A Mind–Body Approach to Pediatric Pain Management

Abstract

Pain is a significant public health problem that affects all populations and has significant financial, physical and psychological impact. Opioid medications, once the mainstay of pain therapy across the spectrum, can be associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) guidelines recommend that non-opioid pain medications are preferred for chronic pain outside of certain indications (cancer, palliative and end of life care). Mindfulness, hypnosis, acupuncture and yoga are four examples of mind–body techniques that are often used in the adult population for pain and symptom management. In addition to providing significant pain relief, several studies have reported reduced use of opioid medications when mind–body therapies are implemented. Mind–body medicine is another approach that can be used in children with both acute and chronic pain to improve pain management and quality of life.

Multidisciplinary Pain Management for Pediatric Patients with Acute and Chronic Pain: A Foundational Treatment Approach When Prescribing Opioids

“…For the purpose of this review, we focus on four frequently utilized interventions in U.S. pain clinics, which include three psychologically based interventions: cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and medical hypnosis. Acupuncture, an integrative medicine approach widely used in pain management clinics, is additionally reviewed [39,42,43,44,45]. Rehabilitative therapies, including physical and occupational therapy (PT, OT), are also an important part of the treatment of chronic pain and are regularly integrated into care to support pain management and increase function [39,46,47,48,49].…”

Integrative Approaches in Pediatric Palliative Care

“…Acupuncture points can also be stimulated noninvasively with the use of low level lasers or microcurrent. Acupuncture is safe when performed by qualified professionals and is well tolerated by children [ 35 , 36 ]. Acupressure uses firm, steady pressure at these same points.…”

Do Parental Pain Knowledge, Catastrophizing, and Hypervigilance Improve Following Pain Neuroscience Education in Healthy Children?

“…Research regarding pediatric chronic pain is increasing as it appears to be a challenging clinical problem for children and their families. However, the topic is still under-recognized and under-treated [1][2][3]. Around 30% of the pediatric population suffers from chronic pain, with headache, abdominal pain, and musculoskeletal pain being the most prevalent types [4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”