Press Release
The first-ever Chronic Pain Management and Addiction Prevention Symposium is set to take place here this Saturday (Sept. 19) from 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Townshend Theatre.
Admission is free, and a light lunch will be provided for the first 200 people.
What is chronic pain? It is defined as pain persisting longer than six months or beyond the regular healing time for a given injury.
It affects 20 percent of the adult population, increasing to 50 percent in the older age group.
Chronic pain significantly affects a person’s physical and emotional well-being, and is associated with disability, decreased productivity, anxiety, and depression.
While there may not be a cure for chronic pain, it’s best treated with a multi-faceted approach, including the physical, neurological, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the patients and his/her pain experience.
This is the approach Dr. Jackie Gardner-Nix will discuss during her keynote address scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Dr. Gardner-Nix founded the Mindfulness-Based Chronic Pain Management Program—an intensive chronic pain management program that uses a mindful approach to pain management, combining appropriate medical treatment, meditation, and exercise.
“Dr. Nix is an expert in the field and we are very excited to have her here,” enthused Deirdre O’Sullivan-Drombolis, one of the symposium organizers.
“We encourage those who are suffering with chronic pain, and their family and friends, to attend the symposium,” she added.
Others scheduled to speak, beginning at 10 a.m., are O’Sullivan-Drombolis, a physical therapist, Jennifer L’Hirondelle of MOSS Yoga, a pharmacist, and addiction survivors.
Informational booths also will be set up.
For more information about the symposium, contact O’Sullivan-Drombolis at 274-4815 or Patti-Jo Ledrew at 274-3287 ext. 270.
