Would a pill work faster if you grind it up first?

[Hobbes' Choice]

And no "pain management specialist" (whatever the fuck that is)

A pain management specialist is a medical professional who specialises in the field of pain management.

Okay, you just earned your online moniker lol!

Exterminate!!!

[Dalek Prime]

I may have mentioned it elsewhere before, but the Czechs have a surname 'Dalek'. Interestingly, it means "to attack from afar" How appropriate for the Daleks of science fiction.

[Hobbes' Choice]

A pain management specialist is a medical professional who specialises in the field of pain management.

Okay, you just earned your online moniker lol!

There's a lot to be said for keeping it simple but such specialists do exist. My wife works in the area of palliative care and liases closely with a number of them. In this country they are usually attached as consultants to the hospital system but there are also those who operate in private practice on referral from either general practitioners or other specialists.

For the vast majority of cases such a person's services are not required. Through my treatment I never saw or heard of one. It would seem, from what i have investigated on the Internet, they are people who understand the balance between addiction and cumulative dosage and lethal dose, with their biggest jobs is dealing with end of life and chronic pain problems.

MY advice after my two operations was "keep out of pain", and handed a bag of drugs.

[Dalek Prime]

I agree with Hobbes. As I said, at the end of my days, I am not going to concern myself with either addiction potential or accidental overdose, but pure bliss and pain relief.

[Hobbes' Choice]

I may have mentioned it elsewhere before, but the Czechs have a surname 'Dalek'. Interestingly, it means "to attack from afar" How appropriate for the Daleks of science fiction.

Interesting, obvious Terry Nation was well educated, or it is a co-incidence, or it is an example of reverse etymology.

In the original story the Daleks were an anagram of Kaleds, and the survivors of the Thals/Kaled nuclear war.

[Dalek Prime]

I may have mentioned it elsewhere before, but the Czechs have a surname 'Dalek'. Interestingly, it means "to attack from afar" How appropriate for the Daleks of science fiction.

Interesting, obvious Terry Nation was well educated, or it is a co-incidence, or it is an example of reverse etymology.

In the original story the Daleks were an anagram of Kaleds, and the survivors of the Thals/Kaled nuclear war.

Probably no coincidence. I'd vote for well-educated.

Yes, I have the originals on dvd, including the Peter Cushing film versions. As well, they based the look of the Daleks on the salt cellars in the BBC cafeteria.

[Hobbes' Choice]

I may have mentioned it elsewhere before, but the Czechs have a surname 'Dalek'. Interestingly, it means "to attack from afar" How appropriate for the Daleks of science fiction.

Interesting, obvious Terry Nation was well educated, or it is a co-incidence, or it is an example of reverse etymology.

In the original story the Daleks were an anagram of Kaleds, and the survivors of the Thals/Kaled nuclear war.

Probably no coincidence. I'd vote for well-educated.

Yes, I have the originals on dvd, including the Peter Cushing film versions. As well, they based the look of the Daleks on the salt cellars in the BBC cafeteria.

... and tanks.

The budget was pretty low. One of the "arms" Of each Dalek was mad of a sink plunger.



They used to scare kids who'd run behind the furniture.

[Dalek Prime]

The other appendage was often a manual egg beater.

I have a twelve inch remote-control Dalek that looks almost exactly as the one pictured. Used to play with my cats with it.

[Obvious Leo]

For the vast majority of cases such a person's services are not required. Through my treatment I never saw or heard of one. It would seem, from what i have investigated on the Internet, they are people who understand the balance between addiction and cumulative dosage and lethal dose, with their biggest jobs is dealing with end of life and chronic pain problems.

MY advice after my two operations was "keep out of pain", and handed a bag of drugs.

Yes. Acute pain and chronic pain require quite different management regimes for the reasons which you gave. Your experiences post surgery would be regarded as acute pain issues and being handed a bag of drugs sounds pretty much like how such issues are ordinarily dealt with. However the winds of change are blowing through the medical profession with the rise of personalised medicine and many of the new breed of practitioners are less enthusiastic about this tendency to use a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. Despite the duplicity and outright fraud practiced by the pharmaceutical industry in pursuit of its commercial agenda the science is showing that when it comes to post-operative treatment then less is more is a useful rule of thumb. The human body has a remarkable capacity to heal itself which biochemical intervention can often hinder. However this does NOT mean that patients should be ignoring the advice of their doctors. It means that if the advice isn't working they should see another doctor because they don't all sing with one voice.

[Obvious Leo]

I agree with Hobbes. As I said, at the end of my days, I am not going to concern myself with either addiction potential or accidental overdose, but pure bliss and pain relief.

Addiction potential is never a consideration in palliative care for obvious reasons. Accidental overdose should theoretically be impossible but in practice mistakes can and do occur. Deliberate overdose is more common even if self-destruction is not the intent. Many people still manage to believe that if one pill is good then two pills must be better. I tend to make the same mistake myself with red wine.

[Hobbes' Choice]

For the vast majority of cases such a person's services are not required. Through my treatment I never saw or heard of one. It would seem, from what i have investigated on the Internet, they are people who understand the balance between addiction and cumulative dosage and lethal dose, with their biggest jobs is dealing with end of life and chronic pain problems.

MY advice after my two operations was "keep out of pain", and handed a bag of drugs.

Yes. Acute pain and chronic pain require quite different management regimes for the reasons which you gave. Your experiences post surgery would be regarded as acute pain issues and being handed a bag of drugs sounds pretty much like how such issues are ordinarily dealt with. However the winds of change are blowing through the medical profession with the rise of personalised medicine and many of the new breed of practitioners are less enthusiastic about this tendency to use a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. Despite the duplicity and outright fraud practiced by the pharmaceutical industry in pursuit of its commercial agenda the science is showing that when it comes to post-operative treatment then less is more is a useful rule of thumb. The human body has a remarkable capacity to heal itself which biochemical intervention can often hinder. However this does NOT mean that patients should be ignoring the advice of their doctors. It means that if the advice isn't working they should see another doctor because they don't all sing with one voice.

This applies to people who are unlucky enough to be prone to addiction. Experts in pain management will make them suffer. It does not change the fact that I know best how much and how often I need to drop a pill, and no "expert" is in any position to know better than I.

[Obvious Leo]

Hobbes. If you were to read what I say with a less confrontational agenda you'd discover that this is exactly what I'm saying. Modern pain management treatment is specifically tailored to the needs of INDIVIDUALS, all of whom are different, because it is only the individual who can assess what works and what doesn't. There simply is no such thing as a "one size fits all" approach to this.

[Obvious Leo]

no "expert" is in any position to know better than I.

This is quite obviously your default stance on every subject known to man, Hobbes, but it's a stance which occasionally brings you unstuck on matters of fact.

[Hobbes' Choice]

no "expert" is in any position to know better than I.

This is quite obviously your default stance on every subject known to man, Hobbes, but it's a stance which occasionally brings you unstuck on matters of fact.

Straw man. Keep to the case at hand. My pain is always my own.

[Obvious Leo]

My pain is always my own.

As a statement of the bloody obvious this indeed is a rare gem. As a premise from which you can then logically conclude that you are therefore the person best qualified to manage your own pain this statement leaves a lot to be desired. Even doctors don't diagnose and treat themselves in the case of illness and for very good reason.