Pain relief in many South Indian households usually meant a dab of pain balm massaged lovingly by a doting family member, in the painful area—be it a headache, a knee pain or a sprain, until recently. With advances in Pain Medicine, the Amrutanjan brand has now forayed into a comprehensive pain management service that offers diagnosis and treatment of pain using state of the art equipments and expert doctors, thereby lifting pain therapy to a whole new level of accuracy and efficiency. Mr. P. Ananth Krishnan, Business Head, CARE, Specialized Centre for Pain Management, a division of Amrutanjan Healthcare Ltd., spoke to Medindia on the transition from products to services. Dr. S. Sree Ranjani, MBBS, DA, DNB, FIPM, Consultant, Interventional Pain Management joined the discussion.

Q. From Amrutanjan pain balm to Pain Care Center….tell us about the transition?

A. Amrutanjan was the first ever indigenous pain balm in India and it continues to be a trusted balm for pain relief in every household. Following Amrutanjan’s 118 years of experience in pain relief we wanted to take it forward as a complete healthcare company—through products and services. Pain is a new vertical and there isn’t enough awareness on efficient pain treatment. People suffering from different kinds of pain are still not sure of finding the right doctor to heal the pain. Pain management is not as simple as getting a quick fix from a GP, with due respect to the GP. An interdisciplinary approach is now required to ease the suffering and improve the quality of life of those suffering from pain.

If left untreated for long, pain can move from acute to chronic and can even lead to psychological problems for the person living with pain. It tends to affect the quality of life for the sufferer as well as the family. With the kind of advances in Western medicine it is important for people to know that efficient pain management can reduce suffering. Apart from the expert pain management offered at our Center, we are spearheading an awareness campaign among the public on this specialty of Pain Medicine that is new to many in India. We have our experts visiting corporate offices— in IT or manufacturing industry and educational institutions, to help people identify different types of pain and the kind of therapy available for pain relief. We have initiated CMEs (continued medical education) to help doctors understand the recent medical advances and nuances in pain management and we are soon launching a Fellowship in Interventional Pain Management to better equip doctors in the treatment of pain.

Q. In a country where people usually seek alternative medicine for pain relief, how good is the response at your Center? What is the most common type of pain that you are seeing at your Center?

A. We adopt a multi-modality approach to pain and use state of the art facilities to diagnose and treat pain in a day care procedure. Yes, we do have patients who initially sought alternative medicine for pain and have now come to us with serious complications. Western medicine is backed by extensive research and medical treatments go through phased trials before they are put into practice.

We have patients seeking pain relief from head to toe, but the most common complaint we’ve seen at our Center till now is backache. From 20-year-olds to those in their 70s and 80, both men and women, have sought treatment at our Center for back pain with various levels of intensity on the pain scale.

Arthritis patients—mainly arthritis of the knees, is the next highest number seeking pain management. We have computer engineers who come to us with excruciating wrist pain – a pain that wouldn’t have become so severe had it been properly diagnosed and treated before. Computer related injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome can lead to severe impairment if left untreated for long.

Q. Can you tell us the types of treatment CARE provides?

A. At CARE, we provide a wide range of modern tools such as Precision nerve injections, radio frequency, IDET, Spinal cord stimulation, implantable morphine pumps, physical therapy, medication and psychological support.

‘You don’t have to suffer pain and don’t neglect painful symptoms. Pain is treatable.’ With these encouraging words, medical experts at the our Pain Management Center assure us they are committed to provide the best possible pain treatment to every patient who walks in or is wheeled into the Center. With more Pain Management Centers gearing up for launch in different parts of the country, it appears that the house of Amrutanjan has embarked on a crusade against pain, to make India a ‘pain-free’ country very soon.

Source-Medindia