Cmc 240 - Evaluation of Pain Management: Physical Therapy Vs. Narcotics

Evaluation of Pain Management: Physical Therapy vs. Narcotics

Jane Stone

CMC 240

February 27, 2011

Dr. Natasha Williams Ed. D.

Evaluation of Pain Management: Physical Therapy vs. Narcotics

My topic is Pain management and the difference between physical therapy and narcotics. I believe it would be best to start the evaluation of information on why a person would need pain management: pain management is needed as a result of chronic pain. Let us start with the definition of chronic pain as described by one of the leading accredited websites available on the internet today: "Anyone can get chronic pain. Chronic pain can occur anywhere in the body. It can range from being mild and annoying to being so bad that it gets in the way of daily activities." (WebMD, 2011) Chronic pain "lasts for 3months or longer." (WebMD, 2011) I chose to go with the WebMD for the cause of chronic pain using the same site as the definition so my tone and language are the same for such close details. To make my paper flow better from paragraph to paragraph it is important to use the same language and tone that sometimes will stem from using the same site, journal, book, or article. The cause for chronic pain varies from person to person and sometimes is indefinable. "Common symptoms of chronic pain include: mild to very bad pain that does not go away as expected, pain that is shooting, burning, aching, or electrical, soreness, tightness, or stiffness." (WebMD, 2011) The information gathered on the definition was general and comparative to other websites and the Webster dictionary.

Retrieving information on pain management was eventful; every one of the sites I visited had their own definition of it. Taking notes on the definition from the various sites proved to be helpful. I decided to go with the Nemours Foundation based on the quality of language used for this topic and the definable difference of the language. This particular website link is geared towards teenagers. It does have links for others types of patients; however I found it best to use this language for my audience because it is basic word usage that people with limited word barriers or understanding may find easier to comprehend. The definition is: Pain Management is "treatment designed to ease chronic pain to enable a patient to have a better quality of life. Pain management can include medications, exercises, and relaxation techniques." (The Nemours Foundation, 2011) The creditability of this site I found to be of good standing through researching The Nemours Foundation at Nemours.org. This foundation is dedicated to aiding and helping the health and research of children and their medical problems. It is a leader in health education, research that changes scientific progress for the positive goals that benefit children, teens, and young adults. The information from Nemours sets a president for other health care clinics, research facilities, and children's hospitals.

.My next paragraph topic is pain management clinics. I went back on the internet to yahoo typed in the words "pain management clinics" and the websites were endless. I proceeded to add "in Washington State" and was amazed at how many I found in the state of Washington alone. I then decided to narrow the search to my county. The websites that came up under: Pain management clinics in Kittitas County Washington State were a bit less; however the topics for the majority were not even close to what I actually need for information. I selected two of the top sites to investigate first. The first one being: Kittitas County, Washington County Information - ePodunk. This website had all information on Kittitas County and among the sponsored ads for the site was Pain Management at the top of the list. I then decided to try a new topic to see if that topic would pop up on that list. It did not. I went back to the link and scrolled to the health link: the only thing that came up was Kittitas County medical services and health statistics link, plus an Alzheimer's Care link for the county residence. I went back to the beginning to start over to refresh myself and not get frustrated. This was the hardest find on information that I thought suitable for my final paper. I chose for my next site Doctors in Ellensburg WA Washington - Best Doctors and Doctors reviews. This site had sites within it also and gave pertinent information on the results for each doctor: the personal website for the doctor, directions to the office, the company or corporation information, and the phone number. Some of the sites even had a percentage of the success rates of achievement for the patients. I found that a bit odd: however it was comforting to know that it didn't intimidate the doctor or company to show a lower success rate than other doctors or companies may have had. The following site was on a doctor who "specialized in pain management," (Jason G. Attaman, 2011) his name is Dr. Jason G. Attaman DO FAAPMR and is accredited for it, and has his credentials, testimonials, and information on his education, postdoctoral training, and where he has staff privileges. He comes "highly recommended by the Swedish Hospital in Seattle Washington" (Jason G. Attaman, 2011) which is world renowned. The site is: http://jasonattaman.com/jasonattaman/About_Dr._Attaman.html.

Following my outline I went to the local library to retrieve some information on physical therapy. There were a number of books on topics available for this and chose "Chronic Pain for Dummies" by (Kassan, Vierck, & Vierck, 2008) The book covered an extensive amount of information on the topic ranging from the "causes of chronic pain" to "understanding pain throughout the life cycle." (Kassan, Vierck, & Vierck, 2008) The definitions were extremely helpful, using bullets to give examples for better understanding. The title "caught the eye" and contrary to popular belief, was not offensive. I found this information to be comparative to other sources such as the WebMD with its definition of physical therapy. The WebMD described physical therapy as: "Physical Therapy is a type of treatment a patient may need when health problems make it hard to move around and do everyday tasks. It helps move better and