Sleep Dysfunction and Myofascial Pain

There is a tremendous interplay between sleep and pain and stress and function, adrenal glands, fatigue and healing. We're not as aware of the sleep issues as we need to be. All of our pain patients, with rare exception, have some issue with sleep. When we have pain, pain will wake us up when we...

Pearls and Pitfalls for the Business Aspects of Drug Testing

2016 was not a good year to be on the wrong side of medical necessity when it came to drug testing and ongoing prescribing of controlled medication or substance abuse treatment programs. 2017 is likely to be an expensive year for those who do not proactively take steps to understand medical...

Opioid Safety and Service Members

New policies and training invoked by Navy Medicine, providing medical services to sailors, Marines, and family members, are designed to strike a balance between ensuring safe use of opioids and preserving access to them for the treatment of chronic pain. Patients in the care of Navy Medicine will...

The Business Aspects of Drug Testing

When Health Insurance May Not Be on Our Side

The cost of healthcare of course is a concern. The insurance companies are in the business of providing insurance and healthcare professionals and patients are seeking out quality care. There’s an inherent conflict there because unfortunately pain is a complex biopsychosocial problem. It really does...

Surgeon General: Make Naloxone Widely Available

Last week, US Surgeon General Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, issued an advisory advocating for greater distribution and availability of naloxone as an element of the national response to opioid use disorder. The Surgeon General recommends that individuals at risk for opioid overdose, as well as their family...

Lost in Translation: Making Sense of Clinical Treatment Guidelines

This presentation will highlight common procedures used for pain reduction, their evidence base, and a basic description of how each procedure is performed. We will primarily review epidural steroid injections, facet joint blocks and denervation, sacroiliac joint injections and denervation...

Does the Opioid Threat Go Beyond Opioids?

In 2017, the state of Kentucky became the first to classify gabapentin as a Schedule 5 substance, following the finding that the drug was involved in up to 33% of overdose fatalities during the prior year. This means that prescriptions for gabapentin will be reported to the state’s PDMP going...

Does Moderate Drinking Help with Chronic Pain?

Findings from a recent study suggest that moderate alcohol consumption is associated with less pain in patients with chronic pain and fibromyalgia, although fibromyalgia patients reported less benefit. Patients with chronic pain who were moderate drinkers also reported less anxiety, depression, and...

Overdose! Are Drug Users the Best First Responders?

Because they are likely to be at the scene of an overdose when it occurs, fellow drug users may be the most suitable targets for naloxone training, according to conclusions from a new study conducted at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In interviews with 450 drug users in the...