Texting reduces need for pain medication during surgery

https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/2015/05/08/texting-reduces-need-for-pain-medication-during-surgery/q7pRsvHDCQikaj0pvFBcyH/story.html

by Oatseller • 11 years ago

24 18 11 years ago

bostonglobe.com

dtawfik1• 11 years ago

This reminds me of the studies that show playing tetris lowers anxiety.

Oatseller• 11 years ago

I imagine it's a common theme of distraction lessens the perception of pain (including emotional pain), and most electronic devices - games, phones, etc - are incredibly distracting.

sirtastic• 11 years ago

I've noticed this about myself. Mental distraction helps with pain. Really useful when doing long distance backpacking and trying to push out the last few miles. I would whip out my phone and type into my journal.

SCAQTony• 11 years ago

Bravo, That is exactly what it is. Several studies prove it as well. Here is one from Live Science: http://www.livescience.com/18361-distraction-reduces-pain.ht...

atom-morgan• 11 years ago

I noticed this when I switched from a stationary bike at home (where I used to use my phone while riding) to a stationary bike at the gym where I just listen to podcasts. Actively using my phone was a much bigger distraction and made the rides seem a lot shorter.

eru• 11 years ago

Have you tried using a non-stationary bike?

mgkimsal• 11 years ago

Somewhat OT, but I don't do pain well. Have asked to be knocked out 100% for oral surgeries. A few years back, I had no one to drive me, and the dentist wouldn't knock me out. I had some local anesthetic, and used my iphone most of the operation. "Oh this will be 20 minutes"... turned in to 90 minutes. I videoed several minutes of my operation (is "surgical selfies" a thing?) mostly to keep me distracted from the pain (yes, I still felt pain). Years later, the dentist still remembers me, even though I'm rarely there ("pink iphone, video the root canal!").

Strangely most people don't want to watch my root canal surgery. It's on picasa - perhaps I should put them on youtube...

nefitty• 11 years ago

I happen to be an adult. Just give me a lollipop and I'll be fine.

m0rganic• 11 years ago

What percentage of surgeries allow a patient to be awake during the procedure?

ars• 11 years ago

If they can do a C-Section with the patient awake they can probably do almost anything that's below midlevel on the spine, or on the arms.

That's probably almost everything except heart or neck surgery. (Even brain surgery is usually done with the patient awake.)

lmm• 11 years ago

I've had neck surgery while awake.

copperx• 11 years ago

Isn't some brain surgery done awake?

JshWright3• 11 years ago

There are quite a few, and it's always the best option when possible. Most of the complications you hear about from "routine surgery" relate to the management of the patient's airway while they are sedated. An awake patient can maintain their airway.

If you're interested in how these sorts of things can wrong, here's a well done reenactment of such a case: http://emcrit.org/misc/the-new-elaine-bromiley-videos/

HeyLaughingBoy• 11 years ago

Are you counting the ones where the patient, e.g., my wife, wakes up in the middle of surgery and tries to get off the table?

55555• 11 years ago

I have to seriously question the accuracy of this study. I'm an obstetrician (cesarean surgeon) and I have never noticed texting to have a positive effect on my patients. From my observations, it seems to cause them a lot of stress (and thus increases the pain) and it almost certainly increases the duration of the procedure (because I'm busy texting and am just sort of jimmying the scalpel around with my other hand).

JshWright3• 11 years ago

I had typed out a long reply explaining potential differences between your experience and the results of the study... then I reread your final parenthetical statement...

suneilp• 11 years ago

Distraction really works. Meditation works really well. I used it recently when I was having a lot of pain. Also, this works really well but I'll understand if you're skeptical http://breakingmuscle.com/health-medicine/the-most-famous-ac...

Texting reduces need for pain medication during surgery

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