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RANDOLPH, Feb. 22, 2008 – Pain management specialist Dr. Lan Nguyen-Knoff has joined Gifford Medical Center, marking the opening of The Pain Center at Gifford.
The new Pain Center treats patients with chronic pain, or pain that does not respond to traditional treatments or lasts past the normal course of an illness.This specialized pain care at Gifford is now available thanks to Dr. Nguyen-Knoff’s more than six years experience at a state-of-the-art, progressive facility in southern New Hampshire.
A Vietnam native, Dr. Nguyen-Knoff was educated at the University of Kansas, earning bachelor’s degrees in biology and cellular biology. She went on to medical school at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, graduating in 1995 and getting her start in family medicine.
Her residency training was at St. Francis Family Practice inWichita, Kan. She worked as associate director at the
Smokey Hill Family Medicine Residency Program, where she guided new physicians to work in rural Kansas. She was also
a provider and medical director at the Salina Cares Indigent Clinic, worked at the Salina Regional Health Center and was
an instructor the University of Kansas School of Medicine’s Department of Family and Community Medicine, all in Kansas.
She is board certified in family practice and certified in pain medicine. Her professional memberships include the American Academy of Pain Medicine, American Academy of Pain
Management, American Pain Society, Interventional Pain
Physician Society and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Approximately 45 million Americans will experience long-term chronic pain in their lifetimes. As Dr. Nguyen-Knoff explains, doctors are typically taught in medical school to treat illness, but not pain that persists beyond the predictable courses of those illnesses. Managing pain is a newer specialty meant to address chronic pain and provide at least some relief to restore patients’ quality of life.
“Acute or chronic pain is a complex medical problem that can have a profound effect on an individual’s physical and mental well being,” Dr. Nguyen-Knoff says.
Through referrals from patients’ primary care providers and even other specialists, Dr. Nguyen-Knoff specializes in the comprehensive evaluation of patients suffering chronic or acute pain. Patients are examined, undergo any necessary diagnostic tests and, once the cause of the pain is determined, offered treatment options that go beyond medication. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, acupuncture, biofeedback (from sensors), hypnosis, interventions and referrals to tertiary care centers for neurosurgical procedures are all options. Social, nutritional and psychological issues are also all considered.
The conditions Dr. Nguyen-Knoff treats include nerve pain, shingles, headaches, phantom limb pain, fibromyalgia and the most common – back pain.
“There have been many recent technology breakthroughs in pain management,” Dr. Nguyen-Knoff says. “One of the most significant advances for individuals suffering from chronic back pain is a form of neurostimulation. A pacemaker-size neurostimulator device is implanted near the spinal cord, delivering a small electrical signal to the spinal cord that helps to reduce the pain signal.
“Another less invasive procedure called TENS (trancutaneous electrical neural stimulation) transmits pulses of various configurations to electrodes on the skin, which can be effective in alleviating lower back pain and myofascial pain.”
For Gifford, a Pain Center is an exciting new service with the potential to offer patients living with chronic pain relief. For Dr. Nguyen-Knoff, it was the lack of a pain specialist in the area that in part attracted her to Gifford. A second, and significant, factor was the Randolph community.
Dr. Nguyen-Knoff and husband Dr. Jon Knoff moved to Randolph from Nashua, N.H., last year in search of a more idyllic place to raise their children and when Dr. Jon Knoff, an anesthesiologist, joined Gifford.
“It’s a lovely place. We love the community. We came to Randolph, and we thought it was so beautiful,” she says. “People are so nice.” The family has also been impressed by the amount Randolph has to offer, especially in terms of culture.
Dr. Jon Knoff and the couple’s three children, Kassandra, 13, Johan-Richard, 11, and Katarina, 9, all play accordion. Kassandra is in the band at Randolph Union High School and all three children will compete in Chandler’s upcoming “Mini Mud!” on March 7. Dr. Nguyen-Knoff enjoys visual arts, including drawing and painting, and hopes to become involved with the White River Craft Center.
To reach Dr. Nguyen-Knoff at The Pain Center at Gifford, call (802) 728-2470 or ask your doctor today for a referral.