Dr. Dominic A. Hegarty is a Consultant in Pain Management and Neuromodulation at the Orthopaedic and SpineCentre, Mater Private Hospital in Cork, Ireland. He collaborates with innovation centres and with industry to search out and provide the best solutions to individuals who must deal with chronic pain on a daily basis.
Dr. Hegarty has been working with BioWaveGO as a senior consultant as we both strive to tackle the UK’s pain crisis. We spoke to him to find out what the future of pain management looks like, here’s what he had to say.
Trends in Pain Management
A major trend in current pain management is the move away from medications and invasive surgeries, towards data and evidence-based theories. This is no doubt partly fuelled by the opioid crisis in North America. In the United States, in 2019, 137 people died every day from an opioid overdose1.
While not on the same scale, the UK has experienced what is often referred to as its own ‘opioid epidemic’, with opioid prescribing more than doubling in the period from 1998 – 2018.2 This, and other factors, recently led NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) to recommend alternative therapies3 rather than potentially addictive medication for chronic pain. Dr. Hegarty says:
“Opioids are useful but we’re not prescribing them in the way we should be. On the one hand, you’ve got GPs under prescribing medication with people unnecessarily in pain for prolonged periods of time. On the other, there are those that over prescribe it.
“When you take into consideration, it can take two to three years for individuals to work through the system to get the treatment they need, it’s really quite scary to think of the numbers of people on opioids when there could be an alternative drug-free solution.”
– Dr. Dominic Hegarty
Technology in Pain Management
The medical community wants to move away from an over-reliance on chemical-based pain management. While there are many natural alternatives there are also options to be found in technology. Dr. Hegarty explains a little of how BioWaveGO’s revolutionary device is at the forefront of that movement:
“We have been using BioWaveGO as part of our clinical management plan with great results. It’s been particularly effective for individuals suffering mild to moderate symptoms, with eight out of ten patients finding a BioWaveGO treatment has reduced the pain they are experiencing by up to 50 or 60%.”
“BioWaveGO offers a solution that is both physiologically and technologically smart. It addresses pain from a very science-driven perspective. Physiologically, pain derives from nerve fibre so the logical way to stop pain is to target the source of the pain.
– Dr. Dominic Hegarty
Managing Pain in the Future
As the world relies increasingly on technology to make lives easier, it seems a no-brainer that technology will be instrumental in pain management in future. Three major areas where technology can help are the speed of delivery of pain relief, the accessibility of treatment, and the ability to focus on specific areas of the body. All of these benefits are delivered by BioWaveGO, as Dr. Hegarty explains:
“[BioWave is] really well suited to individuals looking to reduce pain in a focussed area such as wrists, elbows or shoulders. Individuals can expect to experience instant relief and a reduction in pain within as little as 20 to 30 minutes of using the device.
“What’s also great is that it offers patients continuity and access to pain treatment. Rather than waiting three to four months for a procedure or the injection they need, BioWaveGO offers pain relief instantly and consistently day in and day out.”
– Dr. Dominic Hegarty
Want to take control of your pain with our innovative pain-blocking technology? The future of pain management is BioWaveGO, available to buy now.
Sources
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overdose Death Rates. https://www.drugabuse.gov/drug-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates. Accessed March 21, 2021.
