This summer, I had the pleasure of virtually sitting down with Melissa Ryan, LMT of Quality Health Massotherapy, based in Steubenville, Ohio, who shared how she utilized massage therapy to help patients manage their acute pain.
In April, I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Ali Nairizi, a board-certified interventional pain specialist and board-certified Anesthesiologist based in Nevada, who is dedicated to optimally managing his patients pain using non-opioid methods.
In late March, I had the pleasure of chatting with Dr. Joseph A. Best, an oral surgeon at Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Associates based in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Dr. Best has performed extensive research experience in pain management and actively utilizes non-opioids to manage his patients’ pain.
Jordan Parker was first prescribed oxycontin to manage post-surgical pain at the age of 12. Suffering from a long-term health condition, Jordan’s childhood and teen years were often spent in the operating room. As a result, Jordan found himself falling into an opioid dependency and an addiction that lasted 16 years. Thankfully, by the age of 29, Jordan forged a life in recovery, and since then he has been paying it forward by helping others struggling with addiction.
In March, I had the pleasure of chatting with Megan Doyle, an occupational therapist at St. Luke’s Health System in Idaho who has completed a Fellowship in Pain Sciences through the International Spine & Pain Institute in partnership with Evidence in Motion.
Rural areas face unique factors contributing to substance use, including isolation and lack of access to mental healthcare, both of which are exacerbated by strong stigmatization of substance use disorder.