Interview with Dr. Paul Olson, MD

Interview with Dr. Paul Olson, MD

 Issue #3 August 2010

Dr. Olson is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Medical School, and currently practices Diagnostic Radiology in and around Grand Rapids, MN.  He is affiliated with 5 hospitals, including University Medical Center-Mesabi.  Marlene Stenlund RN and Clinical Advisor for Begin Healing Inc. requested that we interview Dr. Olson because of his expertise with Alpha-Stim, and also because she believes he is an extraordinarily compassionate physician.  She has seen chronic pain patients comforted by his skill level and understanding of pain on a personal level.

            Dr. Olson is also a photographer and French horn player in the Itasca Orchestra.  Editor Ian Stenlund contacted Paul Olson to ask him a few questions about his experience with the Alpha-Stim and its role in his practice.

Hello Dr. Olson, first tell me who you are and what you do.

I’m a radiologist.  There are two ways to do pain management: radiology and interventions. I am a radiologist that does interventional pain management.

How is radiology related to pain management?

What intervention is all about is sticking needles into people.  The typical thing you hear about is the steroid injection, people say “I got an epidermal shot today.”  But the diagnostic part [of my job] is to locate the pain generators, to find where the pain is, then and look into therapies for the pain. 

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Whether its needles (steroids), neuroablation [a precise x-ray guided technique for destroying a pain generating nerve], implanted devises in the spine, implanted electrical stimulator devices -- I look for what works best for the person.

How do you implement the Alpha-Stim in your practice?

I have used the Alpha-Stim myself for six years.  The groups of people I saw that were the most receptive to the Alpha-Stim were those patients who have sympathetic nerve pain.  If I do a nerve block they get a couple of weeks free of pain, but if I use the Alpha-Stim, they can be pain-free for months.  I have been combining the Alpha-Stim, biofeedback, and sympathetic nerve blocks.

I also use it on patients that are very nervous at an appointment or they are afraid of my needles.  I’ll leave it on during the procedure, and they tend to calm down and for some people the procedure is less painful.

Do you use the probes or the electrodes in your office?

No, I send them to Marlene Stenlund [RN] and she uses the probes.  I just find people who are going to have good response to Alpha-Stim.  I don’t tell them anything, I just say, “Hey,  let’s try this thing,” and then we sit together and talk.  After a while I ask “how is the headache or the pain now?”  If they have results I suggest they see Marlene.  Usually the Alpha-Stim works for people with a sympathetic component to pain, if it’s a mechanical source of pain, I don’t use it.  Sympathetic pain has no known mechanical component.

The sympathetic is a non-controlled system.  Basically, think of Fibromyalgia stuff, that’s the sympathetic nervous system amped up.  Every nerve in body has a connection to the sympathetic and everyone’s geography is different.  I use the Alpha-Stim to shut down sympathetic nervous system so I can find the typical pain generator.

People who use a TENS unit usually say that it only makes [the pain] worse, and I say I got a trick for you, and Marlene gets another patient.  Its pretty obvious that when TENS doesn’t work that the Alpha-Stim will be good for the person.

Marlene loves my referrals because I’ve already tested whether they are going to benefit from the Alpha-Stim.  This pain management stuff is all about matching the right patient to the right treatment.

How has your practice changed since adding the Alpha-Stim to your repertoire of tools for pain management? For example, has your client load decreased because people find they can manage their pain at home?

I don’t see decrease in client load. I see more and more once word gets out. Everybody is so different, so I’m always trying to match the best therapy for patient.  Now I have a tool that can help me treat sympathetic pain that I didn’t have before.

Actually, I’m writing a paper on the effectiveness of the Alpha-Stim on a certain type of headache and other extremity pains.

How do you explain the technology and science behind the Alpha-Stim to your clients?

I don’t tell them anything.  If they ask, “What is this?” I say it’s just a little electrical activity, let’s see if it works.  I don’t explain much so they don’t immediately attach a negative stigma to it.  If they’re really skeptical, I send them to the website.  Most people don’t care because if they’re pain goes away, that’s good enough for them.

If you don’t mind me asking, Do you use the Alpha-Stim for personal treatments? And if yes, please tell me some of your experience and/or results.

I have chronic chest pain. And I have tried everything to quiet it down.  I could barely make for three hours in the morning before I couldn’t do anything because of the pain.  At first I thought it wasn’t helping. But then I noticed I could stand a couple more hours in the morning, and then after anther month I could sleep at night.  That’s how I use it, to keep things manageable.  I use it for my pain everyday.  I also love it when I go on an airplane, I put it on and go to sleep.