Breaking Barriers. Chronic Pain

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Description

An 86-year-old woman with osteoarthritis...a young man with severe back pain brought on by heavy lifting...a middle-aged woman with rheumatoid arthritis and a car-crash injury worsened by a sexual attack...all three are featured in this film's alternative medicine case studies. Shot at Boston's Lemuel Shattuck Hospital when a pilot program focusing on chronic pain was in full swing, the documentary follows health care professionals using conventional and alternative medicine to combat patient stress and suffering. Ted Kaptchuk, director of the Pain and Stress Relief Clinic at LSH during that time, describes the many non-Western methods used in attempts to reduce pain and distress. Meditation, acupuncture, Ayurvedic treatments, and support groups are some of the strategies presented.