Pain management devices help to reduce chronic pain suffering. The primary goal of hospice pain management is to enhance quality of life. Managing the pain can also help improve the physical and mental functions of an individual.
Chronic pain continues and is subdivided into cancer-related pain and non-malignant pain such as arthritis, low back pain and peripheral neuropathy. Inadequately managed pain can lead to adverse outcomes for individual patients and their families, both physical and psychological. Continuous, unrelieved pain stimulates the pituitary-adrenal axis which can inhibit the immune system, contributing to postoperative infection and slow wound healing.
What are pain management devices?
Pain management devices are medical devices used to relieve different forms of pressure such as neuropathic pain, cancer pain, nociceptive pain, musculoskeletal pain among others. Stimulators for the spinal cord, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators, analgesic infusion pumps, and ablation devices are different types of pain management devices available for the patients.
Pain management by stimulating the nerve is an alternative to surgery and medicine, or a way to improve the operation or medication. It is the latest in treating non-invasive pain. Electrical stimulation can be used for the treatment and reduction of pain in many parts of the body at home and in therapy.
Why are pain management devices important?
Effective pain management devices can monitor discomfort and put the patient at ease. The patient will be asked to resume a steady pace of different activities. These might cause pain as the individual is healing. Through proper pain management, the patient may note the difference in levels of pain when they continue exercising without feeling uncomfortable. Control is important for many patients. They want to take charge of their lives. This means they want to play an active role in how they regain their activity levels and how they manage their pain.
Applications of pain management devices:
Musculoskeletal Pain
Musculoskeletal pain refers to muscle, bone, ligament, tendon and nerve pain. You can feel the pain in only one part of your body, like your back. If you have a widespread condition like fibromyalgia, you can have it throughout your body too. The pain might vary from mild to severe enough to interfere with your daily life.
It can begin all of a sudden and be short-lived, which is called acute pain. Chronic pain is called pain which lasts for more than 3 to 6 months. Such conditions affect the bones, muscles, joints, and ligaments directly. An injury to the bones, joints, muscles, tendons or ligaments is the most common cause of musculoskeletal pain. Falls, sport injuries and car collisions are only a few of the events that can cause pain.
Neuropathic Pain
Neuropathic pain is often described as a burning or shooting pain. It may go off alone but is always chronic. It’s relentless and severe at times and it comes and goes at times. This is often the result of damage to nerves or a malfunctioning nervous system. The impact of nerve damage is a shift in the function of the nerves at both the injury site and surrounding area.
The prevalence of neuropathic pain is high, reaching up to 95 percent of cases , particularly when there has been a cervical root avulsion. Neuropathic pain is the result of damage to the somatosensory system, and its development into chronicity relies on peripheral and central nervous system disturbances. Managing these painful conditions is complicated and needs to be handled by a multidisciplinary team, beginning with first-line pharmacological therapies such as tricyclic antidepressants and calcium channel ligands, combined physical and occupational therapy, transcutaneous electrical stimulation and psychological assistance.
Top pain management industry trends:
Stem Cell Procedures
Biological approaches – the use of stem cells and plasma rich in platelets – are some of the most exciting trends of pain control. Doctors can remove a patient’s cells and then reinject them directly into the injured or painful area. Such cells then activate certain tissues to help them cure disks, nerves and other parts of the body from injuries. Since they are non-invasive, both stem cell and PRP therapies are ideal treatment choices for patients who may not be surgical candidates, or may choose to seek a more conventional, low-risk approach.
Holistic Methods
Doctors and patients became increasingly interested in the pain control mind-body relation. For example , patients suffering from chronic pain such as fibromyalgia or rheumatoid arthritis also find that exercise does not only boost fitness; it improves mental well-being. The endorphins released by physical exercise also have the added advantage of reducing daily pain.
Patients are advised to take lessons in yoga or Pilates, and to learn how to meditate. Most primary care facilities also have on-site chiropractors and physical therapists to provide therapies designed to align and relax body parts. The belief is that in certain cases a proper alignment of the spinal cord and relaxation of the muscle will reduce pain.
Electrical Stimulation Devices
Electrical stimulation therapy is now one of the most common methods of relieving muscle pain. These devices are non-addictive alternatives to narcotic painkillers and can reduce discomfort in most patients, often up to 80%. For example, the Neuro-Stim System (NSS) is an FDA-cleared peripheral nerve field stimulator designed to provide low-frequency electrical impulses that are transmitted to the associated nerves. Low-frequency impulses decrease the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, minimize inflammation and increase blood flow and tissue oxygenation. The results are a long-term reduction in pain with no narcotic side effects.
Spinal cord stimulation offers pain relief for chronic back pain, leg, foot or knee pain that has not responded to other treatments, such as medicine, physical therapy, or injections. The spinal cord stimulator is a very small battery-powered device, like a pacemaker, that is implanted under the skin. A comparatively less invasive surgical technique helps patients to monitor their own pain relief by means of electrodes inserted to stimulate the nerves above the epidural area in the spinal cord.
The bottom line
In recent years, technological advances in pain management devices have played an immense role in the overall growth of the pain management market. Several firms have launched products with improved feasibility and high operational effectiveness. Boston Scientific announced the launch in January 2019 of an innovative chronic pain treatment system, described as one of the very few products on the market with the potential to incorporate paresthesia and sub-perception therapy. The ‘Spectra WaveWriter SCS System’ was launched to offer a non-drug treatment solution for chronic pain patients.
Increasing incidences of diseases like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurovascular diseases, and musculoskeletal diseases are expected to drive the growth of the market for pain management devices. These diseases have a critical impact on a person’s health as they weaken immunity and cause chronic pain. The incidences of the diseases are most frequently seen in adults and geriatric populations. Chronic pain incidences are commonly seen among athletes, sportspeople, and people living with past injuries. The incidences of chronic pain increase a person ‘s dependence on others for various everyday activities.
Free Valuable Insights: Global Pain Management Devices Market to reach a market size of USD 6.3 billion by 2026
Pain management is therefore necessary if a regular everyday routine is to be carried out. The pain management devices provide comfort and also improve patient health over longer durations. A wearable device for pain management is easy to use and to operate; thus, it decreases the reliance of the person on others. Hence the demand for the same among patients with chronic diseases is growing due to the advantages of pain management devices.