Treatment Philosophy
Treatment Philosophy
Treatment Philosophy
Treatment Philosophy
Treatment Philosophy
Our Treatment Philosophy
In Downtown Toronto, our team of medical experts work together to help patients achieve effective therapeutic relief and control over their chronic pain conditions. Painless Medicine and Therapeutics strive toward the vision of optimizing patients as individuals instead of just focusing on specific symptoms.
The impact of chronic pain
Poorly understood by many and severely underestimated, chronic pain conditions are an epidemiologic health problem that affects millions globally and changes every aspect of their lives. Patients suffering from chronic pain experience negative impacts on their physical and psychological health.
Physically, the constant lingering of pain limits the amount of activity and movements that can be performed. This prevents an individual from leading a healthy, active lifestyle with regular exercise. Additionally, the physical limitations can ultimately cause depression and anxiety. It is very common to see within patients living with chronic pain the feelings of guilt, powerlessness and even social isolation. These patients also frequently suffer from poor sleep and therefore, are often feeling tired and unproductive. In many cases, patients and their relationships with friends, family and loved ones can be affected. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for people who do not understand the chronic pain that patients are going through to accuse them of malingering or falsely reporting their maladies.
With changing perspectives, it is important that chronic pain conditions are now viewed with the same framework as any other chronic medical disease. We may not be able to cure the condition; however, we can find long-term effective therapies to manage the pain.
Our goal as a team is to limit the number of complications that arise from chronic pain conditions, minimize the severity of each symptom and optimize the patient’s control over their pain, medication and treatment. We want to enable and empower our patients to live the best, possible version of themselves, despite having a chronic pain problem.
The Problem with Managing Chronic Pain with Medications
Patients who suffer from chronic pain can testify that not all chronic pain or symptoms of conditions respond or dissipate with the use of prescribed medications.
With advancements in the field of modern medicine and healthcare, scientists and physicians are working hard to determine the differences in therapeutic efficacy.
The mechanisms by which chronic pain occur are poorly understood. Two different people can suffer the same injury, yet one will have a quick resolution of symptoms, while the other will continue to endure high levels of pain that prevent them from functioning normally. The ability to figure out the difference between these two patients is currently beyond the scope of modern medicine.
The issue becomes more complicated, when you consider that imaging and blood tests for many patients with chronic pain are normal. There is frequently no correlation between the severity of a patient’s pain and the findings on routine medical exams.
Chronic pain is widely being accepted as a multi-factorial medical problem, and thus requires a multi-factorial solution – not just simple, prescription medications.
How is Our Clinical Approach Different?
Chronic pain can be overwhelming for patients, but for the health care providers attempting to help as well.
The complexity and severity of the illness demands a tremendous amount of dedication and attention. Chronic pain patients require frequent and close monitoring, so that the effectiveness of interventions can be adequately assessed.
Multi-factorial causes of pain require a multi-factorial treatment approach, and recognition that every patient’s pain syndrome is unique and dynamic. Pain reduction strategies that are effective for one patient may be ineffective or create intolerable side effects for another patient. Which is why changes to therapies are made slowly and carefully, with careful assessment of the global impact to the patient’s life.
A customizable therapeutic plan, specific to each individual patient is essential for effective pain control. Creating that plan requires a collaborative approach, which includes input from a multi-disciplinary team of specialized physicians, nurses, therapists and pain experts. We know that the nature of chronic pain is extraordinarily complex and multi-factorial, including biochemical, biomechanical, genetic, hormonal and psychosocial influences. Therefore, our clinic offers treatment approaches that are multi-factorial to counter the various causative agents of pain.
By also recognizing that each patient’s pain condition is unique and dynamic, we are able to offer individualized and customizable therapy plans for effective pain reduction and control. In order to create such plans, our medical staff highly values the collaborative approach to treatment between the multi-disciplinary team members, therapists, pain experts and most important, the patients.
The Road to Becoming Painless
Pain is a dynamic problem, improving or worsening depending on the many factors of daily life. Stress, anxiety, and sleep deprivation all affect and are affected by a person’s pain level.
Due to the impact that pain has on our well-being, being painless is regarded as a fundamental human right. Therefore, our team in Toronto focuses our energy in improving your chronic pain with a positive, therapeutic experience.
We work diligently with patients to find the best therapeutic strategy for treating their symptoms while fitting into their lifestyle and demands. Our goal is to make your therapeutic experience as painless as possible. Working with patients to assert control over their pain syndromes as opposed to having the system dictate what type of therapeutic choices are available.
Reasserting control over chronic pain requires a multi-pronged approach, with an open mind towards new and novel therapies that work together using Painless comprehensive methods
Treating Our Patients as a “Whole”
It is a mistake for physicians to see their patients as individual symptoms that must be treated. At our pain management clinic, Dr. Dov believes that we cannot simply address the chronic pain only. Especially because chronic pain conditions are multi-faceted, we take the time treat the “whole patient” with the highest quality of care possible. We take into consideration the pain as well as the issues that co-occur with it, such as depression, anxiety, sleeping disorder and family dysfunction. It is with this philosophy and patient approach that an individual suffering from chronic pain can improve and live a better, more enriching life.
