Chronic Pain and Coronavirus

PPM's guide to chronic pain management, rheumatic and immune diseases, telemedicine, prescribing, and more during COVID-19. Updated regularly: bookmark ppmjournal.com/COVID

Your practical pain resource for getting through COVID-19. (Image: iStock)

Live House Call Sessions - Your Questions Answered

• WATCH BELOW: A House Call with Dr. Jeff Gudin and Dr. Jeffrey Fudin regarding how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting pain patients and pain management. (Based on an April 29, 2020 live session.)
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  WATCH BELOW our Migraine & Mental Health House Call with neurologist Lawrence Robbins, MD, and Patient Advocate Jaime Sanders (Recorded June 2020).

   

• US Pain Foundation Survey Shows Continued Uphill Battle for Pain Patients
• The Action Plan Every Pain Patient Needs Now (Infographic)
• Facing Coronavirus while Living with a Chronic Pain Condition
• How COVID is Spiking Opioid Overdoses
• How to Access Telemedicine Services & What Insurance Covers
• How to Prepare for Potential Hospitalization
• Using the Pandemic as an Opportunity to Implement Integrative Pain Care
• Anxiety: How to Cope with Heightened Anxiety. At-Home Relaxation Techniques. How to Tell if Chest Pain is from a Panic Disorder or COVID-19. (see tips below).
• COVID Risk for Lupus and Rheumatoid Arthritis: The science behind the immune system, oxidative stress, and cytokine storms
• What to Do if You Are Taking Immunosuppressant Drugs (DMARDs) for Rheumatoid Arthritis, MS, Lupus, and more
• Non-Essential Procedures on Hold: How to Mange Without Interventional Procedures (eg, injections, blocks)
• Physical Therapy Exercises and Devices You can Use at Home, as reocmmended by a Physical Therapist
• We Have to Be In This Together: One Patient's Plea
• How Two Moms Got Through the Virus
• How Two Immunocompromised Sisters are Coping (see their tips below)
• Parenting with Pain Under Lockdown: One Mother's Daily Quest
• Take our sister publicaton's general risk assessment quiz on COVID-19 and severe case quiz
• Self-management strategies and home-care devices for pain flares
• Find a Support Group

*If you live with a chronic pain condition and contracted/overcame COVID-19, and would like to share your story, please email the editor at ppmeditorial@remedyhealthmedia.com. 

For HCPs and Clinicians Helping People with Chronic Conditions

In General

• NEW: How We Grew our Pain Practice in the Pandemic
• NEW: Editorial – Pausing Drug Testing During the Pandemic Is Not the Answer
• NEW: Long Covid and Cardiovascular Risks – What to Watch for in Long Haulers
• NEW: How the Pandemic Has Shifted Pain Practice and Policies
• How to Prevent PPE and Mask Related Headaches
• HCQ Still in the News as a COVID Preventive, Rheumatic Disease Use
• Resident's Corner – Training in the Pain Field during the Pandemic
• What Race Can Tell us About COVID
• Acute and Post-Infection Symptoms: What to Expect for Long-Term Convalescence and Exacerbated Pain
• Ready to return to practice: ASRA's guidelines
• How the Pandemic is Transforming Assessment. A neurologist's perspective, by Gary W. Jay, MD
• How COVID is Changing Pain Care for Clinicians and Fellows, with Steven H. Richeimer, MD
• Physical Therapy Exercises and Devices to Recommend to Your Patients, by Tiziano Marovino, DPT
• Managing Pain and Related Symptoms During Coronavirus (Published early in the crisis; Spring 2020)

Medication Management

• NEW: How to prescribe and monitor prescription use during the pandemic using telehealth.
• How Medication Shortages (eg, fentanyl) May Open Door to Analgesic Alternatives and Integrated Care Teams. More on obstacles and opportunities for integrative care.
• Managing Rheumatic/Immune Diseases During COVID-19. See also, the American College of Rheumatology's COVID-19 Clinical Guidance Task Force latest update (July 13, 2020) on treating patients.
• Managing Diabetes, Obesity, and Other Immune Diseases (IBD, MS, Psoriasis) During COVID-19
• Hydroxychloroquine Use and Risk in the Management of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (Plus: How HCQ is caught up in the COVID-19 pandemic)
• Long-Term Opioid Therapy, recommendations from ASRA
• Infectious Diseases Society of America's medication-based recommendations for treating patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in the context of a clinical trial (as of April 11, 2020).

Telemedicine for Providers

• NEW: The January/February 2021 issue of PPM focuses on how to conduct telemedicine exams (and prescribe) for pain, rheumatic disease, and chronic headache.

• Clinical Considerations for Using Telemedicine with Pain Patients.

• How to Use Telecare in the Time of Coronavirus.

COVID-19 Resources for those with Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain

Infographics