While on the WebMD website in the Pain Management Guide an article appeared called How is Pain Treated? It started off noting that "The goal of pain management is to improve function, enabling individuals to work, attend school, or participate in other day to day activities".
That might be the purpose of pain management but that can't possibly be what the purpose of the broader medical establishment is when it comes to pain.
I would submit that the purpose of the medical profession is to establish the cause of pain; not manage pain.
We should resolve the cause of pain which limits it from the equation of function.
Function should eventually be normal and possibly better than prior to the injury if the individual learns about how to care for themselves during treatment which leads to higher levels of function and increased chance of prevention from injuries creating pain.
I don't get it.
How can a so-called respected entity like WebMD continue to promote this ridiculous notion that "pain management" is a viable solution to those suffering from pain.
I would guess the answer is that they continue to promote the idea that pain is created in the spinal cord or brain.
They have noted this idea in several previous articles.
This can't be any farther from the truth.
If I pinch you and you feel pain, is the pain being created in the spinal cord or brain or from a pain receptor in the skin? If you have a kidney stone and you are having severe pain, is the pain coming from the spinal cord, the brain or the kidney? If you cut your skin and you have pain at the cut, is the pain coming from the spinal cord, the brain or the cut? For your sakes, I hope you guessed the tissue that is in distress is where the pain signal is being created.
And you would be right.
So why is it so hard to accept that the pain at your back, neck or a peripheral joint is coming from a tissue in distress and that the pain is not coming from the spinal cord or brain? With out this very rudimentary understanding of what really causes pain, you are free to accept the medical establishment view.
This sets you up to take medications and procedures all with the design to mask your brains ability to identify that a pain signal is being created.
Some of the suggested treatments are reasonably benign.
Some are extreme.
The key to which one you get is clearly based on the level of your pain and how willing you are to try anything to see your pain disappear; whether the treatment is reasonable or completely nuts.
Let's look at the possible solutions they have to "mask" your pain: Acetaminophen- an analgesic designed to sedate you and make you feel less pain.
This clearly does nothing to identify the cause of pain and resolve it.
Long term use has been shown to lead to heart attack and stroke.
Acupuncture- although able to minimize pain for some, it does nothing to identify the cause of pain.
It focuses on the opiate system in the body which makes people feel better.
Anticonvulsants- these drugs are used to treat seizure disorders.
Not exactly my first choice in addressing the cause of pain.
Nerve Blocks- clearly does nothing to identify the cause of pain.
Designed to block the transmission of pain going to the brain.
My concern with this one is if you have no awareness of pain, how do you know if you are making your condition worse by anything you are doing? Seems pretty stupid to me.
Opioids- this is the class of drugs that, in my opinion, can be described as a synthetic cocaine and heroin.
These are the drugs people are becoming addicted to.
I don't think this is a good direction to go in when you have pain.
These drugs do nothing to identify the cause of pain.
Surgery- they identify specific surgeries such as a disectomy and laminectomy.
They note that although not always an option, may be required to relieve pain, especially pain caused by back problems or serious musculoskeletal injuries.
This is pretty comical because the American College of Physicians just recommended that x-rays and MRIs no longer be used to diagnose the cause of back pain because they find spinal abnormalities that lead to treatments that do nothing to resolve back pain and simply raise medical costs.
They noted that in 85% of cases, back pain could not be attributed to a specific disease or spinal abnormality.
They also mention surgeries where nerves are cut such as a rhizotomy, cordotomy and dorsal root entryzone operation.
These surgeries all address the transmission of pain to the brain.
Not one of them attempts to identify the cause of pain and resolve it.
I hope people are reaching a turning point.
It is so evident that the medical establishment including physicians, chiropractors and physical therapists are incapable of identifying the cause of pain.
Some due to ignorance and some due to malace.
Regardless of the reason, millions of people are being treating ineffectively.
More people are living with more intense pain for longer periods of time.
This is the result of a false premise that pain is creating in the spinal cord or brain and that diagnostic tests are the key to identifying the cause of pain.