| Titel: | Chronic pain management in a health maintenance organization |
|---|---|
| Autor: | McCarberg, B und Wolf, J |
| Mediengruppe: | journal article |
| Herausgeber: | --- |
| Zeitschrift: | The clinical journal of pain |
| Jahr: | 1999 |
| Band: | 15 |
| Heft: | 1 |
| Seiten: | 50-57 |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Abstract: | (The treatment group participated in a 16-hour, 8-week class teaching cognitive-behavioral techniques, the relaxation response, meditation, and stress management. The minimal treatment group received a home-study manual.) Meditation relieves chronic pain: Toronto doctor offers course that cuts stress levels and may reduce reliance on drugs. Maclean’s, 9 Jun 2005. “Meditation can help relieve chronic pain and reduce the need for painkillers, walkers or canes, according to Dr. Jackie Gardner-Nix, a Toronto pain consultant. “About 40 per cent of her patients have low-back pain, with the rest suffering from chronic headaches, migraines, arthr itis, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease and fibromyalgia. “Gardner-Nix, who splits her time between St. Michael’s Hospital and Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre, says drugs were unable to provide sufficient relief in her patients, reducing pain severity from eight out of 10 to ‘a five or six, at best.’ Meanwhile, some 'patients were ‘entrenched in being disabled.’ “After she took a seven-day course on mindfulness-based stress reduction, Gardner-Nix made a commitment to meditating daily to deal with her own stress. After a year, she knew she could apply the practice to her patients and their pain. “Gardner-Nix began offering a 10-week course she calls ‘mindfulness-based chronic pain 'management,’ which involves classes where patients do some movement meditations and spend time sitting very still and focusing on their breathing—the key to mindful meditation. Once she began using mindful meditation in her practice, she found her patients’ pain scores and stress hormone levels were reduced. “In some cases, the results were dramatic, with patients greatly reducing or even eliminating some pain medications or relying less on a walker or a cane. ‘They are also happier and feel they have more control over their life and become more hopeful.’ “Dr. Anjelica Fargas-Babjak, director of the acupuncture and pain clinic at McMaster University in Hamilton, has also seen positive results with meditation. She says it is ‘important to use the mind-body techniques such as meditation to help with the stress response. By decreasing muscle tension and stress, there is healing and decreased pain.’ “At least 370 people have gone through the mindfulness-based chronic pain management course at St. Michael’s and Sunnybrook. Gardner-Nix has expanded the programs to offer courses via 'video link-up to Ontario hospitals in Orangeville, Barrie, Sudbury, Bracebridge and Elliott Lake.” |