Resource Guide Offers Consumers Overview Of Chronic Pain Medications & Treatments

ROCKLIN, Calif., Feb. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Chronic pain is a complex condition affecting an estimated 10 million Americans, according to the recent Institute of Medicine Report: Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research. People with pain face a myriad of treatments and medications promising to help them manage their pain.  Making sense of these offerings can be a daunting challenge, even with the help of a team of health care professionals.  

Each year since 2001, the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA) has published the ACPA Resource Guide to Chronic Pain Medication & Treatment to help consumers become better informed about the interventions available to them.  The 2014 edition is now available on the ACPA web site at (http://www.theacpa.org/uploads/ACPA_Resource_Guide_2014_FINAL.pdf) as a free download. 

Written by Steven Feinberg, MD, MPH and coauthored by Michael Leong, M.D., Ph.D.;  Jennifer Christian, M.D., M.P.H; Chris Pasero, M.S., R.N.-B.C., F.A.A.N.; April Fong, Pharm.D; and Rachel Feinberg, DPT, PT, the Guide is peer reviewed by other leaders in the pain management field.

The Resource Guide offers information about how medications work in the body, the types of medications used to manage pain including OTC medications, non-opioids, opioids, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants, and much more. Complementary and alternative medicines are also discussed.  An important feature of the Resource Guide is the attention given to using medications safely.

Beyond medications, the Guide discusses passive therapies & physical modalities, such as  hyperbaric oxygen, acupuncture, manipulation and mobilization, electrical stimulation devices, and trigger point injections.  Active interventions, including education, exercise, tai chi, yoga, graded motor imagery, psychological and behavioral approaches, and mind-body interventions are also described.

"Perhaps the most important chapter is the one explaining the value of interdisciplinary interventions," said Dr. Feinberg.  "These programs focus on functional restoration and use a variety of approaches in an interdisciplinary manner to help the individual regain personal control and reduce the sense of suffering."

About the ACPA

The American Chronic Pain Association is a non-profit organization that has been helping people live fuller lives in spite of pain since 1980.  We provide them with the tools they need, in addition to what their health care provider offers, to improve their skills in the self-management of their chronic pain.  In addition, we work to raise awareness among the health care community, policy makers, and the public at large about issues of living with chronic pain. Visit our web site at www.theacpa.org to preview our new tool, the Living with Arthritis Ability Chart: http://www.theacpa.org/uploads/documents/ACPA-Arthritis.pdf

SOURCE American Chronic Pain Association