Last week I asked if complementary therapies help: Methods found to have positive effect on pain include acupuncture, chiropractic medicine, meditation, massage, yoga, exercise to name a few.
Have we found one therapy to be more effective than other? Like pain with its uniqueness, therapies are unique as well. Some people find great results with one form of therapy while others find little results. Here is a video on meditation. Try it and see how you feel!!! http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meditation/MM00623
This week I want you to tell me, do you believe one complementary therapy is more effective than another?
The American Pain Society (2011). Retrieved online from http://www.ampainsoc.org/advocacy/opioids.htm
In my practice I have encountered nurses who judge a patients pain not on what the patient states, but on their own personal beliefs. This is unprofessional and at times cruel, as the patient is left in pain which then reduces their ability to walk, eat, think, and sleep and slows the healing process. Nurses need to speak up for their patients when a prescribed regime is not effective for pain control and call the physician for new options.
ReplyDeleteThis is a common problem that needs to be addressed. Everyone's pain is unique, subjective and no one knows exactly what a patient is feeling. A nurse needs to remember this and put her personal beliefs aside.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has experiences with pain. Some unfortunatly have too much experience. Every one has a unique matrix of neurons that recieve and interpret pain, it is not simply a cause and effect of tissue damage and pain (Helms & Barone, 2008).
ReplyDeleteYou ask if any one alternative therapy is better than another. This involves many facets of a person's experience and make up and what type of pain, (chronic or acute, local or generalized) and the locality and what the therapy involves. One therapy may be good for one person and their pain but be ineffective to another and their pain even though the "tissue involvement" may be similar or worse in either case. Pain is individual.
Helms, J. & Barone, C. (2008). Physiology and treatment of pain. Critical Care Nursing, 28(6), 38-49.
This is a link to an interview with a physician discussing pain as the fifth vital sign and how important pain assessment and treatment is to patient outcomes.
ReplyDeleteBabus, G. (2008).Hospital Assessment of Pain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmQ8gPW8r7Y&feature=related
Jennifer, well said! one therapy works for some but not for others. Many times in the healthcare system we place people in a box. Expect same results for everyone. But "pain is individual"
ReplyDeleteSophia, thanks for the link. Asssessing each person and treating their unique pain to enhance their quality of life should be the goal.
ReplyDeleteA CAM therapy that is growing in popularity is aromatherapy. It is now one of the fastest growing CAM therapies in the United States and Europe and is now a $300 million-a-year business in the United States (Fontaine, 2005). Aromatherapy is the use of extracted essential oils from the roots, leaves, or blossoms of plants in order to stabilize and harmonize the body, mind, and soul. Aromatherapy is a holistic type of therapy and involves treating every aspect of the patient. Aromatherapy can be used to treat many different conditions. It is found to be especially helpful in the management of pain, either acute or chronic, such as those who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and migraine headaches. In addition, many cancer patients use aromatherapy to alleviate the chronic pain that is still felt after all conventional therapies have been exhausted. Aromatherapy has also proved to reduce stress and anxiety—it enhances a person’s mood and allows for relaxation. It is effective in the treatment of insomnia and constipation (University of Maryland Medical Center [UMMC], 2008).
ReplyDeleteFontaine, K. (2005). Complementary & alternative therapies for nursing practice.(2nd ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). (2008). Aromatherapy. Retrieved May 3,
2011 from http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/aromatherapy-000347.htm
srhollman, thanks for sharing about aromatherapy. I didn't think of it as being so popular but they always ask me if I would like it with my massage. Thanks for sharing your intake on it.
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