October 2019 – The VALERAS book is here…
We are excited to announce that Oxford University Press has finally released our collaborative manual (with Dr. Beth Darnall from the Stanford University pain team, and Anchorage’s own Dr. Lyn Freeman) on our preoperative optimization program (see valerasprogram.com). The book is the first to address the complex and costly problem of failure to optimize chronic…
Read MoreSeptember 2019 – Introducing ANTLR…
As many of you know, September is National Pain Awareness month, and this month we’re choosing to concentrate on one of the more debilitating and still poorly understood conditions today: Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS, formerly known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy or RSD.) NAPM has adapted to the evolving national and international treatment guidelines for…
Read MoreAugust 2019 -Windmills, Beware!
…was the original title of an article I wrote for the American Academy of Pain Medicine/MedPage Today collaboration (“Pain Points”) this month. I’m supposed to be exposing folks around the country to how we do pain management here in AK, but I needed to get some stuff off my chest – see https://www.medpagetoday.com/blogs/pain-points/81569 for my…
Read MoreJuly 2019 – Putting out the Fires!
The heat wave this year has been unprecedented and I don’t need to tell anyone here in SouthCentral about wildfires. (Although evidently we need to educate some people not to start them!) The smoke has been a severe trial for many people with lung troubles, and of course loss of property has been a real…
Read MoreJune 2019 – Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine Have Arrived.
NAPM proudly announces the formal expansion of our services to include acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Katrina White, M.Ac., L.Ac., known to many of you in her role on our administrative team is also a nationally board-certified acupuncturist (through the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine) and we’ve finally convinced her the…
Read MoreMay 2019 – Welcome, Jamie!
It’s with sadness that we say goodbye to Acute Family Medicine, which served Eagle River with excellent care over the past two decades, but we’re happy to see Dr. Lubov Coverdell and Suzanne Straub, ANP at the VA, Dr. Dan Coverdell at PCA, and Dr. Tom Elton at SouthCentral Foundation. We’re also very pleased to…
Read MoreApril 2019 – Hope for Healing
Neuroversion’s Dr. Luke Liu and our very own Dr. McAnally were recently honored to participate in the Hope Community Resources’ TBI Treatments and Behavioral Health Conferenceat the end of March. Thismultidisciplinary conference was convened to help both providers and affected individuals learn about different assessment and treatment methods that may support people who have experienced…
Read MoreMarch 2019 – Home, Sweet Home!
Not much of a post this month – we’ve been too busy moving back in! We are so grateful for the opportunity to return to our office, and want to thank Carr Properties and FineLine General Contractors for the excellent work performed in restoring (and improving) our facilities after the big earthquake in November. We’re…
Read MoreFebruary 2019 – Not all opioids are created equal…
This month we’re highlighting research published by Daniel Remillard (former NAPM medical assistant and current medical student at the University of Washington) and Dr. McAnally and published in the journal Current Pain and Headache Reports. The graph above shows survey data from nearly 90 patients with a formal diagnosis of opioid use disorder; 40% were…
Read MoreJanuary 2019 – A Call for Rational, Safe and Compassionate Opioid Policy.
Primary care and surgery both frequently refer patients to Northern Anesthesia & Pain Medicine for chronic pain management and in particular for help weaning off of chronic opioid therapy. Our reputation in the community is one of holistic/integrative, preventive-focused, biopsychosocial care, with data to back up our methodology (see linked post.) What we do…
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