Chronic Pain with Dr. Akash Bajaj

Join Dr. Kennedy as he and Dr. Akash Bajaj, a doctor from Marina Del Rey Hospital, help you understand chronic pain and how to manage it. Chronic pain is a condition that strikes as much as 20 percent of the global population and more than 76 million people just in the United States. Lower back pain alone will affect 60-80% of Americans, and is the number one cause of disability for those under the age of 45.

Each individual has different pain perception…both the meaning and the experience…so pain is subjective and varies from one person to another.

How do you take control of your pain, especially chronic pain? Fortunately, there are many different ways to treat pain, and the most appropriate pain management method for you will depend on
several factors:

• How severe the pain is,
• How it affects your life,
• How frequently you find yourself dealing with pain, and
• The actual cause of your pain.

Generally, the most effective treatment of any medical condition is to get rid of the offending cause, For pain, especially chronic pain, this method might not be possible.

Most of the time, the goal of treatment is to decrease the intensity of your pain and make you feel better.

In medical school we learn the “Hippocratic oath which emphasizes the importance of relieving the patient’s pain.”

We’ve become pretty good at treating acute or pain that is sudden in on set. But chronic pain — pain lasting for at least three months or more — is a little more challenging and has a different effect on the nervous system and needs to be treated differently.

We’ve learned that A multidisciplinary approach, using a combination of pain management treatments and techniques, is often the most successful way to manage chronic pain.

This approach can include medications, physical manipulation or blocking nerves from pain at particular points.

*****This video contains healthcare information only, not medical advice.*****

Host, Dr. John Kennedy, MD, FACC is the Director of Preventive Cardiology and Wellness, Marina Del Rey Hospital, Marina Del Rey, California. He is on the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association and is the Co-Author of The 15 Minute Heart Cure: The Natural Way to Release Stress and Heal Your Heart in Just Minutes a Day.