We’ve got an episode that is full of some good news that I can’t wait to share with you. When I first started this podcast over a few years ago, the CDC had released information about the opioid crisis as well as the overprescribing of opioids and its contribution to addiction, abuse and fatalities. Since then, the CDC guidelines have been pushing toward early non-drug or what is known as non-pharmacologic treatment options for patients with pain. We are definitely making some progress. Along with these guidelines, there’s a huge opportunity for physical therapists to help people who are struggling with chronic pain. One way we can do this is to intervene quickly and early in the care of people with pain. I spoke about this a bit in Episode 133 with Dr. Marcia Spoto, who discussed physical therapists as primary spine care providers.

In this episode, we’ll explore how the research is supporting early physical therapy for people with pain. A study conducted by our guest, Dr. Eric Sun, found that patients who receive early physical therapy within the first 90 days use less opioids for pain. Eric is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, and Health and Research Policy at Stanford University and Medical Center in California. He spends part of his time working as an anesthesiologist and part of his time as an epidemiologist, crunching numbers and big data on important topics. It was published in 2018 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. I know you’re going to enjoy this show. Make sure to hop on over to the IntegrativePainScienceInstitute.com/podcasts. You’ll see a box where you can subscribe to the Healing Pain Podcast so I can send you a new podcast to your inbox. Let’s begin with Dr. Eric Sun and learn about how early physical therapy can lead to less opioid use.

Sign up for the latest episode at www.integrativepainscienceinstitute.com/podcasts/.

I'm super honored and grateful that you decided to join me and read this episode where we are talking about the evolution of integrative healthcare and its influence on pain care. As I was putting together the pieces of the podcast, I realized that the word integrative and integrative health is one that's thrown around with not on a very solid definition. Integrative healthcare is simply an individualized holistic and evidence-based approach to healthcare as well as pain care. A true integrative practitioner can help you improve not only your physical health but also your mental as well as your spiritual well-being. True integrative healthcare consists of a comprehensive physical examination, a review of your medical records and laboratory tests, a thorough discussion about education regarding lifestyle management behavioral modification, and if needed a referral or recommendation to services such acupuncture, massage therapy, nutrition, counseling, yoga, mindfulness. There are many types of practitioners and interventions that fall under the umbrella of integrative healthcare.

Here to speak to us about the evolution and some of the politics behind integrative healthcare is John Weeks. John has worked in this field for more than 35 years as a writer, speaker, organizer and as a consultant. Since the mid-1990s, John has consulted on the integration with various parties including the NIH, the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, multiple insurance companies, hospitals and of course, professional associations and academic organization. Four institutions have granted him an honorary doctorate for his groundbreaking work and forward-thinking work in the field of integrative medicine. He's the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine which covers the paradigm, practice and policy advances that are happening in integrative healthcare. John has been in this field for a long time. He is a wealth of information. I really enjoyed talking to him about the evolution of integrative healthcare and especially some of the politics with regard to how we insert an integrative health model within the existing biomedical model. I know you're going to enjoy this episode. Make sure you share it with your friends and family. Sit back, relax, and let's meet John Weeks.

Sign up for the latest episode at www.integrativepainscienceinstitute.com/podcasts/.

We're discussing the important topic of how to improve children's pain management. If you're not aware of the lack of pain management that children or adolescents experience, it's because it doesn't receive a lot of attention. I want to share a vital statistic that our guest speaker shared with me. Did you know that more than two-thirds of children in hospitals experienced painful procedures with absolutely no pain management? They don't receive any pain management. This includes pain management during routine vaccinations, while undergoing medical procedures, after surgery and in the context of chronic pain and chronic disease. Out of all the countries on our globe, Canada is a leader in pain research and children's pain. Even though we have tons of books and information and research articles, one of the great challenges is that this information is not being placed into practice where practitioners can use it to help people with pain.

Joining us to discuss children's pain and how to improve children's pain management is Dr. Christine. Chambers. Christine is a clinical psychologist whose research is aimed at improving the assessment and the management of children's pain. She has published over 150 articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and was identified as one of the top ten most productive women in clinical psychology in all of Canada. Her Canadian Institute of Health initiative called It Doesn’t Have to Hurt, has generated over 150 million views worldwide, has trended on social media, has won multiple international awards and was featured in the New York Times. Dr. Chambers holds leadership roles in the International Association for the Study of Pain, as well as the North American Pain School. We'll talk about Dr. Chambers' project called Solutions for Kids In Pain or what is simply known as the SKIP Project, whose mission is to improve children's pain management by mobilizing evidence-based solutions through knowledge, coordination and collaboration.

I enjoyed this interview with Dr. Chambers. I know you will too. We cover a host of topics with regard to child pain. We also touch base on important topics with regards to parenting a child with chronic pain. There are lots of great take homes for everyone, whether you're someone with pain or whether you're a clinician who treats parents or children with pain. I want to thank Christine for being here. She's doing amazing work. Make sure you check out her websites and check out the great infographic that is included.

Sign up for the latest episode at www.integrativepainscienceinstitute.com/podcasts/.