New program provides relief without medication for chronic pain

PITTSBURGH — Melanie Lehocky lives in pain. After 10 pelvic surgeries and a fall, the scar tissue inside her body won’t ever go away.

“When you wake up and you know the best you are going to feel is awful and the worst you are going to feel is not being able to get out of bed or not move at all,” Lehocky said.

She’s not alone. One in five Americans suffer from chronic pain and many turn to opioid prescriptions to help.

“I went through two years of opioid pain medications where I was taking it around the clock because I couldn’t deal with the burning pain down my leg anymore,” Lehocky said.

The PA Department of Health said those prescriptions do contribute to overdose deaths. The latest data shows in 2021, 85% of overdose deaths were opioid-related. That’s an 18% increase in just two years.

Now a program at West Penn Hospital is helping to provide that relief without the medication.

“We’ve had reductions in depression scores, reductions in anxiety scores. Sleep often insomnia and chronic pain go hand in hand and we’ve found patients once they are able to control, they sleep better and then they feel less tired the next day,” said Dr. Leah Flaherty who’s an AHN pain psychologist.

Those stats come from the 400 patients who have taken “Empowered Relief.” The two-hour course uses behavioral and cognitive therapy to teach relaxation techniques.

“It teaches you how to deescalate yourself from those by working with binaural beats, so you have a beat on each side, and you put headphones on,” Lehocky said.

It’s working according to Dr. Flaherty who said 150 patients were surveyed and 88% wish they had gotten this help sooner.

“It’s worth it, as fast as relief comes is as fast as I can get my mind to relax and get it to that place where it’s not just thinking about your pain. Where it’s focused on anything else,” Lehocky said.

Because of an anonymous donor, Allegheny Health Network is offering this class free to anyone through the end of next year. It’s easy to sign up from your computer and there are a number of classes offered in person and online each month.

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