To submit a question to be considered for the Q&A, visit Join the Chat Q&A with Nutrition Expert Dr. Scott Olson – Friday, Jan 9.

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Tags: chronic pain blog, pain blog, chronic pain, natural medicine, scott olson, ND

Post from: Blisstree

Natural Medicine: Chat Q&A with Nutrition Expert Dr. Scott Olson

When I read about Ms Rupprecht and what the award stands for (recognizing individuals for excellence in caregiving and for their devotion to helping those living with pain), I knew I had to try see if I could interview her. According to the press release issued by the NPF, "The National Pain Foundation is proud to pay tribute to Christine Rupprecht for her groundbreaking achievements in the field of pain management as well as her dedication to, and passion for, providing exemplary care to patients coping with life-altering injuries and the family members who care for them."

 There is also a video that was filmed for the award, which shows you what an amazing person Ms Rupprecht is.

Here is the interview:

As a nurse, what type of background do you have specifically in pain care?

I have 15 years of experience as a pain management nurse.  My career started at Mount Vernon Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia.  The Director of Nursing called me into her office and encouraged me to apply for a position with the Anesthesia Department.  Apparently they had been looking for a nurse to work with patients in the pain clinic for six months but no one wanted to work with patients in pain. 

I interviewed, accepted the position and fell in love with the challenging and rewarding field of pain management.  I stayed at Mount Vernon for five years, received my Masters Degree as an Advanced Practice Nurse in Pain Management.  From there I went on to Georgetown University Hospital’s Pain Center and from there to Walter Reed.

What made you interested in pain as a particular area of health care? Was this something that was an original interest or something that grew as you practiced?

As I mentioned above pain management is extremely rewarding.  You can impact your patient’s life because sometimes the patients pain is so severe that their life has become "OBLITERATED" BY THE PAIN".  My interest still continues to grow.  It’s fascinating.

Do you have a particular person you see as a role model or mentor in the field of pain management?

I have been so fortunate to work with wonderful people.  COL Deborah Brown, MD, and COL Buckenmaier MD, the director of our program, whose voices you hear in the video taught me so much and supported through my journey.

Because the majority of your patients have severe limb injuries and/or amputations, is most of the pain you see and manage neurologic?

Pain management is multimodal and multidisciplinary. 92% of patients who have an amputation experience phantom limb pain which is neuropathic in nature and very difficult to treat.

How did you come about creating the Pain Process Improvement Team? What was the basis of the team, who comprises the team and are you looking to improve on it?

I think you are referring to the Pain Management Task Force.  It takes a village to raise a child; it takes a team to treat the pain.  This is an Interdisciplinary group which includes physicians, nurses, pharmacists, chaplains, social workers, nutritionist etc.  I started this group at Mount Vernon and also had one at Georgetown.  It serves as an educational format for the members but also makes pain management very visible in the institution.  Consequently the patients benefit.

What is the basis of the Pain Champions – are they preceptors to new nursing staff? What is the biggest benefit to this program?

The PAIN Resource Nurses or Champions serve as resources to the nurses on the unit and of course act as patient advocates.

As we know, chronic pain affects more than just the patient, but also the family members and friends who feel they’re helpless. Do you work with them as part of the pain program?

Of course, we treat the whole family at Walter Reed.

What is the biggest breakthrough that has come about since you’ve been working in pain management?

Believe it or not it’s that most health care providers now believe the patients’ self report of pain.

Can you think of a specific failure that was thought would be great for pain management but ended up not being very helpful?

No

I’m a former palliative care nurse, so I’ve seen the severe pain that can affect patients at the end-of-life stages. Can you see your program helping people in these situations?

Our chronic pain service is more involved in end of life issues.  Many patients are benefiting from implantable pain pumps, which have greatly improved their pain control and quality of life.  I worked with many of these patients at Georgetown.

How do you feel about alternative therapies, such as acupuncture?

Big Fan. We have had great success using acupuncture to treat phantom limb pain.  I just completed a Reiki class from the department of Integrative medicine at the  University of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore.

Although there have been so many people and so many issues, does any one person or situation in particular stay with you?

Max was my first patient at Walter Reed.  I learned so much from him.  He was a paratrooper and thought that was over when he lost his leg but he parachuted in for the opening of the MATC.

Although you work with adults, has your research and hard work been adopted in the pediatric milieu?

Pediatric pain management is a whole different field but good work is being done. At least now they believe that infants do experience pain.

What would you advise if someone has been living with severe chronic pain but they feel that they aren’t being taken seriously or their healthcare team isn’t able to help them effectively?

To find a pain management physician who believes and respects them.

How can a family member help someone who is living with chronic pain that isn’t getting relief, despite trying many types of treatment?

Don’t give up.  Use the Internet to learn about new treatment options.

Where do you see the whole field of pain management headed?

Our population is ageing and we have a whole new population of pain patients in the military it’s just going to keep growing.

Is there anything particular you would like to add for the readers of Help My Hurt? The majority of the readers live with fibromyalgia, migraines, and back pain. Other issues they have run from CRPS, interstitial cystitis, cancer, to fractures and repetitive stress injuries.

Go to organizations like the National Pain Foundation for help. They are doing a fantastic job.

My thanks to Chistine Rupprecht for taking the time to share her story with Help My Hurt. It goes to show that there is some hard work being done in the pain field and maybe, one day, everyone will get they help they need. I also would like to extend my thanks to the Gigail "Gail" Cureton, CTR, Media Relations at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for making this interview possible.

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Tags: chronic pain blog, pain blog, acute pain, pain specialists, christine rupprecht, walter reed army medical center, amputations, phantom limb pain, celina field caregiver award, national pain foundation, pain management

Post from: Blisstree

An interview with Award-winning pain nursing specialist, Christine M. Rupprecht, MSN, RN

Now, she has written up an introduction of herself so she can explain why she is so knowledgeable when it comes to pain. Unfortunately, she can also speak from a parent’s point of view as her children also have health issues that cause severe and chronic pain. So, here is the introduction and I hope you get some helpful information from her past contributions and her upcoming ones.

Several months ago, Marijke introduced me as a long-time friend of hers that would sometimes be providing information, tips, and other material for her blog. I haven’t been able to follow her introduction until now, so consider this “Get to Know Christina” day.

I am a “professional patient” rather than a medical professional, with 18 surgeries and innumerable hospitalizations starting in childhood. I have a variety of health issues that run from chronic pain from arthritis and fibromyalgia through genetic conditions such as a bleeding disorder and a failure to “build” correct collagen.

Click here to read more.

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Tags: chronic pain blog, pain blog, severe pain, chronic pain, children and chronic pain, fibromyalgia, migraines

Post from: Blisstree

A guest poster introduces herself

2008 Olympic Gymnastics Gold Medalists Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson are teaming up with Secret Deodorant to help other female athletes acheive their own dreams by offering $100,000 in scholarships.

Secret is hosting a webinar on Monday to announce this program and has invited GroundedFitness.com readers to come and listen, and have the chance to ask Nastia and Shawn a question, LIVE. Go to Ask Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson a Question LIVE! for more details.

The second part of Kelly’s message says:

GoTrybe.com, a company devoted to battling childhood obesity, is offering a free 1-year membership to their site. Again, head toGrounded Fitness for more details. Entering is as easy as leaving a comment.

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Tags: chronic pain blog, pain blog, nastia liukin, shawn johnson, olympic gymnast nastia liukin, olympic gymnast shawn johnson

Post from: Blisstree

Interesting stuff over at Grounded Fitness

Here are some of the guest posts that have been posted over the past few months:

• The back expert answers questions
• In My Humble Opinion, By the Cane Man®
• Guest article: Spinal stimulation
• Painful dry mouth from medications

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Tags: chronic pain blog, pain blog, back expert, canes, spinal stimulation, painful dry mouth

Post from: Blisstree

Guest post round up

Click here to read more.

What do you think about these rules? Anything you’d like to discuss?

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Tags: chronic pain blog, pain blog, doctors and patients

Post from: Blisstree

Rules on how to be a better patient

There are a couple of really good reasons I decided to get into yoga, and chronic lower and upper back pain were right at the top of the list.

Let’s start with issues of flexibility and strength. For those of us who suffer from back pain, the lack of flexibility and strength in our muscles only contributes to our pain.

Click here to read the rest of this post

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Post from: Blisstree

Guest post from Grounded Fitness: Susan Watiker

Company’s Calling, a popular Monday feature, hasn’t appeared for a while because I ran out of volunteers who wished to be interviewed. I would love to get the feature going again because I get emails (and comments) from people who appreciate learning how others have dealt with and who are dealing with their issues of chronic pain.

When people are living with chronic pain, they often feel alone – and we definitely know that they aren’t. Would you or someone you know be interested in sharing your story? You can remain anonymous if you would like and you can answer the questionnaire or write up your story as you feel is right for you.

Here are some great examples of previous Company’s Calling features:

• Company’s calling - Janine Shepherd
• Company’s calling – a different type of visitor
• Company’s calling: For Grace’s founder, Cynthia Toussaint speaks out
• Company’s calling – an RN speaks about her fibromyalgia
• Company’s calling – living with the pain of interstitial cystitis
• Company’s calling – the road to a diagnosis for endometriosis
• Company’s calling – a retired surgeon speaks about his nerve pain

If you think this may be something you would like to do, please email me at marijke.durning@b5media.com or leave a comment below and I’ll get in touch with you.

Image: iStock

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Post from: Blisstree

Call out for Company’s Calling participants

Since the point of the blog is to address pain in general, I try to cover as much as I can. Unfortunately though, chronic pain is a very large part of illness and disability, and living with chronic pain can be very difficult, which is why there are many  more posts on chronic pain than on acute pain. If you have any information you would like to share with us, please contact me. As well, if you have any suggestions of topics to cover, you can either leave a comment or email me. I’ll see what I can do.

And now…here are the top 10 posts at Help My Hurt for the month of June:

1. Helmetless motorcycle riders = organ donors?

2. Physical activity may help reduce arthritis pain

3. Press release: Lupus Foundation of America Launches Website Message Boards to Connect People With Lupus

4. Chest pain: is it a heart attack?

5. Help My Hurt lost one of its own today – RIP Tricia

6. Heroes actor Jack Coleman spreads the word about women and pain

7. Can my headaches mean I have a brain tumor?

8. Angelina Jolie sets a good example – she’s taking care of her feet, reducing foot pain

9. June: Living with Pain Blog Carnival

10. Painful dry mouth from medications

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Post from: Blisstree

Top 10 June posts at Help My Hurt

So, she will now be referred to as Christina, and she has written yet another great post full of information. This post is on the horrible dry mouth that can affect many people who take medications for chronic pain or for the side effects of their pain medications.

And here is Christina’s post:

It often seems as if every single drug prescribed for me has dry mouth as a side effect, and I wind up with a situation better termed “Sahara Desert Mouth” than “dry mouth”. It is a minor irritation if you only have it for 5 or 10 days, but if you are taking medications that cause dry mouth 24/7, it can cause very significant problems.

Click here to read more.

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Post from: Blisstree

Painful dry mouth from medications