on the cover

Easing The

Several ocal doctors tell why you don't have to live with pain.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

"He was an excellent listener, which is
an important part of any healing process:'
she said. "I sensed his empathy and kind-
ness."
Fialka attended a four-week group ses-
sion and her symptoms began to disap-
pear almost immediately. More than a year
later, she is still pain free, and the medica-
tion she used to take is a thing of the past.
"The powerful piece for me was that
he [Schubiner] is a physician, and he was
acknowledging that the pain is real but
that you don't have to feel it," said Fialka
of Huntington Woods, a social worker,
national speaker and author.
"This was a sharp contrast to other
physicians who said I was going to have to
learn to live with it. He gave me a sense of
hope."
Chronic pain is an invis-
ible, inaudible villain that
can devastate the life of
anyone unlucky enough
to cross its path. A 2011
study by the Institute of
Medicine of the National
Academies in Washington,
D.C., concluded that more
than 113 million people
in the United States live
with chronic pain, usually
Janice Fialka
defined as pain that lasts

longer than six months.
Schubiner is one of a host of local physi-
cians achieving success using traditional
and/or unconvential treatments to relieve
patients in pain.
"Pain can take your breath away; it takes
your life away:' Schubiner said. "All pain is
real. The question is what is causing it."
Traditional medical approaches to alle-
viate pain don't always work, so some phy-
sicians turn to less conventional methods
to help their patients.
Schubiner, director of the Mind Body
Medicine Center at Providence Hospital in
Southfield, claims that some pain can be
caused by nerve pathways rooted in the
brain rather than the body.
"The whole medical approach is to find
structural damage,' Schubiner said, "but
not all pain is caused by tis-
sue or structural damage."
He explained that pain,
especially chronic pain, can
stem from a learned path-
way, the same kind formed
when a person learns to
walk, talk or ride a bicycle.
Emotional injuries, such as
abuse or constant criticism,
can create nerve pathways
triggered by certain situa-
tions or events.
The good news, accord-

ing to Schubiner, is that pain caused by
learned nerve pathways is reversible. It is
this kind of pain, caused by a condition
known as Mind Body Syndrome, that
Schubiner's program is designed to treat.
As a board-certified physician in the
areas of internal medicine and pediat-
ric and adolescent medicine, Schubiner
wants to make it clear that his program
is based on science and research. He does
not dismiss the value of biomedical treat-
ment such as surgery or medication when
warranted, such as in cases of disease or
tissue or structural damage. Part of the
process involves ruling out such patho-
logical causes, which he says is usually
fairly simple.
"Most people who come to me have
already had a lot of tests:' he said.
Headaches, back and neck pain, fibro-
myalgia and temporomandibular joint syn-
drome (TMJ) are some of the most com-
mon chronic pain syndromes Schubiner
treats. His program has also helped patients
with nervous system disorders such as
irritable bowel syndrome and other condi-
tions that include insomnia, depression and
chronic fatigue. Patients are asked to make
a commitment to spend about an hour a
day on the program.
"I can't make you better, but I can help
you make yourself better," Schubiner said.
"You have to be willing to do the work."

.

Mind Body Connection
Schubiner also asks prospective patients
to read his book, Unlearn Your Pain, before
scheduling an appointment, to make
sure they understand and believe in the
concept of Mind Body Syndrome (MBS).
He then takes a detailed history of the
patient's medical and emotional back-
ground to rule out pain caused by disease
or other biomedical issues.
"It takes courage to do this program; it's
not for the weak of heart," Schubiner said.
"You have to stand up to the pain and say `I'm
asserting myself in my life and in my pain."
The emotional work occurs during
four weekly group sessions, facilitated by
Schubiner, where participants engage in
a variety of exercises that include writ-
ing, affirmations, meditation and other
techniques to increase self-awareness and
retrain the brain. There is also a behav-
ioral component, where patients are asked
to confront their pain instead of refraining
from activities that typically bring it on.
"I ask people to say to themselves, `I can
reverse it; I'm going to be more active. I
encourage them to challenge the problem,
not avoid it:' he said.
In addition to his local practice, Schubiner
travels throughout the country teaching doc-
tors and therapists how to use his program.
Although Fialka was familiar with some
of the acti--vities, she found the structure

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Pain on page 26

24 January 26 • 2012