With the flood of fad diets and weight loss programs bombarding you from every side, it’s difficult to figure out what you should and shouldn’t eat. It becomes even more complicated when you’ve got one or more medical conditions, such as chronic pain. Before you know it, figuring out mealtimes can become downright stressful. Eating doesn’t have to be a chore, though. Armed with some basic knowledge, you can make nutritional choices for chronic pain management that help you stay at your healthiest, while reducing your pain levels.

Top 10 food choices you can make for chronic pain management

1. Try to eat something from each food group with each meal

The food pyramid that most of us learned about as kids has now been replaced with the MyPlate guidelines. The food groups are still the same, but the proportions are slightly different. Additionally, the food groups are arranged as though they’re on a plate or place setting, so it’s simple to visualize how much you should each from each food group. Below we talk about important switches you can make at each meal, but for an overall diet task for chronic pain management, try to eat something from each food group with each meal.

Fruits and vegetables

Vegetables ought to take up just over one fourth of your plate. This will help fill you up, which can support weight loss or the maintenance of a healthy weight. In addition, vegetables are packed with different nutrients, so eating a wide variety will provide your body with a lot of different vitamins and minerals. Try to mix up your vegetable intake so that over time, you get as many different nutrients as possible.

Fruit should take up just under a fourth of your plate. When combined, fruits and vegetables should fill half your plate. Again, filling up on fruit instead of high calorie, unhealthy alternatives can support a healthy weight. Fruit is also packed with lots of nutrients. In particular, berries are full of antioxidants, which support a healthy immune system and can even potentially lower chronic pain levels. Eat a big variety of fruit to get a big variety of benefits. When choosing your fruits and vegetables, trying to get a lot of different colors can help you get as many nutrients as possible.

Grains

Grains should fill one fourth of your plate. Whole grains, such as barley, oats, brown rice, or wild rice, are unprocessed and still contain everything that makes them healthy. For this reason, try to make sure that at least half the grains you eat are whole. Whole wheat pasta or whole grain breads can also fill this requirement.

Protein

Protein should take up the last fourth of your plate. Red meat tends to be higher in fat content, and it’s also been linked to increased inflammation, so it ought to be minimized. Other meats, such as lean poultry or fish, are overall healthier. Additionally, meat-free proteins like beans can be used in place of meat if you really want to cut back on fat while increasing fiber.

Dairy

Dairy can be a healthy part of a balanced diet. These products contain a lot of nutrients, but they have been linked to a potential increase in pain with some chronic pain conditions, so pay attention to your body (this is true for any changes you make for chronic pain management). If your pain increases every time you add a dairy product to your meal, consider choosing something like dairy free milks and products (soy or almond are popular), or simply going without.

2. Eat fresh, whole, unprocessed food as much as possible

Highly processed foods usually have most of their nutrients removed. Unfortunately, they also usually have other things added, such as sodium, sugars, or unhealthy fats. Before eating foods like pre-packaged snacks or frozen meals, look for an alternative. For example, instead of frozen breaded chicken tenders, check the meat section for raw chicken breast tenders that you can bake them yourself. It won’t take much longer to cook, and the end result will taste better and be much healthier.

Processed meals or foods are often so high in sodium that switching to fresh, unprocessed foods might leave you thinking your new meals are a bit bland. This will change over time as you adjust to a new, low-sodium diet, but you can also explore the spice section to give your food a punch of flavor. Some spices, such as ginger and turmeric, might even be able to help your chronic pain management.

3. Following a healthier diet doesn’t mean you have to deny yourself

If you’re craving a scoop of ice cream or an order of fries from your favorite fast food place, don’t deny yourself so strictly that you get frustrated, throw in the towel, and go on a binge, completely wrecking your chronic pain management plan. Instead, allow yourself a small, controlled indulgence once in a while.

You can also look for healthier alternatives that still hit the spot when you’re craving your favorite guilty pleasures. When you’re craving a sweet at the end of the day, have a bowl of fruit. To make it extra special, you can add a little whipped cream to sliced peaches or a light drizzle of chocolate to fresh strawberries.

To satisfy your craving for fries, try cutting a potato into wedges, tossing them in olive oil with one or two of your favorite spices, and baking them. If you’re craving potato chips, look into products like Pampered Chef’s “Make Your Own Chips Set” that allow you to quickly make your own chips without adding any grease, fat, or salt.

Also keep in mind that not all fats are bad. The fats found in fish and nuts are very good for you in moderation. In fact, these healthy fats may even help you reduce your chronic pain. We discuss even more healthy swaps you can make later in this post.

4. Don’t forget to think about what you drink

Drinks that contain alcohol and caffeine may exacerbate pain. Some medications may also negatively interact with alcohol, so always talk about this with your doctor while creating your chronic pain management plan. Pay attention to your body’s reaction if you do have alcohol or caffeine. If you notice more headaches after your morning coffee or worse aches after your beer with dinner, consider skipping it.

Additionally, check the label before grabbing a soft drink. Regular sodas are full of sugar with no real nutritional value. Artificial sweeteners, like those found in diet sodas, can often exacerbate pain. Some sports drinks have added sodium. To avoid any unwanted additives in your drink, consider switching to plain water or herbal tea. You can add a squeeze of lemon juice if you need a kick of flavor, or you can even try out water bottles that allow you to infuse real fruit for flavor.

5. Make healthy swaps for breakfast

Instead of: Frozen egg, sausage, and cheese breakfast sandwich

Try: Egg and veggie omelet

The breakfast sandwich may taste delicious, but freezer-stored, pre-prepared food is often heavily processed and stuffed with unhealthy sodium. And while sausage is not the worst thing to eat, it consists of red meat, which tends to cause inflammation and exacerbate chronic pain symptoms.

If you’d like to eat red meat, consider saving it for later in the day and reserving breakfast as a meatless meal.

Instead of the sandwich, try an omelet with your choice of veggies served with a slice of whole-grain bread or side of fruit.

For a long time, eggs had a bad reputation because they were linked to high cholesterol. However, most of the studies supporting that idea included foods that were also high in saturated fat, according to Medical News Today. Subsequent research has showed that eggs are likely neutral on blood cholesterol levels because they’re not high in saturated fat. Eggs also happen to be an excellent source of protein.

While you might not eat eggs every day, eating them several times a week provides numerous health benefits for chronic pain management, including nutrients for a resilient immune system, excellent eyesight, and strong muscles. Amplify the nutritional benefit of the already-healthy egg by adding in tomatoes and spinach, or any other vegetable you desire.

Instead of: Cereal

Try: Oatmeal

Cereals may taste good, but they’re often packed with sugar. Even those boasting heart-healthy benefits or whole-grain ingredients often contain unhealthy and heavily processed additives.

So skip the cereal and try heart-healthy oatmeal. Oats are also anti-inflammatory, an important factor for chronic pain management. The grocer’s aisle is full of oatmeal packets with tempting-sounding flavor combinations, but these are also frequently full of sugar. The healthiest versions are the raw oats you buy and prepare yourself.

Feel free to add in fruit of your choice, like apples or bananas, nuts, and a little honey for sweetener.

6. Take another look at lunch

Instead of: Fast food hamburger

Try: Turkey and cheese sandwich on whole-grain bread

Sandwiches are a fast, easy, and healthy way to eat a satisfying lunch. If you like meat, try eating sliced turkey, which is among the healthier lunchmeats. Try to purchase low-sodium cuts that aren’t filled with salt and other preservatives. As a general rule, the smoother and shiner a piece of meat is, the more processing it has gone through and the fewer health benefits it offers.

Increase the health benefits of the sandwich by layering on lettuce, onion, tomato, and perhaps even a few sprouts. Opt for mustard, which is low in fat, as opposed to mayonnaise. For a treat, you might even add avocado, which offers an abundance of health benefits despite its high (unsaturated) fat content. Skip the cheese if you wish, but one slice is fine for most people. When choosing bread, purchase loafs without high-fructose corn syrup.

If you aren’t a turkey fan, try a sandwich with just veggies. Lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber, and sprouts topped with a slice of cheese and avocado makes a tasty and satisfying meal.

7. Redo snack time 

Instead of: Chips

Try: Trail mix

If you’re craving something salty and crunchy, you may start salivating at the idea of potato chips melting in your mouth. But the hard-to-resist snack is notoriously unhealthy, with each slice of processed potato smothered in unhealthy oils and high in fat and calories.

Instead, try trail mix if you’re putting together a chronic pain management plan. Your best bet is to make your own because store-bought mixes often come with chocolate- or yogurt-covered goodies that may taste good but aren’t much healthier than the chips you so dutifully left on the shelf.

Visit the bulk foods section of your local supermarket and stock up on walnuts, almonds, raisins, and other delicious items. Once home, mix them together and keep on hand for an easy, healthy snack. If you buy dried fruit, try to find options without added sugar.

As a note of caution, nuts are high in fat, so try to keep the portions small. However, the fat is mostly the heart-healthy, unsaturated type, which means nuts are filling and satisfying. Nuts also contain omega-3 fatty acids that fight inflammation, promote heart health, and may reduce chronic pain, according to the University of Maryland.

8. Make better choices at dinner

Instead of: Enchiladas

Try: Freshly made burrito bowls

Take inspiration from Chipotle and create your own easy, delicious, and inexpensive burrito bowl at home.

First, cook up some brown rice. Then, in a separate pot, stir-fry veggies like onion, corn, tomato, peppers (if you’re okay with nightshade vegetables), zucchini, and broccoli in olive oil. Add delicious spices like red pepper flakes, garlic, chili powder, and pepper. Enjoy the vegetables on a bed of rice, along with chopped lettuce and any other toppings you’d like, as long as they’re healthy and not processed!

Instead of: Fried chicken

Try: Roasted chicken and vegetables

Nothing says comfort like fried chicken and mashed potatoes, but when you’re living with chronic pain, every choice counts. Fight pain at the dinner table by roasting your favorite meat instead of frying it. Add taste with spices like thyme or rosemary.

On the side, serve sweet potatoes cooked in olive oil and garlic and your favorite vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, or green beans. Look to spices like lemon, garlic, and rosemary to add flavor.

9. Do-over on dessert

Instead of: Cake

Try: Peanut butter, banana, and chocolate smoothie

Smoothies taste incredibly yummy and, when made at home, you control what goes in them, making this dessert a healthy chronic pain management choice, too.

To make this smoothie, combine in a blender almond milk, a frozen banana, and a tablespoon each of peanut butter and raw cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder. Blend until smooth at your desired consistency, adding more almond milk as needed.

10. Be kind

Lastly, don’t go from fast food three times a day to a brand new diet overnight. Altering your eating habits for chronic pain management takes time and effort, so make the changes gradually. It also requires some kindness and forgiveness to yourself when you inevitably make choices that aren’t exactly in line with the “perfect” diet plan.

So, start small. Switch out your vending-machine snacks for fresh fruit or vegetables first. Then choose a meal, such as breakfast, to make healthier. Allow a week or two for each new change to become habit before adding another new change. Changing diet habits requires a small initial effort that becomes easier if you introduce them slowly and as you develop a repertoire of healthy meals to choose from.

What food choices have you made after being diagnosed with chronic pain? Which ones help most with your chronic pain management?

The dangers of opioids are becoming increasingly well known. Not only are these powerful drugs dangerous, research shows they may not be particularly effective at diminishing long-term pain. Fortunately, many new opioid-free avenues of treating chronic pain are emerging while traditional, ancient methods are gaining the modern stamp of approval through rigorous clinical trials. Combining cutting-edge treatments with lifestyle interventions is at the heart of a comprehensive pain management approach.

8 ways to practice comprehensive pain management in your life

1. Put together a pain healthy diet 

You’ve heard it all before, but the research keeps piling up that eating healthy and incorporating more movement into your day helps reduce pain.

Research at the University of Delaware has even found that a diet and exercise program helped prevent knee pain in diabetic patients who are overweight. Both obesity and old age are risk factors for knee pain from osteoarthritis, and the scientists found that those who adhered to exercise and healthy eating were 15% less likely to experience pain.

The eating program was based on guidelines from the American Diabetes Association, with the day’s calories limited to 30% from fat and at least 10% from protein. Exercise programs involved 175 minutes per week—about 25 minutes per day—and mostly consisted of walking quickly.

2. Get moving with exercise

Exercise is a proven, simple, and effective way for pain patients to diminish discomfort and improve quality of life. Best of all, it doesn’t have to cost much. In many cases, it’s free.

You may think you need fancy workout gear or an expensive gym membership in order to get healthy, but in truth, you need little more than yourself, some comfy clothes (regardless of what they look like), and a decent pair of sneakers.

It’s important for pain patients to only do what feels good when working out. Exercise is intended to promote health, but push too hard or too fast and the exact opposite can happen. You’ll end up hurt or sprained, or just frustrated. Start slow, listen to your body, and go at your own pace. Sometimes, you can’t feel your body’s full reaction to an exercise until the next day, so when in doubt, back off and see how your muscles feel tomorrow. Constantly tuning into your body and seeing how it feels will help you tailor each workout’s intensity to meet your own personal needs.

Here are the best cheap or free ways for pain patients to exercise in order to find comprehensive pain management for their whole body.

Walking

Walking is a wonderful way for pain patients to exercise. A brisk pace is best, but any speed you can manage is perfect. Start out slow and increase the pace and duration as feels comfortable for you.

Walking is easy on the joints while weight-bearing enough to promote bone health. It also gets you outside in the fresh air, another boost to health. Taking a walk after dinner revs up your metabolism, helping you digest food. And the barriers to entry are almost none. As long as your legs feel good enough to walk, you can head out your door and go anywhere.

Bicycle

Biking is easy and fun. Although bikes can be costly, the large chain stores sell more affordable ones. For an ultra budget option, look on Craigslist or in the newspaper classifieds for used bikes. If you buy a used bike, make sure to test it carefully before buying to make sure it’s in good working condition, or at the very least to ensure you know of any repairs that will need to done.

When you hit the road, options include bicycling through your neighborhood or around town. Many cities have longer trails suitable for biking.

Calisthentics

Calisthenics involves using your body’s own weight to build muscle. It’s very easy, can be done anywhere, and because the only tool used is your own body, requires no equipment, although an exercise mat could come in handy.

ElderGym offers a few great workout tips targeted for seniors to build back muscle. Many people with back pain also have weak back muscles. Incorporating strengthening exercises into your routine a few times a week could help with comprehensive pain management. It could also improve your balance since back muscles stabilize the spine and support the body’s entire core.

For an in-bed routine you can practice every morning:

• First, point and flex your feet to lubricate your ankle joints and work your shin muscles. Then do a few ankle rolls, rolling each ankle in both directions three to five times each way.
• Now it’s time to work the legs. Bend one knee and place the foot flat on your bed. Next, use the thigh muscles to lift the opposite leg a few inches off the mattress. Lower down slowly, repeat ten times, and then complete the other side.
• If it feels good, also stretch your arms overhead, opening up the shoulders and upper back that tend to tighten up when we’re feeling stressed or have simply not been very active.
• If you’re looking for a little bit more intensity, consider a plank, which resembles the top of a pushup. This posture is excellent to help pain patients build core strength and firm up the arms.

Online workouts

The range of activities you can do online is astounding. YouTube offers a plethora of free options, offering workouts for just about any activity you could dream of, from beginner’s dance lessons to Zumba to yoga and Pilates, tai chi and more. Some of the workouts are short because they’re free, but you can always combine several workouts into one session as your stamina increases.

Another great, free option is Grokker, which offers a range of fitness workouts in addition to cooking videos designed to improve your health from multiple angles. There’s a paid subscription available that gives you access to an unlimited number of premium videos, but you can still watch a large number for free.

3. Try out herbs

Before Western pharmaceuticals and opioids, there were herbs. For centuries, practitioners of ancient medical systems relied on plants for a comprehensive pain management approach.

Ancient Chinese medicine, in particular, has a rich herbal tradition. Ginger, for instance is a potent anti-inflammatory. Eat it freshly grated in your food or drink it in tea. To make tea, cut a few pieces of ginger and boil them in water for about ten minutes. Buy bulbs of ginger in your grocer’s produce section. Fresh ginger is much more powerful than the dried herbs you find in bottles.

Another powerful anti-pain herb is ginseng, which may help with fibromyalgia, headaches, joint pain, and nerve pain. Ginseng supplements are available, but it’s important to talk to your doctor before taking any herbs. Some of them can affect medications you may be on.

Ayurveda from India is another powerful ancient system of medicine. To treat tension-related pain the Ayurvedic way, try kava kava, which comes in a tea or supplement form, chamomile, or passionflower, recommends Yoga International.

4. Use topical ointments or creams

Ointments are topical gels or creams, and many of them are very effective for comprehensive pain management.

One popular ointment is capsaicin, which is the active ingredient that gives peppers heat. While this preparation may burn when first applied, that burning sensation eventually overwhelms the nerves causing pain, leading them to temporarily quiet, according to Pain Doctor. The relief eventually fades, but you can apply the ointment up to several times a day.

An ointment good for tension-related pain is Narayan gel. This ancient Ayurveda formula combines the essential oils camphor and menthol in a beeswax formulation to penetrate the skin and loosen tight muscles. It smells quite strong, but provides a cooling sensation perfect for relieving neck tension. You could also apply it on your back or other areas feeling tight.

5. Get a massage

While you probably can’t get a massage as often as you like, incorporating this self-care activity into your schedule as much as possible could do wonders for your chronic pain management.

Massage reduces tension and stress, frees up adhesions that can interfere with proper skeletal alignment, and improves circulation. Each massage therapist has a different style, so try a few to find a masseuse whose style leaves you feeling relaxed and in less pain.

6. Talk to a chiropractor or physical therapist

Much of the body’s pain develops when the musculoskeletal system comes out of alignment. This happens to many people from the rigors of daily living. However, with the modern, mostly sedentary lifestyle, taking steps to ensure optimal musculoskeletal alignment is even more important. While healing practices like yoga help to encourage proper alignment, sometimes a little more help is needed.

Chiropractors have the ability to evaluate each patient, determine where the body is out of alignment, and then perform special techniques that are all natural and drug-free to help patients reduce pain and enjoy more fluid movement.

Chiropractors are also a great starting off point to explore other comprehensive pain management therapies since they focus on treating the whole person, body and lifestyle, and not just the physical components.

Modern research studies are now quantifying the benefits of this practice. For example, a study from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health found that spinal manipulation treated acute neck pain more effectively than medication.

Another great option is talking to a physical therapist, who can help with muscle-related injuries or deficits.

7. Look for an interventional pain management doctor

Patients who have not responded well to physical therapy or other less invasive forms of treatment may be good candidates for interventional pain management options, such as:

• Spinal cord stimulation
• Radiofrequency ablation
• Epidural steroid injections

These treatment options vary for the conditions they treat and how they can help. In the following video, Dr. Tory McJunkin talks about how talking through these comprehensive pain management treatment options with a doctor could help you.

8. Take care of your mental health

As Dr. McJunkin also discusses in the video, paying attention to your mental health is another critical component of a comprehensive pain management plan. A recent post talks about the role of mental health help in chronic pain management. In that post, we noted:

“Chronic pain also affects social, occupational and recreational activities in the lives of those affected. The discomfort can be unbearable and increasingly difficult to verbalize to others including close friends and family. Feelings of seclusion and detachment may cause negative thought patterns to emerge, which may make the treatment of pain more difficult. Although the primary focus of medical treatment is understandably on the biological component of chronic pain, the social and psychological influences of chronic pain conditions can also be critical for a patient to achieve long-term success in pain management.”

Check out that post for more information on finding a mental health specialist to help with your chronic pain. Or, you can check out any of our other posts on chronic pain and mental health concerns.

Towards comprehensive pain management

If you suffer from chronic pain, there is hope. You don’t have to live with your pain, day in and day out. We recommend beginning with simple lifestyle interventions to manage your pain. If those don’t work, reach out to a dedicated chronic pain management doctor who can help you find the cause of your pain and suggest therapies that could work.

The Hurt Locker
By Kevin Whipps

Six months ago, I woke up in blinding pain. I was positive I had broken my big toe — I had no evidence that was the case, but it hurt so much it felt like it just had to be broken, there was simply no other diagnosis. I could barely walk, and putting any pressure on it at all forced me to my knees. I was miserable.

A brief visit to a pain specialist later, and I learned my big toe was not, in fact, broken. My problem was gout — a buildup of uric acid around an arthritic joint in my big toe. Triggered by a recent shift in my diet, the condition was causing me excruciating pain.

In my case, I was originally certain my pain stemmed from a broken toe, but I was wrong. You may be going through something similar. There are many different pain-causing issues that can appear to be one thing, but are actually something else. So how do you fix a problem you can’t pinpoint? Let’s find out.

Back and Forth

There are many reasons why your back could be in pain, but sometimes it comes from an unexpected place: your feet.

Take plantar fasciitis, for example. If you’ve recently put on weight or have flat feet, you could develop back pain. The condition is formed in the arch of your foot. The fascia — the tissue that connects the ball of your foot to your heel — forms that arch, and if it takes on too much weight, it can collapse inward, which will adjust your gait and stance. The pain can travel upward into your lower back, causing substantial pain. It’s a chain reaction. And to some, the back pain is worse than the arch issues, causing them to incorrectly believe the problem originated in their backs, not in their feet.

Why is the back such an issue? Inside your spine is your spinal cord, a part of the central nervous system. This cord runs from the bottom of your brain down to your lower back, branching off to various areas along the way. Because it’s so critical, the spinal cord is protected by not only the vertebrae, but also the cerbrospinal fluid and meninges, which combine to keep it as safe as possible.

Unfortunately, things happen. Sometimes a nerve running off the spinal cord gets pinched, and you end up in pain. Because that nerve runs somewhere else — the thigh, buttock or hip, for example — it feels like the pain is coming from that other area. But in reality, it’s not your thigh, buttock or hip that is in pain — it’s the nerve that senses pain in that area.

It should be clear, then, that a trained professional must be the one to diagnose these issues, otherwise you could be prescribed treatment and/or medication for a condition you simply do not have.

It’s All in Your Head

The problem with pain is that sometimes it’s difficult to localize. If you don’t understand exactly where the issue is occurring — regardless of where it’s originally coming from — you could have a tough time explaining your problem to your doctor. As a result, a medical professional might tell you the pain is “all in your head.” But here’s the thing: There’s a psychological reason for feeling pain less than 1 percent of the time. Which means, there’s a pretty solid chance that if you think you’re in pain, you’re actually in pain. It also means you should see another doctor.

Unless It Actually Is

Then there are migraines, which are quite literally a pain in your head. But migraines are also quite often misdiagnosed.

According to an article by The Neurology Center, “Epidemiological studies suggest that migraine is incorrectly diagnosed in roughly 50 percent of cases.” Why? Well, there is often miscommunication in how the pain is described by the patient, and then because of that, how the pain is treated by the doctors. The article continues, “Of the roughly 50 percent of misdiagnosed patients who actually have migraine, 40 percent of those are misdiagnosed with sinus headaches and 30 percent are misdiagnosed with tension headaches.” In other words, you might have a migraine, but you may be treated for something else.

How do you get out of this cycle? See a doctor who specializes in pain. Men and women in the field of pain treatment and management often use a multidisciplinary approach to medicine, meaning they have many different ways to approach a problem. Some even offer alternative treatments, such as acupuncture and acupressure. It’s all about going to see someone who knows how to properly deal with pain to get yours sorted out.

All’s Well

At the end of the day, pain is a complex thing to diagnose and treat, for a variety of reasons. The problem might even be you, yourself, if you can’t localize the pain or specify where it originates, which can stifle the results of the practitioner. Maybe the pain is so vexing even a traditional doctor can’t determine where it originates. Whatever its causes, the pain must still be resolved or else you’ll be in a world of hurt indefinitely.

Do your research and find a pain specialist in your area who can help you with your pain problems. Only then will you truly find the relief you’re looking for.

Originally published on PRWeb.com.

Larger Glendale pain management clinic announcement- Arizona Pain, the premier pain management clinic in the greater Phoenix area, opened a new Glendale office space to better accommodate their rapidly growing number of chronic pain patients. 

Glendale, AZ (PRWEB) March 12, 2012

The Arizona Pain Specialist team is proud to announce the opening of a new, more spacious Glendale pain management clinic. The decision to relocate their Glendale office is the result of a rapid increase in patients from the surrounding areas. This new office is located in suite D-101.

“We expanded to a larger office suite with an improved lobby, larger clinical area and designated ancillary space to continue to provide world-class medical care to our community and better serve our valued patients,” says Arizona Pain CEO Joe Carlon. “We are very fortunate to have so many patients place their trust in our hands, and, for Arizona Pain, this means an enhanced ability to deliver our comprehensive, integrated care model to our patients.”

With this move, patients and staff will now have almost twice as much space, totaling about 5,000 square feet. The main lobby has nearly doubled to accommodate the growing number of needed seats for patients and waiting family members. There are also five additional patient rooms, and the clinic is now conveniently located in the same building as the procedure center.

“We have quickly outgrown our previous office, and this will serve as a more spacious, refreshing environment for our patients and employees alike,” says Jared Komernicky, front desk manager at the Arizona Pain, Glendale.

Other amenities include more space for chiropractic care, providing room for patients to complete their exercise therapy, and separate rooms for acupuncture, as well as traditional chiropractic treatment. There is also designated office space for behavior health sessions and EMGs. An in-house office manager will help correspond with all neighboring doctors and professionals.

One-Stop Shop
Stop running around and get help at one location.
By Kevin Whipps

You’re running errands one afternoon, when a tinge of pain hints you in your lower back. No biggie, you’ll hit the chiropractor later, right? Then time goes on, and you see one of those handy chiropractors that has a space next to some taco stand, and everything is great. But that pain doesn’t get better over time, it gets worse, and soon you’re going to your general practitioner, who sends you to a different chiropractor, who sends you to a surgeon and so on. Wouldn’t it be great if there were one place you could go to get all of your pain problems fixed that didn’t require you to go see any other doctors at other locations? Well there is, and those places follow the comprehensive care system.

What Is Comprehensive Care?

That’s a good question, so let’s sort this out. You probably have multiple doctors for whatever ails you at the time. That could mean a podiatrist, general practitioner, internist, dermatologist and so on, just depending on what your particular issues happen to be. All of those specialists do their own things in their own fields, and they all deal with pain in one fashion or another. The podiatrist sees people for foot pain, dermatologist for skin pain, and so on.
But sometimes, the discomfort that you’re feeling is beyond the scope of one doctor’s level of expertise. Say that you have foot pain, for example. That could be something that a podiatrist could sort out, but they may theorize that the foot pain also extends to your back, because of a difference in your gait. Now you’ve got to see another doctor, which means filling out more forms and so on. Your doctor has nothing but your best interests in mind, but sometimes it just goes beyond what they’re able to do in-house so they have to send you elsewhere.
Let’s face it; this can be a problem. Doctors today need all sorts of things to get in the door, and whether or not they accept your insurance (assuming you’re covered) is a whole other issue. Plus it’s time away from work, your family or whatever else it is that you do on a regular basis. That’s a hassle.
Comprehensive care takes those problems and hits them head on. In the case of a pain clinic that deals with comprehensive care, you walk in with one problem: pain. It doesn’t matter where this pain is, or what part of the body that’s affected, you’re just there because you have something that’s causing you angst and you want to get rid of it.
These clinics have multiple doctors under one roof that all have different specialties. In the case of many pain clinics, that means they have chiropractors, acupuncturists, general practitioners and so on there to take care of your needs. And since it’s all under one roof — quite literally — there’s nowhere else that you have to go to get things sorted out.

Walking It Through

Alright, let’s go back to that example. You’re running errands, tinge of pain, call the doctor — except in this case, you’re heading to a pain clinic that does comprehensive care. Let’s see how it works out.
You’ll check in, handle the insurance paperwork and all that, then see a doctor or nurse practitioner. They’ll do the initial assessment, taking note to figure out where the problem is, what could have caused it and so on. From that point, there are a few different scenarios that could play out, depending on what’s determined to be the problem, or at least where it’s narrowed down. You could see and acupuncturist, who will walk you through that system, and see if that helps your issues. You could get an x-ray, which could help in the diagnosis as well. Or it could be as easy as a trip to the chiropractor, where they sort out the issue and figure out what needs to happen from there. And here’s the thing: that’s all happening in the same building.
If things are more serious, you’re still covered. Should the multiple doctors in the clinic determine that you need a procedure done — facet injections, radiofrequency ablation, etc. — then those are options as well. Comprehensive care really does mean all of it in one place. Sure, some of the procedures themselves may be done at a nearby surgery center, but that’s the only time the model differs — and frankly, other doctors would do the same thing.

Is It For Me?

That is the big question here, and it does come down to those basics. Do you think that a pain clinic that offers comprehensive care is the best choice for you? Well, do you want the hassle of schlepping yourself between multiple doctors, clinics, labs and treatment centers to find out what’s causing your pain? Or would you rather get it all done at once? Plus, there are the other advantages, such as how these types of clinics often have conservative opioid policies, minimizing risk in the process. That they want you to feel better without requiring medication, and that’s their first step. For most, the answer is pretty clear. How about you?

Arizona Pain Now Serving Patients in Phoenix with New Pain Clinic

Arizona’s leading pain management center specializing in the treatment for chronic and acute pain has opened a new clinic in Phoenix at the Desert Ridge Medical Campus.

Scottsdale, AZ. – March 4, 2013 – PR Web –Arizona Pain (Arizonapain.com) is now offering those who suffer from acute and chronic pain world-class care at a new location in Phoenix at the Desert Ridge Medical Campus, which has opened as of March 4, 2013. The new clinic is located off the 101 and Tatum, at 20940 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite B-210, in Phoenix, AZ, 85050, and will be open Monday–Friday, 7am–5pm.

“We know chronic pain affects over a million people in Phoenix alone,” says Arizona Pain CEO Joe Carlon. “Our commitment to the patients in this community is to provide the world class pain care they would want for their own Moms & Dads, and our newest location in the Desert Ridge area of Phoenix allows us to better deliver that kind of care to patients in their time of need.”

This new clinic space is comprised of 3,586 square feet with a spacious waiting room and seven clinic rooms, providing comprehensive pain care for patients all under one roof. Dr. Jack Anderson, a double-board certified Interventional Pain Physician and Anesthesiologist, will be the attending physician on site.

Dr. Anderson’s passion for helping those who suffer from chronic pain, along with his expertise in emergency medicine, diagnostic radiology and pain management, make him uniquely qualified to help those in need. Dr. Anderson completed his first residency in Emergency Medicine at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, California, and became a practicing Emergency Medicine Physician in 2005 before returning for training in the Diagnostic Radiology Residency program at Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center.

“Dr. Anderson has been recognized professionally as a thought leader, mentor and compassionate colleague,” says Dr. Tory McJunkin, co-founder of Arizona Pain. “We are confident in his skills of leading our Phoenix Pain Team and are proud to have him on board.”

Dr. Anderson and the team at Arizona Pain utilize a conservative, minimally invasive approach to comprehensive care, and offer safe, highly effective and alternative treatments for various pain conditions. In addition to this new Phoenix location, Arizona Pain has three other clinic locations in Scottsdale, Glendale and Chandler. Appointments to see the top-notch team at one of these four clinic locations can be made by calling 480-563-6400.

“It’s an exciting time at Arizona Pain,” says Carlon. “This is the first of many announcements we will be making this year about expansion and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to serve the community at our fourth location in the Phoenix Metro Area.”

About Arizona Pain

The team at Arizona Pain is dedicated to providing relief for various types of chronic pain, including back, neck, facial, joint, hip and cancer pain, as well as other chronic pain conditions. These specialists work with one mission in mind: “to change lives by delivering world-class pain management care that we would want for our own mom and dad.” Dr. Tory McJunkin and Dr. Paul Lynch founded Arizona Pain after a close family member battled severe, debilitating pain. Arizona Pain remain passionate about treating those who suffer from chronic pain, with the ultimate goal of providing hope and restoring life.

BACK PAIN

It’s early — too early. Your eyes open up and as you blink away the sleep from your eyes you remember that you should probably replace your bed, or flip it, or whatever the mattress people suggest. Either way, it’s just not comfortable. You roll to your side, and just as you start to pick yourself up you feel this pinch in your back. Wow, is that painful! And also, one of the worst ways that you could start your day.

Back pain affects one in four Americans at some point in their lifetime, which means that chances are, you’ve experienced it. Whether you had a mild muscle strain while working out at the gym or threw it out while helping your cousin move his couch, your back is the center of your body’s universe. If it’s not functioning properly, you’re in for a world of pain, and that’s about as much fun as … well … helping your cousin move his couch.

So what do you do about it? Whether you find yourself immobilized completely or just having a hard time sitting throughout the day, there is help. Today’s pain doctors have so many tools at their disposal that it’s staggering. Take Spinal Cord Stimulation, for example, a newer take on an old classic. It used to be that we used small pads to supply electrical current to the back right above the affected nerve. This would dull the pain, but because the current had to travel through skin and muscle, it took larger amounts of current to get the job done. Although those tools are still effective for many patients, a spinal cord stimulator actually delivers the current right next to the nerve, using much less electricity in the process. It’s an excellent option.

But there’s so much more that we can do to help your problem. Whether it needs surgery, chiropractic care or some other type of treatment, it’s our goal to get you up and at ’em again, using the best possible method possible.

From our families to yours,

Dr. Tory McJunkin and Dr. Paul Lynch Founders of Arizona Pain

We take medicine because it’s designed to fix a problem. Something is wrong with us — allergies, blood pressure, pain — and we use the medication to solve the issue. If there’s no other way to treat the problem, and medication is able to fix it, then that’s the path we take.

But sometimes those medicines cause more problems than they solve, resulting in us either taking additional medications to battle the additional problems, or having to suffer through those issues as well. How many times a day do you see an ad for a new drug that has a disclaimer along the lines of, “May cause nausea, upset stomach, diarrhea, blurred vision …” and then some? When you need medicine for your medicine, it’s time to rethink things.

Kristen Wesley was living that life. Between surgeries, medications and everything else, she was in constant pain that was just unbearable. It led to a life where she was hooked on narcotics and opioids, unable to be comfortable for any stretch of time and just miserable. This is her story.

On the Field

Being a softball pitcher is hard work. Not only are you swinging your arm to release a ball at speeds faster than most normal humans can produce, but you’re putting your body under constant strain. As if that wasn’t enough, put that same person in the batting box to face pitches from the opponent, and the risk of injury grows even higher. Make no mistake, being a softball player is hard work, no matter what the male jocks on the baseball team say.

But with all of the risks inherent with any sport come the rewards, and Kristen had those in spades. Her career on the mound took her around the world and gave her an identity and education. The problems came when it all started to crash down around her with an injury, which started a downward spiral that took her out of the game and almost her life.

Her athletic career took roots early, with the encouragement of her father, Scott Wesley. “I felt that the art of pitching was a way to get her into the game, and move her along pretty quickly,” he says, and it seems that he was correct. Scott, a softball coach by profession, soon found his daughter taking swings in batting cages at speeds that professionals might balk at. “She literally would hit ropes,” he beams, describing the straight and hard hits she could produce.

As time went on, Kristen got better and better. Her aptitude for the game grew, and soon she found herself in high school where she could really shine. “As a freshman I was a varsity pitcher, and I just took a lot of pride in being an athlete,” Kristen says. Her abilities soon took her to Europe where she competed in the World Cup Softball Games, and she also was a part of the North American Spirit softball team. “She was pretty good,” her father says, with a small smirk.

The strain on her young body was pretty intense. “I spent at least four days a week training, a couple of hours every single day, as a young girl in my garage throwing balls — hundreds of balls with my dad as a pitcher

[and] going to the batting cages three days a week. Spending hours and hours training with my dad.” But she had the benefit of youth, and she could handle the extra pressure. Plus, it was fun — it was what she wanted to do, so there were no complaints on her end. “I remember her saying to me, ‘I can’t thank you enough, dad.’” Scott says.

Her status as an all-star pitcher came with her to college, where she kept up her fierce competitive spirit. “We ranked fourth in the nation; we went to the World Series my freshman year which was super exciting,” she recalls. “I was set to be the first string pitcher the following year, and that’s when I had a freak accident.”

That freak accident was a back injury where she herniated her L4-L5 discs. At first, the urgency of the situation didn’t register with Kristen. “I just thought that I strained my back really bad and pulled a muscle,” she says. As a result, she continued to play with the injury, and that made it get worse and worse. By the end of the season, she was in pretty intense pain, and they visited a doctor to determine what the best course of action was. After attempting more conservative treatments, things still weren’t getting any better. By the time August came around, the doctor said that surgery was her only option, so Kristen had a procedure done.

The surgeries didn’t go as well as planned, and she was still in pain, but those weren’t the only issues that Kristen had to deal with. “It was a really big heartache for me because I lost my identity in a lot of ways. I lost my identity as an athlete, which I trained for my entire life. As a student, [because] I wasn’t able to sit through my classes.”

Things continued to spiral downwards from there. Softball was suddenly gone from her life, and with that went her college scholarship as well. Because the sciatica pain in her legs was so bad, she couldn’t sit in class, so eventually she was forced to withdraw from school. She left her west coast college and came back to live with her parents to try to figure out what to do with her life.

At this point, the only thing that Kristen thought she could do to get through the pain was to take prescription pain killers, both narcotics and opioids. “I didn’t realize there was such a thing as a Pain Management doctor that could help me, so i continued to take a miserable cocktail of drugs for a few years, which created a vicious cycle of terrible side effects, struggle with addiction and terrible withdrawl symptoms.” These drugs brought their own problems. Migraine headaches, a lack of focus, depression — these all manifested themselves in various ways for the time she was on the medication, even putting her in the hospital on more than one occasion. Things were bad. Really bad.

Recovery and Reevaluation

Kristen didn’t want to take this situation lying down, so she started researching her options. After looking and visiting various hospitals and clinics, she found a pain specialist in her area that had a different approach to handling her issues. They didn’t want to focus on medication; for them, it was about finding alternative approaches to the problem first and slowly taking her off of her existing medications. This was the break she had been looking for.

What did they do to manage pain? “Before seeing the Arizona Pain, I wasn’t able to manage my own regiment with alternative therapies, or get relief for myself other than with the use of medications.” Her answer, came in the form of some other options. “A TENS unit, spinal decompression, topical ointments and patches, chiropractic techniques — those all really helped me get back to feeling better.”

Prior to seeing the Arizona Pain, Kristen’s life was pretty limited. She couldn’t travel, because sitting for too long would put her in intense pain. Certain car seats were so uncomfortable that it became unbearable, and work became a problem as well. She couldn’t live a normal life without taking medication. She wasn’t able to even do simple tasks like take her dogs for a walk around the block. Now, all that has changed. “Through trying these alternative therapies — other solutions besides medications — I’m able to slowly increase my activity level. Actually work out again, strengthen my muscles, strengthen my back without pain flare-ups that, in turn, allows me to increase my overall activity.”

Although she’s been through a lot of pain these past few years, today she’s confident and looks out on a bright future. She also has a few words of health advice to other people in similar situations to her own. “As a former and current patient who’s always trying to manage my pain levels and has also seen the worst and best of the progress, I would say to anyone else in chronic pain, don’t give up. Keep trying lots of different things, don’t just necessarily think that one thing is the answer. Sometimes it takes a combination of different therapies to help you get off opioids and get you back to living a normal life.”

For more information about opioids, please visit: Paindoctor.com/opioid-resources.

Hard Work and Perseverance Pays Off

Bryan Howell has always been an athletic guy, but life somehow got in the way and put him on a path where he was 260 pounds and wasn’t working out as much as he would’ve liked. Back in 2005, he wanted to up his workout game from his usual routine to doing a full triathlon. It was a lofty goal, and he debated it a few times, but then his life started to change. Howell moved from Arizona to Colorado to retire and settle into a new life. A year later, he moved again. Three years after that he moved again, and by 2010 he found himself back in Phoenix, where he’s been ever since.

In 2011, he decided to finally take the plunge and run his first triathlon. He had plenty of bicycle experience — that was his sport of choice for a while — but this time he had a daunting challenge in front of him: a 400 yard swim, 12 mile bicycle ride and a 3.1 mile run. It was tough, but he made it through and placed second for his age group. Not too bad at all.

Howell isn’t a spry 25, however. Approaching the 40-year-old mark, his body performs differently than it would if he were a teenager. He had a new goal, but now pain was stopping him from reaching it. For that, he needed some help.

“I came to Arizona Pain about a year and a half ago,” Howell says. “I was having extreme pain in my knee. I wanted to train for the Ironman triathlon, but my knee was keeping me from doing that.”

The fix was a series of knee pain joint injections, which not only cut back on the severe pain his left knee was causing him, but also helped push him forward to pursue other goals. “Those injections gave me the confidence and the ability to train to the level I needed to get to.”

He had almost a year to go before his first real Ironman competition, and there was a lot of work to accomplish. After all, the Ironman is known as one of the most grueling triathlons in existence — hence the name. And the training for that competition involves doing a lot of triathlons. It was going to be a tough year.

His workout schedule became pretty intense. On Mondays he’s swim for 30 minutes, then run for 60. On Tuesdays, spin class for 60 minutes, then run for another 30. One of his bigger days was Saturday, with a 90 minute bike ride combined with a 60 minute run. It’s the type of schedule that would put some 20 year olds to shame, and he was doing it as a middle-aged man.

At this point, Howell has shed at least 30 pounds from his frame, and things are going fairly well. In October of 2011, he raced his first half Ironman, and finished in five hours, 22 minutes — a respectable finish for someone in the 35-39 age range category. And it was just the beginning.

In May of 2012, Howell competed in the Ironman St. George competition — and it wasn’t easy.

The swimming portion of the race was hampered by bad weather conditions. 4- to 5-foot waves were causing even the best swimmers to have negative process, and things just kept getting worse. It got to the point where the organizers started pulling swimmers out of the water — including Howell — because it had become dangerous.

But the race wasn’t over yet. Race officials explained how they would adjust things for the poor conditions, which gave some people the option to quit right then and there. Not Howell. He pushed forward into the cycling competition and decided to really enjoy himself, taking in the sights and sounds of the course and helping out his fellow riders whenever possible. He even clocked speeds just shy of 60 mph, which certainly didn’t hurt his time.

Next came the run, and at first he was doing consistent 8- and 9-minute miles. The number would drop to 12 minutes around the 18-mile mark, but while other entrants were giving up, he kept on pushing forward. At the end of it all, he finished in approximately 14 hours and 25 minutes, which was 3 hours better than he target time.

None of this would’ve been possible without a lot of hard work and the help of everyone on his team. But Howell does have one particular group to thank. “I really attribute all of this success to my work ethic and some help from Arizona Pain.”

See Bryan’s pictures and achievements in a short video here

Arizona State Sun Devil football fans are all too familiar with Aaron Pflugrad. The 5’10” wide receiver played stellarly for the team for three years, before graduating in 2011 with a degree in marketing. Pflugrad, a native of Missoula, Montana came to the Sun Devils after playing for the Oregon Ducks. His father, football coach Robin Pflugrad, left Oregon at the same time to become head coach at Montana.
Pflugrad made 96 receptions for 1,241 yards – including 8 touchdowns during his college career. Arizona Pain Monthly checks in on the local star athlete – including how he manages pain, and if the NFL is in his future:

Q: When did you begin playing football?

A: I started playing tackle football in the third grade. I was a huge ASU fan and knew back then that I wanted to play for the Sun Devils.

Q: What is it about athletics that makes you passionate?

A: I am very passionate about athletics because it can teach you so many lessons about life. I love being one of the smallest guys out there but still gaining the respect of my coaches and teammates by the way I play. Football is a game of “what have you done for me lately.”
I love to compete every single day and give it everything I have. I love having to prove it every day. I also played basketball and ran track in high school. I love competing, so any sport is good with me.

Q: you graduated in May with a degree in marketing. What’s next?

A: I am finishing my graduate degree in liberal studies at ASU. I am also training for the NFL and will be in a training camp in May.

Q: Have you dealt with injuries or pain playing football? What has helped you regain your athletic ability?

A: I have been extremely blessed to have no major injuries during my career. I believe if you take care of your body, eat healthy, and stay in shape you can avoid most injuries. When you are injured it is important to do everything you can to get back as fast as possible.

Q: What would you recommend to others who may be interested in chasing their dreams – may they be athletic, professional, artistic, etc?

A: God gave us certain desires and passions that cannot be denied. Many people told me that I should look to play Division 2 college football because I did not have the size to play in the Pac-12 conference. I never listened, and I never will. Life is about mastering yourself and not letting things out of your control get to you. If you do the right things, to accomplish your dreams, for long enough and hard enough you will be successful.