Illinois doctor explores the use of local anesthetic (bupivicane) injection to treat PTSD

It seems that we discuss the impact of PTSD on “regular” individuals less than we discuss how PTSD affects veterans.  Additionally, it is not often that the treatment of these ordinary citizens possibly leads to an eventual treatment for our troops (it is usually the other way around).  But anyone can experience an event or series of events that causes them to develop post traumatic stress disorder.  The Chicago Tribune recently published an article detailing how one woman was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder after she was a victim of an armed robbery.  The experience left her battling anxiety and panic attacks, eventually leading her to drop out of school and gain weight despite therapy.  She finally went to Dr. Eugene Lipov with Advanced Pain Centers in Illinois.  He gave her an injection of a local anesthetic, bupivicane, and her disorder improved significantly.  Now, Dr. Lipov is attempting to use this unique treatment option on a broad range of post traumatic stress sufferers, including veterans.

The anesthetic or block is most commonly used in epidurals and as an alterative option for pain management in the arm and face.  Dr. Lipov found that when he used the block to treat women’s hot flashes, he found that they also experienced a psychological upturn as well.  He decided to see if the same mental change could happen with post traumatic stress syndrome sufferers too.  The Tribune also noted than another pain management specialist in Arizona, Dr. Lynch, also used the injection to treat post traumatic stress disorder and he likened its use to using antidepressants.  Dr. Lipov has received FDA approval for using the block to treat post traumatic stress disorder, but he is still waiting on funding from the Department of Defense, which has rejected the procedure in the past.

He knows that he has additional research to conduct and realizes that there is a lot of criticism from the traditional medical community about using the block in this fashion.  Dr. Lipov himself still has questions about how potent the injection should be for each individual depending on their specific post traumatic experience.  He feels so passionately about using the anesthetic that he is conducting his own study of the drug, using his own funds.  In fact, he is offering a free block to any male veteran of the Iraq or Afghanistan conflict as part of the study.

Because the treatment lies outside the conventional medical drug therapy for post traumatic stress disorder, individuals living with the condition may be concerned that engaging in an alternative treatment may hinder their chances at prevailing on a disability claim.  This should not be a problem.  Most traditional treatments today were once considered “alternative” in the medical field.  Simply make sure that the treatment and your response is well documented and that you discuss the procedure in detail with your doctor.  If you want to be a part of the study or want to learn more about the block you can contact Dr. Lipov at 847-608-6620.