Pilot study shows meditation can help US veterans manage chronic pain

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/au-pss020516.php

Public Release: 5-Feb-2016
Pilot study shows meditation can help US veterans manage chronic pain
American University


•••••

A small pilot study conducted at the Washington, D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center reveals that veterans who practiced meditation reported a 20 percent reduction in pain intensity (how bad pain hurts or feels), as well as pain interference, how pain interferes with everyday aspects of life, such as sleep, mood, and activity level. The reductions were consistent across several methods by which doctors commonly measure pain in patients.

"Meditation allows a person to accept pain and to respond to pain with less stress and emotional reactivity. Our theory is that this process increases coping skills, which in turn can help veterans to self-manage their chronic pain," said Thomas Nassif, Ph.D., a professorial lecturer in American University's Department of Health Studies, researcher at the D.C. Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and lead author of the new study published in Military Behavioral Health.

Pain is a significant health issue among the approximately 2.6 million service members who have served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq since these conflicts began in 2001, according to the Veterans Health Administration. Musculoskeletal pain conditions are the most frequently diagnosed medical issue, exceeding any other medical and psychological concern. Chronic pain is also found in most combat veterans who sustained a traumatic brain injury.

The form of mindfulness meditation administered in the study, Integrative Restoration Yoga Nidra, or iRest, is used at Veterans Health Administration medical centers and active-duty military facilities nationwide. The Army surgeon general's Pain Management Task Force has cited iRest as a Tier I intervention for managing pain in military and veteran populations.

•••••