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Curing Chronic Pain In Kids
New Waltham Center Tackles Brain, Body Connection
POSTED: 2:47 pm EDT May 29,
2008
UPDATED: 6:02 pm EDT May 29,
2008
BOSTON -- Imagine pain so severe that sleeping -- or even a strong breeze -- hurt. Now, imagine a child is the one suffering.Helping children in that predicament is the mission behind the new Waltham Pediatric Pain Rehabiliation Center, which is run by experts from Children’s Hospital Boston.
VIDEO: Curing Chronic Pain In KidsNews Center 5's Liz Brunner reported Thursday on the center.“I just had shooting pain constantly up my arm,” said Meghan Conley, 16, of Needham. “I couldn't play lacrosse, which was really my love.”To see Conley now, playing lacrosse for Needham High School, you would never know that she has spent most of the last two years in agonizing pain. After an injury, her hand and arm became so sensitive that sleeping, lifting anything, or even a strong wind hurt.Dr. Charles Berde, chief of the division of pain medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston, said that’s not an unusual symptom of RSD, or reflex sympathetic dystrophy. “Instead of pain getting better afterward, as is normal, pain keeps going and doesn't shut off.”RSD is a chronic pain that causes the nervous system to go haywire.“It's very uncommon under age 6,” said Berde. “It becomes much more common around age 10, 11, 12. It affects girls much more than boys. We don't know the reasons for that, exactly.”Other telltale symptoms of RSD, Berde said, include an arm or leg that is sweaty, or cool, and sometimes purple-colored. These symptoms indicate trouble with the body’s automatic regulating functions.RSD is almost always triggered by an injury. The new clinic in Waltham, which opens in June, will help children struggling with chronic pain fight back with a customized combination of physical therapy and psychotherapy.“This doesn't mean it's all in their head,” said Deirdre Logan, Ph.D., a psychologist for Children’s Hospital Boston, who specializes in pain management. “The pain really starts to take control so what we're really trying to do with these kids is get them in control again.”The treatment is intense; eight hours a day for several weeks is often enough to reprogram how a child’s brain senses pain. For Conley, it has made the difference between being in the game, instead of on the sidelines.“I'm back with my friends, doing well in school. It's just been really great,” Conley said.Berde said Children's Hospital Boston gets two to three referrals to its new pain center each week from across the country.
VIDEO: Curing Chronic Pain In KidsNews Center 5's Liz Brunner reported Thursday on the center.“I just had shooting pain constantly up my arm,” said Meghan Conley, 16, of Needham. “I couldn't play lacrosse, which was really my love.”To see Conley now, playing lacrosse for Needham High School, you would never know that she has spent most of the last two years in agonizing pain. After an injury, her hand and arm became so sensitive that sleeping, lifting anything, or even a strong wind hurt.Dr. Charles Berde, chief of the division of pain medicine at Children’s Hospital Boston, said that’s not an unusual symptom of RSD, or reflex sympathetic dystrophy. “Instead of pain getting better afterward, as is normal, pain keeps going and doesn't shut off.”RSD is a chronic pain that causes the nervous system to go haywire.“It's very uncommon under age 6,” said Berde. “It becomes much more common around age 10, 11, 12. It affects girls much more than boys. We don't know the reasons for that, exactly.”Other telltale symptoms of RSD, Berde said, include an arm or leg that is sweaty, or cool, and sometimes purple-colored. These symptoms indicate trouble with the body’s automatic regulating functions.RSD is almost always triggered by an injury. The new clinic in Waltham, which opens in June, will help children struggling with chronic pain fight back with a customized combination of physical therapy and psychotherapy.“This doesn't mean it's all in their head,” said Deirdre Logan, Ph.D., a psychologist for Children’s Hospital Boston, who specializes in pain management. “The pain really starts to take control so what we're really trying to do with these kids is get them in control again.”The treatment is intense; eight hours a day for several weeks is often enough to reprogram how a child’s brain senses pain. For Conley, it has made the difference between being in the game, instead of on the sidelines.“I'm back with my friends, doing well in school. It's just been really great,” Conley said.Berde said Children's Hospital Boston gets two to three referrals to its new pain center each week from across the country. Copyright 2008 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
