Health

16 HEALTH • Spring 2018 Local doctors are trying to steer patients away from prescriptions \\ By Emily Micucci T he opioid crisis is a national epidemic, but in some pockets of Worcester County, the fallout is blatantly obvious. That's the case in the Town of Southbridge, where longtime resident Beverly Pratt lives. Pratt said she sees people walking down the street, "like zombies," all the time, and knows they're addicted to opioids. NO PILLS, NO PAIN Like many former industrial Massachusetts cities and towns, Southbridge has been hard hit. Often, people started with prescriptions from their doctors, which has been identi- fied as the impetus for the swell of addiction killing an estimated 2,155 people in Massachusetts at its peak in 2016, according to data from the state Department of Public Health on opi- oid-related overdoses. Pratt, who has long suffered from arthritis in her spine causing debilitat- ing pain, would never touch the stuff. Doctors offered her opioid prescrip- tions, but with family members who have struggled with addiction, includ- ing a brother who died of a heroin overdose, she knew the dangers. "I've seen too many people have it ruin their lives," Pratt said in a recent interview. In-office procedures see upswing But what should one do about chronic pain when it prevents them from enjoying their lives and in some cases, makes them unable to work or complete basic daily tasks? For Pratt, the solution was medical, but it wasn't a prescription. Harrington HealthCare, the local hos- pital system serving Southbridge and surrounding towns, has invested resources in a pain clinic, called The Pain Center at Harrington, adjacent to the Harrington Hospital main campus on South Street in Southbridge, since it opened in 2013. Under the direction of Dr. Kate Mason, a board-certified anesthesiolo- gist with a sub-specialty in pain man- agement, the Pain Center has become a busy clinic for patients who want relief without depending on prescrip- tion painkillers. Pratt said receiving nerve ablation treatment from Mason has changed her life. One visit will relieve what was debilitating pain for several months, Pratt said. "It's the greatest thing ever invent- ed," said Pratt, a 72-year-old retiree and mother of four. In the last couple of years, demand for services has spiked, as primary care doctors have become more aware of the importance of using opioids only for a short course, and not to manage chronic pain. "I've seen a huge upswing in our referral patterns, as people are looking for other ways to manage pain other than opioids and other medications," Mason said. Experts say opioid medications, commonly containing Oxycodone, can be effective for patients dealing with acute pain from an injury or following surgery. But a state law signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in 2016 limited the pre- scription course to seven days for first-time prescriptions. That measure aimed to reduce the risk of people becoming dependent in the first place, following surgery or dental work. While addiction is clearly a major risk with opioid drugs, which are nar- cotics, Mason said even more often, she has seen patients who have chron- ic pain become dependent on them, and ultimately build up a tolerance so that they just don't work. "The overwhelming majority of patients, when you look at long-term studies, don't seem to demonstrate a higher quality of life," Mason said, of those who use prescription opioids for chronic pain management. At Harrington, Mason and her col- league, Dr. Deneene Doyker-Booth, perform procedures with a lasting impact on pain reduction, including steroid and trigger point injections, nerve blocks and ablation procedures that are used to deaden nerve endings in affected areas to block pain signals. The two doctors are also helped by a nurse practitioner, Caroline Gaffney, who assists with lower-level care. "Our focus is an interventional approach to pain management," Mason said. Holistic healing Mason, who completed her residen- Dr. Kate Mason, an anesthesiologist, specializes in pain management at Southbridge-based Harrington HealthCare, and believes in a holistic approach to pain relief. Dr. Deneene Doyker-Booth demonstrates an injection procedure that produces pain relief at The Pain Center at Harrington in Southbridge. P H O T O / E D D C O T E

• Cover