With over 100 years of experience in pain relief, dating back to one of the first sports pain relievers, we know a lot about safe and effective options for many pain sufferers.
Warrenville, IL (PRWEB) August 17, 2017
Performance Health®, makers of Biofreeze® Pain Reliever and TheraBand® exercise and recovery tools, announces the “Safer Pain Relief” website (http://www.SaferPainRelief.org) and campaign to build awareness for the full range of muscle and joint pain relief options, particularly those with fewer associated risks. The centerpiece of the website is a free infographic-style guide to help consumers get much needed information about these options. Drew Brees, one of the NFL’s most touted quarterbacks, has joined forces with Performance Health to champion these pain relief alternatives, having relied on them to overcome his own potentially career-ending injuries. Joining Brees and Performance Health are physical therapist Dr. Kevin Wilk, instrumental in rehabbing Brees, chiropractor Dr. Jay Greenstein, CEO of the Sport and Spine Rehab clinics, Sue Falsone, owner of Structure & Function Education and former head athletic trainer and physical therapist for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Dr. Drew Contreras, Army veteran and physical therapist for the President of the United States, recently completing seven years of service at the White House.
Statistics show the U.S. is in the midst of a devastating pain epidemic with 25 million American adults experiencing some form of pain every day for the past three months, and pain costing the country nearly $600 billion annually. Few realize that one in five people who treat their pain with prescribed opioids for just ten days will become long-term users. The crisis has grown to such extremes that the U.S. Surgeon General recently pleaded with doctors in a letter to first “consider if non-opioid therapies are appropriate.”
Performance Health has a longstanding relationship with the chiropractic, physical therapy, massage therapy, and other hands-on healthcare professional communities, and believes much broader knowledge of these professional care options will play a key role in helping Americans find safer relief for their musculoskeletal pain. “Safer Pain Relief” is designed to make such care easier to locate and understand. The campaign also highlights proven pain-relief product categories that don’t have the side effects common to opioids and NSAIDs, including Biofreeze topical pain reliever, TheraBand Kinesiology Tape, TheraPearl® hot and cold therapy, and exercise with TheraBand resistance bands.
To further bring attention to safer pain relief, Brees stars in a commercial entitled “OverDrewing It,” in which he humorously portrays the use of Biofreeze Pain Reliever.
“It’s clear that there are safe and effective options for pain relief,” says Dr. Phil Page, Performance Health’s Global Director of Clinical Research and Education. “Performance Health makes accessing these even easier.” Dr. Wilk adds, “People should take these safer options seriously. There’s power in the combining of professional care and professional products.” Brees states that he is, “fortunate to know how safe and effective the combination of professional care and professional products is. I want to encourage people everywhere to take advantage of these incredible resources.” Speaking of the current epidemic, recently declared a “national emergency” by the President of the United States, Dr. Contreras reminds that “too many people are using forms of pain relief that unfortunately maximize their risk.”
Regarding the motivation to start this initiative, Performance Health CEO, Mike Orscheln, commented, “Our country is in crisis, in part because of a lack of awareness about the breadth of options available for managing pain. When it comes to muscle and joint pain, we partner with knowledgeable healthcare professionals, who are able to create individual solutions to this very personal problem. We make many of the products they use to treat pain. As a company, we felt compelled and obligated to lead this critical initiative. With over 100 years of experience in pain relief, dating back to one of the first sports pain relievers, we know a lot about safe and effective options for many pain sufferers.”
For more information, including a free illustrated guide for understanding and managing muscle and joint pain, please visit http://www.SaferPainRelief.org. The guide is supported by four new and ongoing clinical research studies conducted by the members of the Performance Health Scientific Advisory Committee, created in 1999, to develop evidence-based healthcare protocols. Preliminary results are very compelling, including a reduction in opioid use when using the “Safer Pain Relief” approach.
About Drew Brees
Since 2006, Drew Brees has been the starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints, leading the team to a Super Bowl XLIV win and the title of MVP in 2009. Starting his career with the San Diego Chargers in 2002, Brees has led the NFL in passing touchdowns four times, made ten Pro Bowl appearances, was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2011 and was honored by Sports Illustrated as “Sportsman of the Year” in 2010.
About Dr. Kevin Wilk
A distinguished clinical physical therapist for the past 33 years, Dr. Wilk is a leading authority in the rehabilitation of sports injuries and orthopedic lesions. He has made significant contributions to laboratory and biomechanical research, as well as clinical outcome studies and made contributions to over 170 journal articles and 115 book chapters, has authored 10 textbooks and lectured at over 900 professional and scientific meetings. He is currently Associate Clinical Director for Champion Sports Medicine, Director of Rehabilitative Research at the American Sports Medicine Institute, and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Physical Therapy Program at Marquette University.
About Dr. Jay Greenstein
Dr. Jay Greenstein is the CEO of Sport and Spine Rehab and Sport and Spine Athletics, as well as the founder and president of the Sport and Spine Rehab Clinical Research Foundation. He is Chairman of the Council for Chiropractic Guidelines and Practice Parameters (CCGPP) and serves as Chairman of the World Olympians Scholarship Program commission for the Federation of International Chiropractic Sport (FICS). Since 1997, he has been the official team chiropractor for the Washington Redskins cheerleaders. He serves as guest faculty for Georgetown University’s Complementary and Alternative Medicine’s Master’s degree program and teaches internationally on evidence-based practice.
About Sue Falsone PT, ATC
Sue Falsone worked at Athletes' Performance for 13 years, last serving as the Vice President of Performance Physical Therapy and Team Sport. She was Head of Athletic Training and Sport Performance for the U.S Men's National soccer team and she worked with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 6 years, last serving as head athletic trainer and physical therapist. She holds the distinction of being the first female head athletic trainer in any of the four major sports in the United States (MLB, NFL, NHL, NBA). Sue is currently the owner of Structure & Function Education and Associate Professor, Athletic Training at A.T. Still University.
About Dr. Drew Contreras, PT
As a career military officer and practicing physical therapist within the US Army & Department of Defense, Drew has served in a number of settings and military units throughout his career. His professional interests are sports medicine; manual therapy; musculoskeletal injuries and their prevention; human performance optimization and wellness. His skills were put to work extensively in 2006-2007 during a 15 month continuous deployment during Operation Iraqi Freedom where he was the first physical therapist to serve in sustained combat operations with the 82nd Airborne Division. He was then chosen as a by name selection to serve as the first ever full time physical therapist at the White House. There he served as the Physical Therapist to the White House Medical Unit and President of the United States Barrack Obama from 2010 until the end of the administration in 2017. He has served in multiple advisory roles and continues to offer his expertise on numerous panels and committees.
About Performance Health
Wherever physical improvement happens, Performance Health is there. As the largest specialty distributor and manufacturer of branded products and solutions for rehabilitation, recovery and sports medicine in the world, Performance Health products can be found in hospitals, clinics, and athletic training rooms, as well as in homes, gym bags, and purses. For each person, whether they are a patient, a consumer, an elite athlete or a weekend warrior, the Performance Health purpose statement is simple: help them feel good, perform better, and live great.
About the Performance Health Scientific Advisory Committee
In 1999, TheraBand Academy was created to provide research and education for the clinical use of TheraBand products. At that time, “evidence-based practice” was in its infancy—and the manufacturer of TheraBand knew the importance of providing research to support their products used by practicing clinicians. TheraBand was one of the first manufacturers in the physical therapy industry to invest in research and education and that investment included a website and an annual, international research meeting. For the past 19 years, the annual meeting of its Scientific Advisory Committee has produced several hundred original scientific studies.
Over the past decade, TheraBand was joined by other clinical brands such as Biofreeze and Cramer, so owner Performance Health re-named the TheraBand Academy to represent its efforts to support the science for a growing number of products. That body of work now has over 2,700 research references available, including over 500 randomized, controlled trials, the highest level of evidence. Each year, Performance Health supports up to 20 independent research projects.