Four Fallacies That Every Chronic Pain Patient Should Know About
If you’re a chronic pain patient, you’re probably struggling to obtain proper treatment.
Unfortunately, this is the sad reality for chronic pain sufferers, particularly in Canada, where our various public healthcare systems rarely provide the kinds of treatments that actually work, and private healthcare practitioners are practically outlawed.
This creates a situation where chronic pain patients have to travel great distances or spend significant sums of money just to get proper treatment, and if they can’t afford to do that, they are simply forced to suffer, or worse.
This stuff is rarely discussed in the mainstream, but there’s still plenty of evidence to show the harm that this is causing for chronic pain patients in Canada.
For example, a survey from the Chronic Pain Association of Canada shows just how dire the situation is for many chronic pain sufferers in this country.
The survey, which was published in 2022, and compared to their last survey from 2019, found that life is getting much more difficult for Canadians with chronic pain.
Survey respondents reported that since 2019, they’ve seen a 23.8 per cent increase in their pain levels, a 22.3 per cent increase in their level of disability, and a 29.3 per cent decline in their overall quality of life.
What’s more, chronic pain patients are so desperate to get relief from their pain that 64.4 per cent of respondents said they were considering suicide, 9.3 per cent have attempted suicide, five per cent of respondents have applied for medical assistance in dying (MAiD), and 15 per cent have resorted to obtaining pain “medications” on the street.
As someone who suffers from chronic pain herself, our founder, Dr. Dheshnie, knows firsthand how difficult it can be to find effective treatment in a country where chronic pain sufferers seem to have been more or less abandoned by the healthcare system.
And after treating countless chronic pain patients, she’s also heard story after story from people with chronic pain who have struggled for years to relieve their suffering with no success.
Many of these people are absolutely desperate to receive any form of relief from their pain, and that makes them quite vulnerable to “pain specialists” who have no idea what they’re talking about, and opportunistic practitioners seeking to take advantage of them.
With that in mind, Dr. Dheshnie felt it was time we published an article on some of the biggest fallacies related to chronic pain treatment, which every chronic pain patient should know about.
So, if you’re struggling to get relief from your chronic pain, and you’re looking to empower yourself with information, then this article is definitely for you.
1) Pain Specialists Can Get Rid of Your Chronic Pain
You might be confused as to how this is considered a fallacy, but at least in this country, it is one of the biggest misconceptions about chronic pain.
You see, there are a lot of reasons why many of our so-called “pain specialists” are often unable to actually alleviate their patients’ pain.
First and foremost, the fact is, most doctors are just not equipped to treat chronic pain patients, and there are many different reasons for that.
For one thing, it’s barely mentioned in the medical school curriculum. There is one course on it, but it’s known for being notoriously difficult, as pain is quite complicated to understand, and there are still many unknowns in this field.
So, for most students, going through this course is a real struggle, and before they’ve even graduated from medical school, that deterrent is already there.
Students who choose to go into the field of anesthesiology will learn much more about pain, but unfortunately, very few students choose to do so.
Moreover, many of the doctors who are running pain clinics in this country are simply not qualified, and many of those who would be considered qualified have just recently graduated, so they have very little experience.
At the same time, doctors are notorious for not listening to chronic pain patients (especially women), not least because many of them have never dealt with chronic pain, so they can’t empathize with their patients. And as a result, many of these patients resent doctors, and don’t trust them, so these patients can be very difficult to deal with, and this also deters doctors from getting into the field of chronic pain.
Furthermore, as we explained in our last article on chronic pain, doctors in this country, whether they’re pain specialists or not, have to be very careful about the kinds of pain medications they prescribe, because they could get investigated, disciplined, or even have their license revoked for prescribing too many opioids, for instance.
So, all things considered, if you’re planning on going to see a pain specialist, they might be able to help you, but don’t expect them to get rid of your pain.
2) Epidural Steroid Injections Won’t Help Your Pain
For more than 70 years, epidural steroid injections (ESIs) have been used to treat various types of back pain that originate in the spine or radiate from the back to other parts of the body.
Some of the conditions that can be treated with ESIs include herniated discs, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease, facet joint pain, and sciatica.
That being said, it’s important to note that ESIs are not a cure for these conditions, but rather a treatment option that can provide temporary relief from pain and inflammation, and the effectiveness of this treatment can vary depending on the individual and the underlying cause of their pain.
But the fact that they’ve been in use since the ‘50s certainly lends some credence to their safety and efficacy. However, as is the case with many things in the medical field, there are differing opinions.
For example, a friend of Dr. Dheshnie’s has been suffering from sciatica, and when he mentioned ESIs to his doctor, they told him that ESIs wouldn’t help, despite not even bothering to try them.
But this just isn’t true. One quick Google search produced this systematic review and meta-analysis backing up the safety and efficacy of ESIs for people with sciatica.
It states that “Epidural injections can be considered a safe therapy,” and “The literature indicates that ESI induces larger improvements in pain and disability on the short term compared to epidural placebo”.
Over the years, Dr. Dheshnie has done many of these injections on her own patients, and she’s seen for herself how effective they can be.
However, there are doctors out there who don’t give this treatment a fair chance. For instance, if a patient gets one of these injections, but only reports a 20 per cent decrease in their pain, oftentimes, doctors will say it’s not working and neglect to give them another injection, when that actually means it is working, and it’s an indication to give the patient follow-up treatments.
Simultaneously, there are some unscrupulous doctors out there who will administer these injections, even to patients who don’t meet the criteria.
So, if you’re trying to get your doctor to give you epidural steroid injections, and they say it’s not going to work, or something doesn’t seem right, you might want to get a second opinion, preferably from an anesthesiologist.
3) Anyone Can Administer Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections
Not too long ago, a nurse who works with Dr. Dheshnie told her that she’d sustained an ankle injury, and ended up having surgery.
She was interested in getting PRP injections, as they can help to speed up post-surgery recovery time, so she decided to go and get some.
The only problem was the person who administered them wasn’t even a doctor, they were a physiotherapist.
You see, in British Columbia, the administration of PRP injections is considered a restricted activity, and as a result, these injections can only be legally administered by a physician or a dentist. Registered nurses may also administer them, but only under the direction and supervision of a physician or dentist.
The main concern here is that if someone administers a PRP injection and doesn’t know what they’re doing, they can actually cause serious damage.
No matter who’s administering the injection, if you want to safely inject a joint, which is how PRP would be used to treat an ankle injury, it has to be done using an aseptic technique, which is an infection prevention and control method.
But the reality is, unless someone works in the operating room, they’re probably not well-versed in these procedures.
So, if you’re looking to get PRP injections to help with your chronic pain, make sure you’re getting them from someone who’s actually licensed to do so.
And regardless of who’s offering the treatment, ideally, patients should make sure that practitioners are wearing sterile gloves. If they’re not, then patients should ensure that they thoroughly clean the area before administering the injection, making sure not to touch it again, and they should also ensure that they never touch the part of the needle that’s going to be injected.
If you want to learn more about PRP injections, you should check out our article, Struggling with Chronic Pain? PRP Could Be Just What You Need.
4) If Your Chronic Pain Was Caused by an Injury, Then You Need Surgery
Before we go any further, we should state, unequivocally, that this is simply not true.
There are many alternatives to surgery, depending on the nature of an injury, including medications, physical therapy, lifestyle changes, and minimally invasive procedures, like PRP.
But sadly, some unscrupulous practitioners will flat-out deny that these alternatives are viable options, especially if it’s in their interests to do so.
For example, the aforementioned nurse who hurt her ankle had actually asked her orthopedic surgeon about PRP, as an alternative to surgery, but he told her that it doesn’t work, and that she was going to need surgery, no matter what.
Now, Dr. Dheshnie never got all the details regarding what sort of ankle injury this nurse sustained, but judging by the fact that she was still walking around on it, she probably didn’t need surgery.
That being said, PRP injections can offer a highly effective alternative to surgery, but unfortunately, orthopedic surgeons, who make most of their money from performing these surgeries, are famous for saying this sort of thing, even when it’s not true.
Because if they refuse to perform surgeries on every patient who could get PRP injections instead, then they could end up losing a lot of money.
Not only is this completely unethical, especially if the surgery isn’t absolutely necessary, but it’s also downright dangerous, as surgery can be incredibly hazardous, putting patients at risk for serious complications, like nerve damage, or not waking up from the anesthesia, not to mention post-surgery downtime, which can last for months.
So, if you’re considering getting PRP injections for injury-related chronic pain, and a doctor’s telling you it won’t help, then you should probably get another opinion, especially if you’re dealing with joint pain.
Are you looking for a doctor who truly understands your chronic pain? Contact us to book a free consultation or schedule your treatment today.