WVXU: UC symposium explores non-pharmacological approaches to treating chronic pain

Chronic pain is one of the most common reasons adults seek medical care.

"It is estimated that about a fifth of our population suffers from daily pain that interferes with their function," Mladen Golubic, MD, PhD, medical director for the University of Cincinnati Center for Integrative Health and Wellness and professor of clinical family and community medicine at the UC College of Medicine, told WVXU's Cincinnati Edition program. "About 50 million adults in the National Health Survey suffer from chronic pain."

The UC Center for Integrative Health and Wellness and UC Brain Tumor Center are hosting a community symposium, "Optimize Your Well-Being," May 14 to discuss non-pharmacological approaches to treating chronic pain.

Sian Cotton, PhD, director of the Center for Integrative Health and Wellness, Turner Farm Foundation Chair and a research professor of family and community medicine, told Cincinnati Edition terminology has shifted over the past decades from "alternative" to "complementary" and now "integrative" treatment to describe the work the center engages in.

"Many of the things that over the last 10 years we’ve been building and expanding here at UC Health and UC are things like for example mindfulness-based stress reduction," Cotton said. "So being able to say to someone, 'In addition to some medication we have, in addition to an intervention you may need, we also offer mindfulness-based stress reduction, this eight week program.' It’s being able to add things like that."

The symposium will be held May 14 at The Graduate Cincinnati Hotel, 151 Goodman St. in Cincinnati, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tickets are $25 and include lunch. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/UC_WellnessMay2022 or email optimize@uc.edu.

Listen to the Cincinnati Edition segment.

Featured photo at top courtesy of Pixabay.