With the pandemic, our lives have changed in many ways and continue to change. MARMARA University Pendik Training and Research Hospital Chief Physician and Physical Therapy and Pain Specialist Prof. Dr. Hakan Gündüz said that living a “screen-dependent” life for reasons such as staying at home for a long time, working remotely, and online education during the 2-year pandemic period has reduced the average age of patients with chronic low back and neck pain to young people and even children.
THE PANDEMIC CAUSED MANY SERIOUS CHANGES IN OUR LIVES
Dr. Hakan Gündüz said that the pandemic life has changed the way of life in chronic pain and treatment. He is also a Physical Therapy, Rehabilitation and Algology (Pain) Specialist. Dr. Day, explaining that especially chronic pain has created a huge burden on the society in recent years, “The most important of these is the spine problems in general. The pain experienced especially after the back or neck hernia, leg-arm pain is one of them. The last 2 years in the pandemic are very important in our lives. It caused serious changes and this was also important in terms of pain,” he said. Emphasizing that surgery has become mandatory due to the delay in physical therapy or interventional methods in a group of chronic patients due to the health needs postponed due to the pandemic. Dr. Gündüz also mentioned that interventional methods in the treatment of chronic pain have given very good results in recent years.
“WEIGHT GAIN, DELAY IN TREATMENT, MADE SURGERY MANDATORY IN SOME PATIENTS”
prof. Dr. Gündüz said, “We are currently seeing spinal pain, muscle pain, back pain, various joint pains, which have become very common with the pandemic, and various joint pains. People remained more inactive. They gained weight. They ate more unhealthy. For example, if you are going to do interventional treatment, you need to do it right at the beginning and treat it quickly. Since these could not be done, chronic pain increased and made it necessary to stay indoors at home, to go to surgery due to weight gain, or to use more difficult treatment tools for some patients. groups,” he said.
DISTANCE EDUCATION AND WORK CAUSES DISEASES
prof. Dr. Day, pointing out that the average age of chronic pain problems has also decreased, emphasized that even in childhood patients, back and neck pain are seen due to remote working, online education or exposure to too much screen. prof. Dr. Gündüz continued his words as follows: “Pandemic has increased the exposure to the screen. Online lessons, trainings, holding all kinds of meetings in front of the screen, some of them using a mobile phone, bending the neck at certain angles, neck hernia, neck pain, back pain increased problems. “In fact, it caused these problems to be seen at an earlier age. We see this in patients who can be said to be at a younger age. The fact that these problems are seen even in children is an important sign (how the Kovid pandemic has changed our lives).”
“IT IS POSSIBLE TO GET FROM PAIN”
Mentioning that modern people want to get much faster results in the treatment of chronic pain, Prof. Dr. Hakan Gündüz said that this has been possible with interventional methods for the last 10 years, thanks to the science of algology. prof. Dr. Gündüz said, “Algology offers a method that can respond to modern people. For example, some patients with lumbar hernia can be treated with medication, exercise, weight loss and strengthening their abdominal muscles. A small number of them also need surgery. And the remaining 25 percent between these two groups. A case of 30 is a candidate for interventional pain treatments.In interventional pain pain treatments, we can use a method we call epidural steroid injection, by administering a drug between the nerve sheaths around the nerve sheaths in the epidural region under imaging, and relieving the pain in that area and improving the inflammation. Apart from that, if there are other joints that cause low back pain, we can block the nerves around the joint or burn those nerves and eliminate the pain by injecting them into them.
IT CAN BE POSSIBLE TO MAKE LIFE MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE
Underlining that interventional pain treatments should be performed in experienced hands, in appropriate cases selected by physicians with algology training, Prof. Dr. Gunduz concluded his speech as follows:
“There may also be a certain risk in interventional treatments. But when you compare, if there is no serious risk, it may be possible to prefer these interventional methods with appropriate case selection. When real indications are put in appropriate hands and in selected cases, it is possible for modern people to get rid of pain very quickly while there are long treatment methods on one side. It may be possible to prefer these methods.In terms of spinal problems, interventional pain treatments are a good option in many cases, which will reduce surgery or avoid the need for other more serious methods.And a simple interventional method that we apply to cancer patients who have been experiencing very serious pain recently and cannot sleep at night. It is possible to relieve all their pain and make their life much more comfortable.”
(DHA)