Psychotherapy instead of medication for pain

Psychotherapy instead of medication for pain management

23/12/2014

Many people who suffer from chronic low back pain or headaches take medication for relief. In the long run, however, tablets alone will not help. Experts advise patients to undergo psychological pain management, where patients learn to "specifically relax".

Impaired quality of life of pain patients
In patients suffering from chronic pain, the quality of life is severely impaired. For those affected, painkillers are only part of the treatment. The psychologist Kathrin Bernardy points out to the news agency dpa that psychotherapeutic pain management is a good supplement to the medication. Bernardy is Senior Psychologist of the Department of Pain Medicine at the University Clinic Bergmannsheil in Bochum and explains in the agency's report how the treatment works.

Coping strategies for pain
The psychological treatment of pain consists of several elements and is part of the so-called multimodal pain therapy. „First, we talk to patients about triggers or amps for pain, such as stress and tension“, so the therapist. Afterwards, the patient and the therapist will try together to find different coping strategies, such as exercise or relaxation techniques. As experts always point out, relaxation exercises such as yoga or autogenic training contribute to many people's tremendous stress reduction and thus to relieve pain.

Relaxation techniques help
Bernardy explains to dpa how pain management works: „Patients maintain a pain diary documenting their day-to-day activities related to pain intensity.“ The goal here is that those affected should recognize and manage triggers for increased pain. „In order to deal better with pain, targeted relaxation techniques such as progressive muscle relaxation or fantasy iron help“, so the graduate psychologist. An important factor is also movement. Because it directs the patient's attention away from the pain to other things.

Psychological pain management
Whether patients suffer from headaches or back pain: the psychological pain management can be used in almost all pain diseases. The individual elements are adapted to the specific needs of the individual patient, depending on the underlying disease, coping style and psychological comorbidities, explains the expert. She points out that there are multimodal pain therapies with psychological pain management outpatient, semi-inpatient and inpatient in clinics and pain centers. „They also offer psychotherapists with additional training as pain psychotherapists“, so Bernardy.

Painkillers with side effects
How useful a psychological pain management is, also show various studies that were made on the subject. For example, scientists from the Berlin Charité and the Technische Universität Darmstadt came to the conclusion after a comprehensive analysis of individual studies that alternative treatment methods such as physiotherapy or psychological procedures for chronic pain have the same long-term effect as strong analgesics. The researchers have the results of the meta-study a few months ago in the journal „British Journal of Pharmacology“ released. The results suggest that the treatment of chronic pain should focus in particular on the prevention of adverse drug reactions. Such side effects may include, for example, stomach bleeding, respiratory disorders or even heart attack. (Ad)