Photograph by Patrick Doheny

Home | What We Offer | How to Reach Us | About Us | Articles

The better alternative

Acupuncture for Family, P.C.

Articles

Pain Management Techniques From an Unlikely Source

Printed in the Hebrew Hospital Home’s Newsletter

June 2011

The Adult Day Health Care Program is proud to announce a new pain management program that has already turned some skeptical participants into believers.  Recently, with the help of Dr. Tatiana V. Gaidarenko, we began a massage and acupuncture program to provide a pain management alternative to traditional medications.  While there's always a bit of apprehension that comes with the unknown, several of our participants have seen immediate benefits.

                 For years, ADHC participant Nicoletta Camerino has suffered from arthritis, dealing with bad pain in her knee, back and hip.  Not knowing much about acupuncture before her first session, her pain was so bad that she decided to take a chance to see if it would help.

                 “I got scared the first time I saw the needles,” Nicoletta remembers.  “But now I'm used to it.  It's really very relaxing and I'm surprised a needle can make you feel that way.”  Once she got over her apprehension, Nicoletta found the acupuncture had worked better than pain management techniques she had tried in the past.  She also found that the pain relief lasts longer as well.

                 “It's good to be on the road to recovery,” she says.  “I'm moving around better now and more confident walking.  I was surprised, but it's a real positive thing that I'd recommend.”  Surely, participant Beth Taylor  would agree with Nicoletta's assessment.  Earlier this year Beth was hospitalized with severe nerve pain that was more intense than anything she had felt before.

                 “I have rheumatoid arthritis, which people consider very painful, but this was much worse,” Beth explains.  “Nerve pain is of a completely different quality.”  Back from the hospital, Beth was in need of some serious pain relief, and the chance to begin our new pain management program appealed to her.

                 “I wasn't totally convinced it would help, but I was more than willing to try anything that might,” Beth goes on to say.  “I expected it to be painful, but it wasn't.  There is nothing a doctor can do to me that would be worse than the pain I was suffering.”

                 Immediately, Beth noticed effects on more than just a physical level.  “I felt a feeling of pain relief and serenity from the very first time,” she says.  “It's a healing of the spirit as well.”  Beth also appreciates the deep tissue massage offered by Dr. Gaidarenko.  “Even when the massage is painful I know its helping.  Not every physical therapist is willing to put you through momentary discomfort, even if its for your long term benefit.”

                 Beth says that Dr. Gaidarenko has even provided her with ways to manage the pain on her own, things anybody can do.  “It's relief without medication,” Beth affirms.  While she admits she may never be totally free of medication, acupuncture and massage therapy have allowed her to reduce her medication more and more as time goes on.

                 “To me there is more than just a physical feeling,” Beth says.  “It's a combination of the pain reduction and medication reduction, but also the relaxing feeling of serenity I get.  Being a spiritual person, that was something I hadn't experienced with other forms of treatment.”

Dr. Gaidarenko spends considerable time treating the elderly in nursing homes, often bringing them pain relief through acupuncture in cases where prescription medications with dangerous side effects failed.

The effectiveness of acupuncture is often mentioned in articles.  Dr. Gaidarenko has been mentioned as an acupuncturist who brings her patients results.