HealthNews
3.
SPRING 1994 ISSUE
■
SINAI HOSPITAL
Functional Recovery Program:
Conquering Pain and Getting Back to Normal
Maury Ellenberg, M.D., left, is medical director of Sinai's Functional Recovery Program.
Sinai's Functional Recovery Program helps patients achieve function even with chronic pain.
en
comes
it
comes
to di-
agnosis and
treatment
of chronic
pain, nothing works
better than a team of
professionals pulling in
the same direction.
Just ask Myrna
Rosier. Off work for
nine months after an
automobile accident left
her with upper back
and neck pain, she re-
ceived conflicting diag-
nostic information and
inadequate treatment.
Then she discovered
the Functional Recov-
ery Program of Michi-
gan at Sinai Hospital.
"I ended up better than
I was before the acci-
dent. It changed my en-
tire life," says the
42-year-old Troy resi-
dent.
The program, known
simply as the FRP, uses
an inter-disciplinary ap-
proach to diagnose and
treat chronic pain. The
team includes a physi-
atrist (a physician who
specializes in physical
medicine), nurse, case
manager, psychologist,
occupational, recre-
ational and physical
therapists and, most
importantly, the patient
and his or her family
members. All the team
members specialize in
the evaluation and
treatment of people
with chronic pain.
Treatment programs
are tailored to each pa-
tient's needs and goals.
The strategy is to re-
turn the patient to nor-
mal home and work
functions by recondi-
tioning through exer-
cise, education and
psychological support.
According to Maury
Ellenberg, M.D., Med-
ical Director of the FRP
and Associate Chair-
man of the Department
of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation
(PM&R), disability from
chronic pain may be
caused by a combina-
tion of physical injury,
fear, stress and depres-
sion. "We help patients
overcome their disabil-
ity by addressing each
of these causes in the
program," says Dr. El-
lenberg. "Once people
realize that they can do
things without fear of
injury, they will
markedly increase their
activity"
The program in-
cludes stretching,
weight training and
aerobic and aquatic ex-
ercises as well as meth-
ods for coping with pain
without the use of
drugs.
Though back and
neck pain are most
common, the FRP also
treats people with pain
in the shoulders, arms,
hands and feet. Some
patients come in with
chronic tension head-
aches or nerve entrap-
ments in the wrist,
elbow, or spine. Accord-
ing to Dr. Ellenberg,
most pinched nerves
can be treated, heal and
never reach a chronic
stage. But for chronic
Continued next page
News is published as a community service
to provide up-to-date information about Sinai. I-los-
pital, its physicians and services.
Founded in 1953, Sinai Hospital is a 603-bed
tertiary care facility on a 36-acre minpus centrally
located in inetropolitan Detroit. Michigan's only
Jewish-sponsored hospital, Sinai has numerous
satellite locations throughout the area
HealthNews is produced by Sinai Hospital's
Corporate ConmiunicationsiMarketing Depart-
ment. For more information, please write Sinai
Hospital Corporate ConununicationsMarkethg,
6767 W. Outer Drive, Detroit, Michigan 48235.
Copyright 1994 by Sinai Hospital.