and acupuncture rather than pills to help manage their chronic pain, says Dr. Josephine Briggs, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National...
- Berman Brain & Spine Neurosurgeon Receives Honor
Richard North, M.D., a neurosurgeon at the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute of LifeBridge Health, has received the North American Neuromodulation Society?s Lifetime Achievement Award. The society?s highest honor, this award is given...
- Maryland's Leading Brain And Spine Center Gets New Name
LifeBridge Health?s one-of-its-kind consortium of specialists in neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics, physical medicine, rehabilitation and several other subspecialties has a new name: Sandra and Malcolm Berman Brain & Spine Institute. ?The comprehensive...