A groundbreaking initiative led by University of Haifa researcher Dr. Pavel Goldstein, director of the Integrative Pain Laboratory (iPainLab), seeks to help Ukrainians manage the chronic pain they may have endured as a result of the Russian invasion.
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"The eight-week free course, which will be available remotely and will be taught in Ukrainian and Russian, is titled 'Ukraine Without Chronic Pain' and will be offered to citizens of the country who suffer from chronic pain as a result of experiencing physical or mental trauma," a statement read. "
Considering that more than 60% of Ukrainians suffer from chronic pain, their suffering needs to be addressed immediately, Dr. Goldstein warned.
"We're used to believing that every pain has a cause and must be treated, healed, and eliminated. Recent research shows that four out of five people with chronic low back pain have no physical pathology behind that pain. And even if there is physical damage, it is not always the cause of chronic pain," Dr. Goldstein commented, adding that many hopeless patients simply choose to live their life using treatments that stupefy the pain at the moment without addressing the root of the issue.
"Pain is an automatic hazard warning system from our brain telling us that something is wrong," he said. "But in many cases of chronic pain, the system often gives a false alarm. In chronic pain, our brain reorganizes and may learn to trigger pain even without any physical reason. It can also learn to react to a simple touch with severe pain."
Half of those with chronic pain also suffer from depression and anxiety, according to the statement. This makes pain directly related to one's state of mind and the war in Ukraine has naturally made things that much worse.
As such, the developers of the course believe that an interdisciplinary approach is needed to help combat chronic pain. These disciplines should include medicine, neuroscience, psychotherapy, and active engagement of the patient in their treatment.
The course will consist of a two-hour meeting each week, which will provide participants with lectures, exercises and homework. This project is in collaboration with the Ukrainian Society of Regional Analgesia and Pain Therapy led by Prof. Dmitro Dmitrev.
Dr. Pavel Goldstein is leading the therapeutic course along with coach and lecturer Julia Zatulovsky. "The research supporting the course is based on cutting-edge neuroscience which includes psychoeducation integrated with clinical and mindfulness tools. These methods of curing chronic pain are still considered relatively new and are just getting adopted by mainstream health services in the US and Israel," the statement read, noting that the treatment goes "above and beyond" traditional biomedical methods. "The instruments used in the course show a surprising ability to cure chronic pain," it said. "Moreover, the current course has been shown to reduce pain and improve the mental health conditions of the patients and even completely cure 60% of chronic pain cases."
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