Our Holistic Approach
The multidisciplinary team at Harkins Pain & Sleep Management Group have developed several holistic approaches to uncovering the many factors that cause pain to persist beyond the normal healing period following body injury, disease or chronic wear-and-tear. In addition to identifying the multiple factors that cause, perpetuate and aggravate pain over the long-term, we identify the indirect factors that are often not included, not discussed or ignored by conventional medical providers. There are many indirect factors that predispose patients to the development of chronic pain, which must also be addressed and managed for a successful outcome.
The long-term lack of “Restorative Sleep” is one such factor that has been scientifically linked to several debilitating diseases, including:
- Chronic pain
- Obesity
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Dementia
- Depression
- Anxiety
- ADHD
- Chronic migraine
- Chronic fatigue syndrome
- Fibromyalgia
Our unique medical/dental/behavioral team members are leaders in research and development of “Regenerative Healing Therapy” (Autologous Blood Injections or ABI) to reduce pain and promote natural healing of injured musculoskeletal tissues, the primary generator of chronic pain. We discourage the use of opiate-based medication for managing chronic pain. We have had several decades of successful experience in “weaning” chronic pain patients off narcotics and managing the pain with several alternative approaches. We coach our patients in the dramatic benefits of “Restorative Sleep” as a significant factor for normal brain function in addition to repair and maintenance of all the systems of the body, especially injured and degenerating tissue.
We have had great success with those who could not find relief elsewhere or have fallen through the cracks of mainstream medicine.
There are several essential factors to successful outcomes in managing chronic pain. The first factor is to start with a patient that wants to improve and does not want to live a life of drug seeking and impairment related to the long-term use of narcotic pain medication. The second factor is an “open-minded” provider or team of providers that listen to the patient, process the information, and identify the individual pieces of the complex chronic pain puzzle called a “problem list”. Assembling the numerous pieces of the chronic pain puzzle is the third factor, which results in a "working diagnosis” for each patient. It is quite rare for a chronic pain patient to have only one contributing factor to their pain. The conventional allopathic health care system usually identifies and focuses on one factor in managing chronic pain, and only deals with one piece of the puzzle. Our team deals with the whole puzzle, utilizing several “innovative” or “open-minded” therapies to reduce or completely eliminate pain/inflammation and restore balance to promote healing for each individual patient.
Autologous Blood Injections and minimally invasive “tissue regenerative therapies” — when combined with a “Non-Inflammatory Diet”, realistic daily exercise such as walking for 20-30 minutes, and most important, obtain an optimal amount of “Restorative Sleep” each night — usually results in the miracle healer: Mind-Body-Spiritual Balance. There is growing scientific support for this age-old concept and numerous scientific research publications from the past 20-30 years that give legitimacy to the practice. This concept is only beginning to be accepted in US and European medical schools and is still considered “voodoo” or “quackery” by many insurance carriers and practicing physicians.
Our team’s primary objective is to minimize and eliminate physical pain, dysfunction/impairment, emotional suffering and unhealthy behavior while simultaneously “coaching” our patients to manage life’s challenges — with little to no dependence on prescription medication, invasive procedures, surgery or the traditional health care system.