Diagnose My Pain
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Finding the Cause of Your Chronic Pain
Nelson Hendler, MD, MS, has devoted most of his medical career to the study, diagnosis, and treatment of chronic pain. From 1978 until 2006, Dr. Hendler was the clinical director of the former Mensana Clinic in Stevenson, Maryland, a diagnostic and treatment center for chronic pain sufferers. He was former psychiatric consultant to the Department of 
Neurosurgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital from 1975-2006.
Nelson Hendler has done extensive research on chronic pain and many of his findings have been published in medical and scientific journals. In addition, Doc Nelse has authored 3 books, 33 medical textbook chapters, and 58 articles in medical journals, in addition to giving over 208 lectures about pain, nationally and internationally.
Mensana Clinic, which closed in 2006, was listed in Business Week as one of the 8 best pain treatment centers in the United States, along with Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins Hospital and 
Cleveland Clinic. Doctor referrals comprised 98% of referrals and over 75% of the residential patients at Mensana Clinic came from 47 states and 8 foreign countries.
US News & World Report article March 17, 1997 described the Mensana Clinic in Baltimore, Maryland and how grateful patients were for the proper diagnosis and treatment they received there.
Mensana Clinic treated patients with auto accident injuries and workers compensation, as well as those with difficult to diagnose pain problems. Mensana Clinic published outcome studies, available on request, which document that between 40% to 67% of the patients referred to Mensana Clinic had not been adequately diagnosed before being seen at Mensana Clinic. Dr. Hendler spent 60 to 90 mintues, taking a careful history when he first saw patients, and a) established a diagnose based on a careful history, b) recommended tests not often ordered which confirmed the diagnoses, and c) between 50% to 55% of the patients seen at Mensana Clinic were referred for additional surgery.
In a group of patients, for whom the insurance companies report a return to work rate of less than 1%, Mensana Clinic had a return to work rate of 62.5% for auto accident patients and 19.5% for workers compensation patients with a with a 45% reduction in doctor visits, and a 90% reduction in the use of medication.
Mensana Clinic, now closed, had 28 years of experience in treating chronic pain patients. During that time, 2,528 residential patients and 11,298 outpatients were treated.
The data from the outcome studies, which produced the results listed above, led to the development of the pain questionnaire available through DiagnoseMyPain.com, which can asssist other physicians in achieving the same results.
Past President of the American Academy of Pain Management, Princeton University Alumni, with research fellowships at Mayo Clinic, National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation
Dr. Nelson Hendler authored 3 books, 29 medical textbook chapters, and 50 articles in medical journals, in addition to giving over 208 lectures about pain, nationally and internationally.
Doc Nelse's fourth book, "Winning the War on Pain" is currently in the process of being published and due out next year.
Please see our Articles and Reports page for more information and a listing of Doc Nelse's contributions on the subject of diagnosing and treatment of chronic pain.
Education:
- Princeton University - B.A.
- University of Maryland School of Medicine - M.D.
- M.S. - Neurophysiology
- Johns Hopkins Hospital: Residency - Psychiatry
- Mayo Clinic - Research Fellowship - Neurosurgery
- Honors: Merit Scholarship - Semi-Finalist
- Cum Laude Psychology - Princeton