A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
~ Proverbs 17:22

It’s 2013, the start of a new year, and we’ve got a big book ahead of you. This issue our focus is on opioids, and we want to set a few things straight before we get into it.

First, opioids have their uses, and there are reasons why doctors prescribe them for short-term use. These medications are effective for handling pain and pain relief, and sometimes are the best route to take when treating a particular problem. When prescribed and taken correctly, opioids can be a very good form of treatment for the person taking them.

The problem often comes when one of those two things runs off course. If prescribed incorrectly, opioids can cause damage to the person who takes them. There’s the cycle of addiction to deal with, as well as the potential overdosage of meds, resulting in further harm to the body or even death. For example, constipation is a real issue for those who use opioids, so much so that it can become a real medical problem (something our editor in chief has personal experience with, as documented in this issue).

All that said, there is a reason why doctors prescribe opioids — they’re effective for treating pain. Our outlook on the problem is different, however. Instead of throwing pain meds at our patients as an easy fix to the problem or pain relief, we want to truly diagnose what the issue is, why it’s happening and what we can do to solve it. The difference goes back to that old adage about teaching a man to fish. We could just give you the fish and send you on your way — it’s an easy way to go, and it can be effective. But if we teach you how to fish by essentially finding and solving the issue, then we’re going to fix instead of bandage the problem.

That said, we do still prescribe opioids. We can’t stress enough that this is an effective method of treatment, and it can get the job done — but we prescribe lower dosages than most. One of our patients that is prescribed an opioid receives on average 60mg per day, and that’s because research has shown that it’s a safer dosage. It also means less risks for our patients, and that’s the best route to go.

Point is, we don’t think we should be cavalier with our dosing, or by giving out prescriptions just as a way to placate our patients and move on to the next. We treat our patients like we’d treat our own mothers, and that means that opioids are not always the answer to an effective treatment. They can be part of the solution, but often they’re not the solution.

From our families to yours,

Dr. Tory McJunkin and Dr. Paul Lynch

Founders of Arizona Pain

Ever think about all of the scary things that can happen while you’re working every day? We’ve all heard about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, a very real affliction that many clients see us for all the time. But what about the more sneaky conditions or ramifications that no one thinks about?

No one gets a muscle strain just from hammering away at a keyboard all day, right? Wrong. Turns out that muscle strains can happen in multiple ways, and one of them is an incorrect seating position at a desk. Spend your day that way and sure enough, you could have problems with your muscles.

Headaches are a common problem as well, particularly if you spend your days hunched over and staring at a monitor. That poor seating posture can lead to back pain as well, another problem that can vex even the best of us. It’s not that the office is killing you, but it’s certainly not doing your body any favors, either.

So what’s the solution? Well some of them we talk about in our story about sitting on page 7. Turns out that some preventative measures include simple exercises and a few basic routines that can get the kinks out.

There will be more serious problems though, and sometimes you can’t fix them on your own. If that’s the case, you’ll need to see a professional, which is what we’re here for.

Our clinics have innovative diagnostic tools available in the facility ready for service on the spot. We have the ability to perform treatments in house, saving you the time and hassle of having to travel between different locations. Plus, we look at all sorts of options for taking you out of pain, because the goal is to bring you joy and relief, and stop the suffering.

We hope you’re having a great summer.

From our families to yours,

Dr. Tory McJunkin and Dr. Paul Lynch

Founders of Arizona Pain

Bible Quote:

Deuteronomy 20:4

For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

An interesting statistic popped up the other day, bringing up  a subject most people don’t  think about. The headline read: “Poisoning Killing More Americans Than Car Crashes.”

Do most Americans think about getting poisoned as a real problem?
It is, and a good portion of  it is due to drugs. To quote Bloomberg.com, “Nationwide, 13.3 people per 100,000 died from poisoning between 2007 and 2009, compared with 12.4 from motor-vehicle accidents
during the same period, the report found. More than 90% of unintentional poisoning deaths in 2007 were caused by drugs and medicine, the report said. Each year, injuries create $406 billion in lifetime costs for medical care and lost productivity, according to the report.”

Even more interesting, the motivation behind this drug use is pain. Many times, people get sick or injured and find themselves using one prescription drug or another, all at the behest of their doctor. But some of these people can abuse those drugs, or just use them incorrectly, poisoning themselves in the process. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way. At Arizona Pain Specialists, we have experts who treat pain with comprehensive methods. We are keenly aware of the national statistics showing  more Americans than ever are abusing prescription drugs, and we work our hardest to see our patients – by contrast – receive the best
care possible. Our mission is to treat our patients like we would our families – with kindness and excellence.

Poisoning is not part of that recipe.

From our families to yours,
Dr. Tory McJunkin and Dr. Paul Lynch
Founders of Arizona Pain