UNDERSTANDING CHRONIC PAIN

COMMON CONDITIONS

TREATING CHRONIC PAIN

Chronic Pain Rehabilitation

What Is A Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program?

Chronic pain rehabilitation programs are a traditional type of chronic pain management.
They have long been used to help patients with chronic pain live a normal life. People who
most benefit from chronic pain rehabilitation programs are those who have come to accept
that their pain is truly chronic and cannot be cured. So, they want to learn what they can
do to live a normal life despite having chronic pain.
Chronic pain rehabilitation programs have five goals:
Reduce pain
Return to work or some other regular, meaningful activity
Overcome problems that occur as a result of living with pain, like anxiety, irritability, depression, sleep
disturbance, stressed relationships
Reduce reliance on the use of narcotic pain medications
Reduce reliance on the healthcare system generally

Chronic pain rehabilitation programs focus on what the patient can do to manage pain.
While there is often a time and place for relying on care from specialists who perform
therapies and procedures, there also comes a time for the patient to take back control and
learn how to live a normal life despite chronic pain.
This focus on what the patient can do is called self-management. In general, selfmanagement is a two-pronged approach to managing any kind of chronic health condition.
The two prongs are healthy lifestyle changes and increasing the ability to cope with the
condition so that the condition itself is no longer a major problem in life. With regard to
self-managing chronic pain, the two prongs are:
A number of lifestyle changes that reduce pain over time
Increasing the ability to cope with the pain that remains

Chronic pain rehabilitation programs are interdisciplinary. Program staff consists of

psychologists, physical therapists, physicians, and nurses. Sometimes, such programs
may also have occupational therapists and vocational rehabilitation specialists.

Chronic pain rehabilitation programs typically occur on a daily basis over three to four
weeks. Some
programs are done on an outpatient basis. Other programs are done on an inpatient
basis, with patients going home on the weekends.
A chronic pain rehabilitation program is like a chronic pain school. Patients learn
everything they need to know in order to live well despite having chronic pain. The staff
are like teachers. In a supportive environment, they coach patients on how to do it.
Chronic pain rehabilitation programs have nine core component therapies:
Pool therapy
Stretching and core strengthening
Mild, low impact aerobic exercises
Relaxation therapies
Coping skills training
Weekly individual psychotherapy
Individualized non-narcotic medication management
Individualized tapering of narcotic pain medications, as needed
Life/work exposure therapy

Most of these components therapies are done in a small group format. All patients in the
group have some form of chronic pain.
Because they have been around for a long time, chronic pain rehabilitation programs have
a lot of research
showing that they are effective. 1 2 On average, patients achieve a 40% reduction in pain
by participating in a program. On top of that, most patients taper from narcotic pain
medication use. So, they make up for the pain reduction that the pain medications would
have produced and still reduce their pain by another 40%.
Additionally, 50% of patients who participate in a chronic pain rehabilitation program go
back to work. For sake of comparison, 20-36% of patients go back to work after spine
surgery. 2 3
Because of all this research, many experts agree that chronic pain rehabilitation programs
are the most effective treatment for patients with chronic pain.
When hearing about chronic pain rehabilitation programs for the first time, patients often
say that they would never be able to do it. They say that they are too disabled to do
anything everyday for a number of weeks. However, the typical patient who succeeds in a
chronic pain rehabilitation program is a person who has had chronic pain for years. The
typical patient has been unable to work for years. In addition, the typical patient is one
who struggles to do daily chores and may have difficulty doing even the basics of life, like
getting dressed or taking a shower. Emotionally, the typical patient is irritable, anxious and

depressed. The typical patient has poor sleep and his or her relationships are quite
stressed. As such, chronic pain rehabilitation programs are set up to help the most
disabled and distressed people with chronic pain. And they succeed in doing so.

Author

Murray J. McAllister, PsyD, is the executive director of the Institute for Chronic Pain. The
Institute for Chronic Pain is an educational and public policy think tank. Its purpose is to
bring together thought leaders from around the world in the field of chronic pain
rehabilitation and provide academic-quality information that is also approachable to all the
stakeholders in the field: patients, their families, generalist healthcare providers, third party
payers, and public policy analysts. Its aim is to change the culture of how chronic pain is
managed through education and consultation efforts that advocate for the use of
empirically supported conceptualizations and treatments of chronic pain. Dr. McAllister is
also on staff of the chronic pain rehabilitation services for Courage Kenny Rehabilitation
Institute, Minneapolis, MN, USA. He also blogs at the Institute for Chronic Pain Blog.

References
1. Gatchel, R., J., & Okifuji, A. (2006). Evidence-based scientific data documenting the treatment
and cost-effectiveness of comprehensive pain programs for chronic non-malignant pain. Journal of
Pain, 7, 779-793. [back]
2. Turk, D. C. (2002). Clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of treatments for patients with
chronic pain. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 18, 355-365. [back]

3. Juratli, S. M., Franklin, G. M., Mirza, S. K., Wickizer, T. M., & Fulton-Kehoe, D. (2006). Lumbar
fusion outcomes in Washington State worker's compensation. Spine, 31, 2715-2723. [back]

Last Updated on Sunday, 20 September 2015 15:08

Published on Friday, 27 April 2012 14:01

ABOUT US

BLOG

CONTACT

RESOURCES

SITE MAP

PRIVACY / DISCLAIMER

2012 Institute for Chronic Pain. All rights reserved.

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information:
verify here.

Search only trustworthy HONcode health websites:

Search