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Our treatment approach
Pacifica staff endeavors to work closely with the medical
community treating the chronic pain patient who attends
our pain management program. We attempt to contact the
attending physician by telephone to discuss our evaluation
results and any treatment plan we intend to implement.
Our report of initial evaluation is sent to the referring
physician and/or nurse care manager and our discharge
summary is also directed towards them at completion of
the program. In addition, we are happy to receive telephone
consultations to facilitate the care and recovery of chronic
pain patients from their syndrome. Nurse case managers
often attend our weekly case conference with our entire
team to discuss progress and other issues.
At Pacifica our approach does not involve dangerous interventions. For over 23 years Pacifica and St. Helena Hospital have worked together to provide specialized and intensive treatment of complex pain syndromes in a medically supervised in-patient and out-patient residential setting. Our program has many doctors, nurses, and therapists working together to develop an individualized program of care for each patient.
Pain is a normal part of life. When it persists and becomes
unmanageable and leads to a chronic pain syndrome, special
treatment in an organized pain management program is sometimes
necessary. Pacifica and St. Helena Hospital work together
to provide specialized evaluation and pain program treatment
of difficult, complex pain syndromes which have not responded
to conventional and aggressive medical pain management
treatment. Since it is unlikely that medical science can
"cure" most chronic pain problems, our treatments are
aimed at providing pain sufferers with safe and effective
treatments that facilitates the body's normal healing
process. This can include correct medications, skills,
techniques, education, functions, and abilities while
undergoing medical stabilization in a safe and secluded
environment.
We emphasize competencies in knowing and applying specific pain reduction techniques. This can include adaptation, detoxification, confrontation, acceptance, understanding, pain reduction, stress control, strengthening, pattern development and non-narcotic medication. Our programs are effective because patients are away from their usual environment allowing a total focus on getting healthy.
While curing or entirely eliminating pain would be wonderful, with effective management, it is not necessary to eliminate pain to be restored to health and better functioning without the need for narcotics.
Our approach entails complete, round-the-clock management in both our 14 day and 26 day programs which take place in a serene and supervised environment. Our emphasis is on improving patient competencies in
knowing an applying specific pain reduction, distraction and confrontation techniques in addition to appropriate medications, and physical rehabilitation. Our focus is on adaptation to
pain rather than escape from pain. The role of the doctor, hospital, and medications is slowly replaced by sound judgment, confidence, and balance in using new and old techniques to manage
the pain experience effectively and with less disability. Patients nearly always feel better with this approach and typically report less pain.
We encourage patients to work toward discovering small positive effects and use them frequently rather than looking for one complete answer or "magic bullet" that stops pain altogether. The quest for complete pain cure is both costly and can be dangerous.
As time passes in the program, our patient's pain moderates
and they slowly regain elements of their health and prepare
for their return to their home environment. Our family
and occupational therapist and others assist in the transition
home and our year of follow-up begins. At the completion
of either intensive programs patients are typically much
improved but often they remain "fragile" and require continuity
with their patient group and the Pacifica treatment team.
Each patient has regular and often daily visits with physicians, psychologists, physical therapists, exercise physiologists, aquatic therapists, nutritionists, family therapists, stress management and biofeedback therapists, chemical dependency counselors, pain management specialists, massage therapists, and other medical specialists as needed.
At Pacifica, we consider chronic pain syndromes most effectively treated with non-acute methods. Using acute treatments (eg., rest, drugs, blocks, surgery) repeatedly over long periods of time risks creating more problems than they solve.
Our approach to treating intractable and severe chronic
pain syndromes involves methods from medical rehabilitation.
Regarding prescription medications, in place of addictive
medications and interventions, we work with safer categories
of drugs such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, anti-depressants,
anti-convulsants, various channel blockers and several
other non-addicting categories of medications. Our whole
approach, however, is to avoid prescription medications
altogether by using safer powerful, non-drug techniques.
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