For chronic pain patients, pain will always be a part of their life. No effort for pain modulation is 100% curative for these patients, which means a careful balance of support needs to be considered. Liza Tharakan, Consultant in Pain Medicine and Anaesthesia and Lead Clinician for the Chronic Pain Service at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham, discusses the role of art in holistic pain management for chronic pain patients.
Therapies for pain management include pain modulation with medications, which can often leave patients with a wide range of side effects. Not to mention the impact of long-term medicating and the risk this poses for the patient during future surgical interventions, as well as the risk of addiction. Alongside medication, injections and physiotherapy are often used to support chronic pain patients in managing their condition. While all these options do help patients, they are limited in what they can offer. Pain management in these forms help reduce the physical experience of pain, but leave one large element untouched – the emotional aspect.
Chronic pain affects quality of life for patients. They can feel isolated, lack confidence, and often struggle in socialising especially within new groups. As the nervous system is impacted for those suffering with chronic pain, anxiety and depression are commonly reported comorbidities.1
We have to, therefore, look holistically at the patient’s pain (physical and emotional) and provide pain management that is equally holistic.
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