Epidural Experts for Pain Management in Charleston SC
May 13th, 2011Spinal injections relieve pain and return patients to daily activities
April 17th, 2011Spinal injections, or epidurals, for low back pain have been found to help relieve pain and aid patients in returning to performing daily activities according to the results of a recent study. The study, conducted by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care Institute for Quality Care, reported that more than 78% of patients receiving spinal injections reported their pain improved and 82% reported they were able to return to performing daily activities. Additionally, 52% of patients were able to reduce their pain medication after the procedure.
The report went on to say that the amount of time a patient spends in the facility can be an indicator of patient safety and satisfaction. The average facility time (the time from patient check in to patient discharge) for a patient getting a spinal injection was 86 minutes, with the longest being 179 minutes.
You have more important things to do than waiting for an injection. At interveneMD, we value your time – our facility times are less than half of the national average.
Shingles vaccine update
April 14th, 2011A recent Kaiser Permanente study has shown that the shingle vaccine (Zostavax) reduces the risk of contracting the rash by 55% in patients age 60 and older. The study also found that the vaccine reduced the risk of ophthalmic by 63%. The vaccine costs about $150. All Medicare Part D (Medicare prescription drug) plans cover Zostavax, but may require a copayment. Medicare Part B, which covers some vaccinations, does not cover Zostavax. Some private insurance plans cover Zostavax.
If you develop shingles (whether or not you have received the vaccine), nerve blocks and epidural steroid injections can be very beneficial.
For more information on shingles, please look in our March 2010 archives.
Dr. Todd Joye discusses treatment options for chronic pain
October 28th, 2010National Prescription Drug Take Back Day
September 22nd, 2010NATIONAL PRESCRIPTION DRUG TAKE-BACK DAY
This Saturday, September 25, residents in the Charleston area have a wonderful opportunity to positively impact public health and public safety by participating in the National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. From 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and partner organizations are launching this first-ever event to get old and unwanted medications taken out of circulation, reducing their potential to be misused and abused.
The primary goal of this event is to reduce prescription drug diversion, which is the use of prescription drugs for recreational purposes. But a secondary benefit is environmental, potentially reducing the amount of prescription drugs that make their way into our water system.
Drug diversion is rapidly becoming a serious health problem, with economic costs to public and private insurers estimated at nearly $75 billion a year. The effects on our youth are significant, as every day, approximately 2,500 teens use prescription drugs to get high for the very first time. Unfortunately, one of the common misconceptions among teens is that prescription drugs are perceived to be much safer than illegal drugs. It is startling that in the past year, 1 in 7 teens abused prescription drugs to get high, and more than half of them started before the age of 15.
Nearly three-fourths of abused pharmaceutical drugs (like Ritalin, Xanax, Valium and narcotic pain killers) are obtained from family and friends. By removing old and unwanted prescription drugs from your home, this program has the potential to remove a significant number of potentially dangerous substances from circulation.
On the environmental front, recent studies by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and others have detected pharmaceutical drugs in varying concentrations in our nation’s water supplies. In Philadelphia, for example, traces of 56 pharmaceuticals have been detected in the drinking water. While drugs in waterways also result from normal excretion routes and metabolic processes, there has been increasing interest among the public in developing methods to dispose of unused pharmaceuticals to reduce their introduction into our water supply.
On this Prescription Drug Take Back Day, while the DEA is most interested in controlled substances, they will take any type of unused medication. This program is free and anonymous – no personal information will be gathered. If you are still concerned about privacy, you can empty your pills into the bin and take the bottles home with you (except for liquids). Alternatively, you can remove the label entirely.
Please take advantage of this event, as most communities do not offer consumers the opportunity to properly dispose of medications. Although the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has pledged to have more of these events in the future, this is the first one. There are currently four sites scheduled to accept these drugs in our area: the Charleston, North Charleston and Mt Pleasant Police Departments, and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office. If more locations are added, they will be posted on www.dea.gov.
One of the easiest ways individuals can help reduce drug diversion is to properly dispose of unused or expired medications. This not only reduces the potential for diversion of these drugs, keeping them out of the hands of our children and others, and reducing accidental overdose, but it also has the potential to significantly reduce the impact of disposal on our environment. Appropriate and safe disposal of all medications should become the new norm in our communities. Take back programs are clearly a win-win for both public health and public safety.
Chronic Pain
July 27th, 2010Dr. Joye talks with Debi Chard of WCSC about chronic pain.
How do families cope with pain?
July 7th, 2010Most illnesses are short lived, but can still cause us difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs). Basic ADLs are those activities associated with self-care like personal hygiene, dressing/undressing, eating, and moving around. But ADLs also extend to other fundamental areas of life – employment, house cleaning, grocery shopping, home maintenance, laundry, preparing meals, caring for children and pets, and leisure activities.
In a normal family environment, most ADLs are shared equally. But when one member falters, everyone else has to adapt and assume tasks that ordinarily would not be their responsibility. Roles get shuffled, but everyone is more than willing to chip in to help out any way they can. This is a common experience for most families.
But chronic pain is different. It’s invisible, and there’s no end in sight. And it’s not unusual for even the most loving of families to be affected. After helping out for a while, they may start to feel guilty about not being able to relieve the suffering. They may start to worry about the family’s finances. Because chronic pain is invisible, some may start to wonder if the patient is “faking it”. All of this can lead to resentment, over a withdrawal of the patient’s affection and sexual intimacy, the unending care required by the patient, the burden of extra family responsibilities, and the decline (or loss) of a social life and time spent with friends.
Eventually the entire social network may begin to crumble as surrounding family members (and friends) develop what is commonly referred to as “compassion fatigue”, both mentally and physically. As suffering, frustration, stress and anxiety increase, tempers can easily flare – even at the slightest provocation.
One of the keys to maintaining healthy family functioning is honest, routine communication. Individual responsibilities need to be routinely evaluated and discussed openly so that all members feel their needs are being addressed and met.
It is also important to understand that the patient is going to have good days and bad days, and that you do not have to rescue the patient from their situation. Be available to them, encourage regular exercise, and help promote a return to a more independent level of functioning. Fight isolation by visiting family members and finding volunteer activities as well as activities everyone can enjoy doing together.
If you are the one suffering with chronic pain, accept it as part of your life, but don’t give in to it or feel sorry for yourself. Learn how to manage it effectively – just as you would manage diabetes, asthma or high blood pressure. Remember that everyone has challenges in life to overcome. Learn to recognize your strengths and assume responsibility for yourself and your actions.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Personal contact with a therapist knowledgeable about pain can be very helpful. Two books often recommended to families coping with pain are Chronic Pain and the Family: A New Guide by Dr. Julie K. Silver and ACPA Family Manual: A Manual for Families of Persons with Pain by Penny Cowan.
Life is full of temptations to dwell on the negative because, at some point, we all suffer from unhappiness due to loss, illness, tragedy, failure, and misery. Learning how to cope with these setbacks is the key to ensuring you don’t miss out on all of life’s triumphs, celebrations, and pleasures.
Dr. Folk and Dr. Joye discuss their practice.
June 11th, 2010Dr. Folk and Dr. Joye talk about their practice and the main issues in pain management: quality of life, chronic pain and patient care. Also hear patients tell about their experiences in this MD TV segment.
Watch Dr. Folk and Dr. Joye discuss pain related disorders and treatment options.
May 6th, 2010Dr. Joye demonstrates the latest advances in Epidural Steroid Injections as a pain management option for certain types of pain disorders. Watch Dr. Joye on House Calls TV.
Pain Medications and Treatment Options
April 27th, 2010Recent stories in the media have reinforced the need for education, treatment, and monitoring in the area of pain management and may contribute to the fear of pain medications and the treatment of painful disorders. This in turn can limit access to adequate care for those patients with chronic pain. Patients’ fears of addiction and practitioners fears of legal and regulatory scrutiny are fueled by such media. This fear is not new but continues to plague patients and providers. When prescribed by knowledgeable professionals and taken as directed, pain medications and other treatments for some patients are truly life saving and irreplaceable.
The untimely death of Michael Jackson and the association with a potent anesthetic Propofol as well as the recent articles on the use of Toradol (anti-inflammatory) and Marcaine (local anesthetic) in college sports are examples of the media that have a negative ‘spin’ on pain management. Although many of these stories have negative endings, they can serve as an educational tool and enhance patient access to providers instead of reversing the forward motion of pain management. I used to think that any media about pain management was a good thing because it would enhance awareness. I am beginning to doubt this.
Reduced funding for research, decreases in reimbursement, and misconceptions about pain and its management contribute to limiting access for patients with chronic pain and painful disorders. Providers are less likely to prescribe adequate pain medications when the public and regulatory agencies offer less than their full support. Patients will also be less likely to report their “real” pain because it may not be addressed with all possible options.
The most widely accepted approach to the treatment of chronic pain involves a multidisciplinary approach including medications, injections, physical therapy, psychological therapy, surgery and alternative treatments. Most providers will offer and try this approach. But each patient should be evaluated and treated individually. Patients should discuss these and any concerns about their management with their providers including questions about medications and proposed treatments. Many options other than medications for the treatment of pain have recently advanced including injections and implant devices such as spinal stimulators.
So the next time you read an article or see a television clip involving addiction, dependence or abuse/misuse of a substance or medication be more critical of the circumstances. Please remember that many patients have improved function and quality of life with the same medications that others may misuse and abuse.