#82. Chronic Pediatric Pain in 2021: US Pain Foundation Report
Release Date: 09/29/2021
#92. Is Physical Therapy, The Panacea of Chronic Pain?
Pedia Pain Focus
Have you ever had any of your patients say that they don't think physical therapy helps their pain? Or that the physical therapy made their pain worse? It would certainly not surprise me, if you said yes. And in that case, this is definitely is the episode you want to listen to carefully. And if your answer to my question was no, this is an episode for you too, my friend. Because sooner or later you too will join this elite club with rest of us. However, this episode will give you the framework and tools to change that in your practice. Learn it from our guest who magically...
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#91. Mental Health and Pediatric Pain; Chicken or the Egg?
Pedia Pain Focus
Pain and mental illnesses coexist, often more than any of other illnesses. Both of them have a profound effect on a child's child’s quality of life, individually. Now imagine the magnitude of impact when they co-exist. In this episode, Dr. Anjana Kundu, with guest speaker Dr. Mirabelle Mattar, a child, and adolescent psychiatrist, discusses the intricate and dynamic relationship between pediatric pain and mental health, likely cause or affect and prognosis for a child with pain in the setting of mental health issues or vice-versa. They also discussed the factors...
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#90. Can We Prevent Pain from Becoming Chronic?
Pedia Pain Focus
Acute pain may be a protective and adaptive phenomenon, but chronic pain is nothing but damaging and a burden in every way possible and for all involved directly or indirectly. So how do we reduce or can we reduce burden? Join me in this episode to learn the factors that contribute to chronicity of pain and whether we can prevent it. Takeaways in This Episode Complexities of pain and its impact for the individuals and the society What differentiates acute from chronic pain and why that is important Various factors contributing to pain and its chronicity Modifiable vs....
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#89. The Pain of Being a Redhead
Pedia Pain Focus
An anesthesiologist or a dentist might tell you that redheads need more anesthesia or local anesthetic. Yet research around their pain perception, tolerance, modulation and response to different pain medications is much more variable and complicated. Join me to learn the recent and emerging evidence about the pain among redheads and what you can do for effectively and safely managing it!
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#88. Pharmacovigilance to Evaluate Efficacy and Net Clinical Benefit in Pediatric Pain Medicine
Pedia Pain Focus
What if you had the lessons from the hindsight AND the foresight while managing children's pain? How would that change your practice? How would that change the outcomes of pediatric pain treatments?
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87. Shifting the Paradigm in Pediatric Pain Medicine
Pedia Pain Focus
Pediatric pain has long been and continues to be neglected for many reasons and because of many challenges. In this episode we discuss those factors and more importantly, the way forward to make the paradigm shift, overcoming challenges and recognizing opportunities.
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#86. Essential Elements of a Successful Patient Encounter
Pedia Pain Focus
A clinical care visit is like flying a plane. It has to be smooth (charming), safe (thorough) yet efficient and on time!
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#85. Pain Amongst Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Pedia Pain Focus
Rising prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders, contradicting opinions and misconceptions around pain sensitivity and expression among these patients pose unique challenges for clinicians.
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#84. Post-Concussive Headache and Symptom Management in Children
Pedia Pain Focus
Headache is a presenting symptom in 90% of children after a traumatic head injury and for many it may persist for years. It can be extremely debilitating and difficult to treat, posing several unique diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Join me in conversation with Blake Windsor, MD a pediatrician with a subspecialty in training for pediatric pain medicine, a board certified headache specialist and Chief of Primas Health Pediatric Pain Medicine.
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#83. Reengineering Pediatric Perioperative Care for Optimal Outcomes
Pedia Pain Focus
Postoperative outcomes and success of the interventions is certainly dependent on the analgesia and anesthesia care, but what truly drives the outcomes is a complex interplay of biopsychosocial factors; an alignment between the patients and family's goals and medical as well as surgical interventions. How one goes about achieving that is what this episode is all about!
info_outlineChronic pain is often overlooked, and when it comes to children, it is even more so. The continued neglect of children's pain affects the ability to truly evaluate the extent of the problem and challenges these kids and their families face.
The United States Pain Foundation, a pain advocacy organization, conducted a survey to assess how children with a pain diagnosis and their families experience chronic pain, what challenges and barriers they face and what they hope for in their pain care.
In this episode, I’m joined by Nicole Hemmenway, the current CEO of the US Pain Foundation and the Founder of the INvisible Project and Casey Cashman, Director of Fundraising and the Pediatric Pain Warrior Program part of the US Pain Foundation. They are strong advocates for pediatric pain, inspired by their own pain experiences. They discuss the findings of this survey, share their experiences with the pediatric pain patients and families that they support through their programs. They also share their hopes and some possible directions to address some of the challenges identified in this survey.
As healthcare professionals and clinicians, these findings are eye opening and a call for action to collectively invoke change in the care of pediatric chronic pain.
Takeaways In This Episode
- Chronic pain is frequently overlooked due to its subjective nature
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Why Ms. Hemmenway and Ms. Cashman got involved in the pediatric pain work, US Pain Foundation and the Pediatric Pain Warrior program
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The reason(s) that prompted this survey
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Survey findings
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How much focus should be on the number rating of the pain and how meaningful, helpful that is.
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Valuable way to assess and inquire about chronic pain and a patient's progress
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Psychological impact, extent of mental health issues including self-harm, suicidal thoughts, ideation and attempts amongst pediatric chronic pain patients
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Burden of disease on the family - financial and psychosocial
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What therapies do patients and families wish were emphasized more - (Hint: Medications were at the bottom of the wishlist!)
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Barriers to chronic pain care
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Psychological toll of having to evaluate whether you can afford a therapy and how it may be/ to address it.
- Best ways for parents to discuss these barriers with their child’s physician
- Nicole and Casey's message to the listeners
Links
Connect with Nicole Hemmenway and Casey Cashman
US Pain Foundation-Pediatric Pain Report 2021
Pediatric Pain Warrior Support Groups
Register for upcoming Pediatric Pain Warrior Support Group
Clinicians’ Pain Evaluation Toolkit
About the Speakers
Currently serves as CEO of the U.S. Pain Foundation, and directs the INvisible Project, an online and print magazine that highlights the experiences of people living with pain. Nicole is also an author and motivational speaker. Her book, No, It Is NOT in My Head: The Journey of a Chronic Pain Survivor from Wheelchair to Marathon, details her struggles and triumphs in dealing with complex regional pain syndrome, a debilitating neurological disorder. In September 2015, Nicole was featured in a campaign in USA Today in recognition of her role as an advocate for those living with chronic pain; and in 2017, she received the Unsung Hero Award for her work in the pain community. Nicole lives in the Bay Area with her husband and three young sons.
Serves as the Director of Fundraising and the Pediatric Pain Warrior Program. Casey Cashman uses her voice to fight passionately for the rights of people with pain, especially children. She has lived most of her life with multiple, serious health conditions, including reflex sympathetic dystrophy/CRPS and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, among others.
Over the years, she began to connect more with patient organizations and realized she had a passion for helping others like her. In 2015, she was featured as a participant in the INvisible Project, which led to her joining the U.S. Pain Foundation as a staff member.
Before U.S. Pain Foundation, Casey spent many years working in Human Resources. She brings this knowledge and experience to the table in her role as director of the Pediatric Pain Warriors Program, where she provides compassionate support to kids with pain and their families as they travel along their pain journeys.
Casey also spearheads U.S. Pain’s fundraising efforts, and has helped create various programs and collaborations designed to support the organization’s free programs and services
Her son, Tyler, is also a budding advocate for the pain community. In honor of his mom, he founded Points for Pain, a fundraising program that has raised more than $100,000 for pediatric patients.