for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com AUGUST 20, 2015 • senior • The queens CourieR 51 senior living s When a person is in pain, he or she will seek options to attempt to reduce or eliminate the pain. For minor pains like headaches, muscle aches and small wounds, often over-the-counter drugs can help reduce suffering. But people with chronic pain may have to search for other solutions. More than 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, at a cost of $600 billion a year in medical treatments and lost productivity, according to a 2011 Institute of Medicine report. As of January 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) started paying providers without formal training in pain medicine to diagnose and treat chronic pain. The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) advises against receiving care from providers without training in treating chronic pain because patient safety can be seriously compromised. In addition to jeopardizing patient safety, untrained providers lower the quality of health care and can increase the risk for fraud and prescription drug abuse. Untrained providers lack the sufficient education and training needed to properly prescribe opioids, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Clifton Phillips, 44, of Bowie, Md., has pain throughout his body. He suffers from osteoarthritis, migraine headaches, a herniated disc and a pinched nerve in his lower back, which causes discomfort and burning in his foot. For three years Phillips worked through the pain before he sought help from an orthopedic doctor who prescribed opioid pain medications for him. However, Phillips soon became dependent upon the medication and suffered significant side effects. Treatment of chronic pain is complex and can be associated with significant complications. This is due to the potential for severe side effects from some of the medications used to treat pain and the anatomy and delicate structure of the spine and nerves upon which many chronic pain interventions are performed. Knowing that he couldn’t sustain a successful lifestyle while taking the highly addictive opioid meds, Phillips looked for alternative treatment options through his neurologist who referred him to a highly trained anesthesiologist pain medicine physician. Specialized pain physicians have the education and training to accurately diagnose, evaluate and treat chronic pain patients using a comprehensive approach including medications and pain procedures. Treatments can range from medical management, physical therapy and psychological therapy, to interventional therapies and other alternative medical treatments. These therapies can be risky and require the skill of anesthesiologists or other physicians who possess the training and knowledge to provide safe, competent and appropriate care. These physicians complete a one-year multidisciplinary pain fellowship in addition to their post-doctoral training, according to ASA. A pain physician, like an anesthesiologist, is a patient’s best solution to finding a well-trained provider to treat chronic pain conditions, similar to what Phillips was experiencing. Courtesy BPT Living with chronic pain? FIND THE RIGHT HELP s Using Lasers in Cataract Surgery By Dr. Barry Drucker Dr. Barry L. Drucker During my career as an ophthalmic surgeon, I have seen the wonderful advances in performing cataract surgery go from the use of magnifying glasses for performing large incision surgery which required multiple suture closure and days in the hospital to the present, sutureless outpatient procedure. Patients have asked me for years if this surgery is done by laser. Up until now, the answer was “NO”, because we utilized incisions made under the microscope with a blade followed by ultrasound removal of the cataract. However a paradigm shift has occurred. Now, no blade, laser assisted surgery is available which has increased the efficiency and safety of cataract surgery. In this new procedure, the patient need not be injected for anesthesia. Eye drops are utilized to numb the eye. The operating table is rolled to the laser and in about 5 minutes all incisions are carefully performed by a “Femtosecond Laser”, precisely and consistently. The precision is greater than that of the most skilled surgeon and reproducible such that the need for spectacles is lessened. This same Femtosecond laser can, if so indicated, make certain corneal incisions that will reduce or eliminate astigmatism, if present preoperatively. Finally, another laser can be used to measure or confirm the power of the needed intraocular lens during the operation, after the cataract is removed. This is called “Intraoperative Aberromertry”. It is particularly important if the calculation is difficult before surgery because of an extremely dense cataract or if the patient had undergone Lasik years before. At present very few surgical centers have the machinery for these two new lasers. Certainly in the future, I feel this is the way ophthalmologists will be doing routine cataract surgery. When friends or relatives of mine need cataract surgery, I recommend and prefer doing laser assisted cataract surgery and Laser aberrometry for safety and precision. Dr.Barry L. Drucker is a board certified ophthalmologist and a Fellow of the American College of Surgery. He has practiced in Bayside, Queens for over 25 years and can be reached at 718-224-5500 Dr. Drucker’s Office is located at 58-47 Francis Lewis Blvd (Suite 202), Oakland Gardens, N.Y. 11364. ADVERTORIAL
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