LAKEPORT >> Sutter Lakeside Hospital is delivering patients comfort — on wheels.
The Comfort Cart, which rolled out in early August, offers patients methods of controlling pain in place of or in addition to medication. It includes relaxing CDs, playing cards, magazines, lavender eye pillows, hot and cold packs, puzzles, coloring books and instructions on breathing for relaxation.
“A lot of hospitals affect pain with medication, which is one dimensional. Pain is very complex,” said Joe Prisco, manager of physical therapy at Sutter Lakeside Hospital. “There are other ways to control pain. Most progressive hospitals have complementary medicine to help control pain.”
There is a large psychological component to pain, according to research by the American Psychological Association. The application of such research suggests that treating the whole person, not just the source of pain, is a more effective way to relieve suffering.
“Fear, anxiety and stress can elevate pain,” said Prisco. “Many patients feel elevated levels of pain while they’re in the hospital because of heightened fear or stress. Methods like belly breathing [breathing deeply from the diaphragm] can reduce the stress hormones that the body produces. Relaxation can reduce pain significantly.”
The principles of the Comfort Cart can be applied outside the walls of Sutter Lakeside Hospital. Even a few minutes a day of deep breathing from the diaphragm can be beneficial; belly breathing can relax the body, decreases stress, blood pressure, anxiety, muscle tension and pain and can improve mood and mental clarity.
Distraction, such as playing cards, reading or doing a puzzle, is also a successful method of pain reduction. Research suggests that humans feel pain when the brain tells them to do so, and by distracting the mind, the body benefits.
