PainWeek 2013

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, the application of electrical stimulation to the skin for pain control, works by activating large diameter afferent fibers, reducing central excitability and activating descending inhibitory pathways. Kathleen A. Sluka, PT, PhD presented evidence in support of TENS to PAINWeek 2013 attendees.

The ever-changing healthcare paradigm suggests nurse practitioners in pain management may be the best hope for dealing with time constraints, increasing healthcare costs, or reluctance of primary care physicians to provide care for pain patients said Cynthia F. Knorr-Mulder, MSN, BCNP, NP-C at PAINWeek 2013.

It is not illegal to be duped, John Burke, President of the National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators told PAINWeek 2013 attendees, but it is illegal for a prescriber to continue prescribing to the scammer.

Exercise programs require supervision, integration into daily activities, patient self-monitoring and education, and follow-up when prescribed. Evidence from systematic reviews have shown significant improvements for select chronic pain conditions, as presented by Marie Hoeger Bement, PT, PhD at PAINWeek 2013.

Most pain practitioners do not have access to a complete range of educators, psychologists, counselors, and the like who can teach self-care skills. Ted W. Jones, PhD, CPE teaches attendees of PAINWeek 2013 five key pain coping skills that can be taught in a single session.

Physical therapy is a key component to multidisciplinary pain control and is often a first point of entry for patients in the healthcare system said Kathleen A. Sluka, PT, PhD and Marie Hoeger Bement, PT, PhD to attendees at PAINWeek 2013.

Project Lazarus consists of three core components— public awareness, coalition action, data and evaluation. Two years after the start of Project Lazarus and the Chronic Pain Initiative, the overdose death rate dropped 69% in Wilkes County, North Carolina, Project Lazarus President/CEO Fred Wells Brason II told PAINWeek attendees.

Patients with pain may benefit from interventions by both occupational and physical therapists, according to Susan McNulty, OTD, OTR/L, CP, and Erica L. Sigman, DPT, OCS, who explained their roles on a pain management team to attendees of PAINWeek 2013.

Changes in the regulatory and rhetorical climate related to the prescribing of opioid medications has left some chronic pain patients who have legitimate medical needs for these drugs “out in the cold,” pain specialist Steven D. Passik, PhD, said during his PAINWeek 2013 keynote address.

Preventing chronic pain includes recognizing profiles of risk for new chronic pain, preventing the transition from acute to chronic pain, treating specific causes of new chronic pain, and addressing the nature of barriers to restoring health said Michael R. Clark, MD, MPH, MBA at PAINWeek 2013.