A review of studies of pain patients taking opioids who were also offered mind-body therapies found that patients treated with mind-body therapies had significantly less pain and were able to make small reductions in their opioid dose.
The study, a systematic review and meta-analysis, was published on November 4, 2019 in Jama Internal Medicine. The review included 60 randomized clinical trials involving 6404 patients. The mind-body therapies studied included meditation, hypnosis, relaxation, guided imagery, therapeutic suggestion and cognitive behavioral therapy. Moderate to large improvements were found for meditation, hypnosis and cognitive behavioral therapy. Results were more mixed in studies of suggestion, guided imagery and relaxation.
This review shows the effectiveness of mind-body therapies in this challenging group of pain patients. Use of mind-body therapies not only improves pain relief outcomes, they can also lessen the side effects and risks of opioids by facilitating the reduction of opioid doses as the patient’s pain level improves.
The study also offers evidence for the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to pain. While drugs may numb the pain, they don’t get to the root causes. Chronic stress, including the stress of experiencing chronic pain, can cause or greatly exacerbate pain. So can an unresolved trauma history, which leads to chronic over-arousal. Mind-body techniques can address and resolve these root causes of pain. Other root causes of pain that can be addressed by a multidisciplinary approach include nutritional deficiencies, toxic exposures, muscle weaknesses and imbalances and more.
In my experience, results for pain reduction with relaxation and meditation can be greatly enhanced through the use of biofeedback, which this study does not evaluate. Biofeedback uses sensitive electronic instruments to measure the patient’s physiology and then shows that information to the patient through audio and/or visual feedback. By providing the feedback along with coaching in relaxation techniques, the patient can tweak their efforts in order to discover what works best for them. As a result, they enhance their ability to achieve relaxation and the accompanying pain relief.
FIND A MIND-BODY TREATMENT PROVIDER
RELATED ARTICLES:
Biofeedback: A Powerful Path to Pain Relief
Six Ways to Use Your Brain to Heal Your Pain
Comments