Local Motion - Memorial Hospital of South Bend

Specialized Care in
Outpatient Pain Relief
Since 1992, the Pain Management
Center at Memorial Hospital has
served Memorial’s outpatient population
with a multidisciplinary team of
physicians, nurses, psychologists and
support staff, providing specialized
care to those suffering from various
types of pain.
“What we did was take all the
components that Memorial was
already using and brought them
all together into a comprehensive,
referral-only pain management center,”
said Daniel Cooke, M.D., Medical
Director, Pain Control Center. “There
are basically three classifications of
pain: acute, chronic and cancer pain.
We see all three types and provide
different treatment options depending
on what kind of pain it is. What makes
us a quality pain management program
is that we are multimodality. We use
different approaches and techniques to
help with difficult pain problems.”
Though medication and physical
therapy remain the most traditional
way patients can manage pain,
the popularity of alternative and
complementary approaches is on
the rise throughout the country and
is used by a number of Memorial’s
own pain control specialists. As a
psychologist, Udulutch recommends
deep relaxation exercises, such as
hypnosis, visualization, distraction,
pacing methods and journaling. In
collaboration, the staff of Memorial’s
Spiritual Services Department
provides emotional support and
helps promote some of the more
popular alternative approaches to pain
management, such as massage therapy
and Healing Touch. Some Memorial
physicians are also specially trained in
the art of acupuncture, which remains
a popular therapy for managing
migraines and other types of pain.
Treating Pain From Within
Nancy Morris, R.N., M.S., and Mary
Bell, R.N., are two of the most
popular people walking the hospital
halls. As the pain management team
that serves Memorial’s inpatients, this
two-person team sees between 60 and
70 patients a month. Their expertise
is called upon to serve a wide crosssection
of the hospital population.
“We treat post-operative, medical,
trauma and some O.B. patients,” said
Morris. “Some patients only need our
services once or twice, and others we
may see for two weeks straight. It’s
definitely a job that keeps you thinking
on your toes.
“A lot of negative things can happen
to your body when you’re not having
your pain resolved,” added Morris.
“We do whatever we can to keep that
from happening.”
In fact, unresolved pain can increase
blood pressure, disrupt breathing and
sleeping patterns, increase the risk of
infection and raise anxiety and stress
levels. All of these symptoms have the
potential to hinder a patient’s ability
to heal as efficiently as possible.
That’s why Memorial has dedicated
itself to providing patients with the
most effective pain control available.
From the very latest technologies
to ancient techniques, if Memorial’s
team of experts can help ease the
pain, they will.
“It’s a tough thing to see someone in
pain,” added Udulutch. “Anything we
can do to help them….we’ll do.”
Self-Quiz:
Is Your Pain Chronic
Take this self-quiz and discover
if you or someone you love has
chronic pain.
• Have you had persistent pain for
six months or more
• Have standard medical treatments,
such as oral medications, injections
or physical therapy, failed to
adequately relieve your pain
• Do uncomfortable side effects
from current treatments reduce
the quality of life for you or your
family members
• Does pain prevent you from
participating in your usual daily
activities or affect your career
choices, plans or interpersonal
relationships
• Have you experienced an increase
or change in your pain
• Have you been examined by a
medical professional and diagnosed
with cancer, nerve damage, chronic
infection or other chronic condition
Chronic pain may result from a
previous injury long since healed, or
it may have an ongoing cause, such
as arthritis, cancer, nerve damage or
chronic infection. When you feel pain,
it is really a reaction to signals that
are sent from the pain source to the
nerves in the spinal cord and then
to your brain, where the signals are
perceived as pain.
For more information about chronic
pain or pain management, call The
Health Professionals of Memorial
Hospital at (574) 647-6800. Or
you can visit the Memorial Health
Discovery Center from 9 a.m. to
7 p.m. weekdays. The Health Discovery
Center offers a research library
and Internet access for online searches,
as well as help from a registered
nurse. The Health Discovery Center
is located at 100 Navarre Place,
Suite 6670, in South Bend.
www.qualityoflife.org ❚ 13